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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The Lone Peak has always been my staple trail shoe when it comes to Altra. You’ve got the Superior which has a little less cushion, more ground feel, and typically works better for a little more speed. The Olympus on the other hand is all about stack height, so a ton of cushion, designed for distance, and a slow roll. The Lone Peak hits the sweet spot where you get ...
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This is the tale of something totally new from Saucony, their KOA trail platform. In a lineup that has really been dominated by their Peregrine model, it is a real risk for them to introduce something new. We respect them for it and not only did we get one model, but two... introducing the KOA TR and ST. Both shoes are nearly identical, but are differentiated in their use and ...
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Before you read further I would invite you to take a step back and check out the review for the original Speedgoat... or better yet don’t and if you did read it, then just forget it. Why you might ask, well because Hoka took everything they tried with the original model and turned it on its head. In what we see as probably one of the best updates from Hoka ...
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The Peregrine is a flagship in Saucony’s lineup when it comes to trail shoes. They are aggressive visually and when you share out in the wild, you will probably notice more than you can count. This yea Saucony has introduced some competitors in the form of their KOA lineup, but I was still excited to see what this year’s Peregrine had in store for us. Construction: Upper The upper on the Peregrine ...
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