Altra continues to iterate on their lineup and it has never been more prevalent than with their recent updates to the Olympus platform with the 3.0. This super cushioned trail shoe which just screams ultra level distances has always been a fan favorite for those who prefer comfort over ground feel. With the 3.0, Altra is going all in and has made a ton of changes and also is doing ...
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The Brooks Cascadia platform is really their flagship trail platform, but it has always been a little hit or miss for a lot of people. One of the biggest complaints has been the narrowness of the shoe and especially the tapered toe, but this update to the Cascadia 13, while not dramatic, looks like it might just fix all those complaints and restore people’s faith in the model. It has ...
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Hoka One One is always iterating on their lineup, but the Torrent adds something even newer... a performance trail race shoe. The Torrent is one of their lightest trail shoes ever and is designed to be a balance of performance, protection, and cushioning. We set out to see if they truly nailed it and from what we can tell, it's a really solid platform albeit with a few quirks. Construction: Upper The ...
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Skechers suffers quite a bit from what they are historically known for which is low to mid market footwear. The problem is this carries a stigma of poor design and poor quality. However, the shoes are still solid and even moreso their Performance lineup is much stronger than people think. Never has then more true than with the updated GOtrail model, a decent trail shoe a lot of folks will ...
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Let’s start this off by saying the original Brooks Caldera was a pretty solid shoe. It was rated highly by most and honestly it was just a relatively unsung very comfortable distance based trail shoe that performed well to boot. When we got our chance to check out the new Caldera 2, we were excited to say the least. Construction: Upper The upper gets the biggest redesign of the entire update. It ...
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We got our hands on the new Adidas Terrex Agravic GTX which blends both Adidas’ Boost technology along with a fully water resistant upper to form an aggressive trail shoe. The shoe is just a subtle tweak to the Terrex line-up, but they really built these to conquer the elements across any terrain. Construction: Upper The GTX in the name stands for GORE-TEX® which means the upper is not only waterproof, ...
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One of our perennial favorites is back and has been updated, it’s the all new Challenger ATR 4 from Hoka. As always, everyone is always curious what changed and we’re here to put it through its paces. Can it really do battle with our newest trail loving Hoka, the Speedgoat 2? Construction: Upper The upper on the 4 has been redesigned and now uses a dual-layer mesh that should balance support, durability, ...
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Winter in the Pacific Northwest tends to bring a couple challenges to runners, lower temperatures and inclement weather. Lower temps can be solved with the right apparel and even the rain can be conquered with the right Gore-tex based shoe, which everyone seems to have now, but snow and ice... that is another story. Traction becomes impossible as the ice hides under fluffy new fallen snow and even the walk ...
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Altra continues to improve on one of their maintstays, the Superior with the introduction of the 3.5. With minor improvements only, this is definitely just a tweak, but also a classic “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” mentality. When it comes to the Superior, this is a recipe for success because when it comes to lower cushion trail shoes with major grip, it’s hard to find better. Construction: ...
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Its time for another brand face off, this time we pit the all new Altra TIMP 1.0 vs the tried and true Olympus and the new 2.5 model. Both are max cushioned trail runners and come in at very similar weight levels, so our hope is to break down the differences and figure out which to wear in which scenario. The TIMP is an all new shoe for Altra, so ...
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