Recommendations for Trail Shoes.

6 watchers

Fenland (Fenners) Runner Jun 2017 5:38pm, 2 Jun 2017 12,616 posts	0 Fenland (Fenners) Runner Vixx I'm with the Hoka brigade. Absolutely brilliant shoes. I love them. However others detest them. I did a 28-mile recce of the Lakeland 50/100 route and they performed flawlessly.
Vixx Jun 2017 11:32pm, 2 Jun 2017 557 posts	0 Vixx I love the HOKA road shoes Fenners, but prefer something a little less cushioned when on the trails. Thank you for the Inov8 recommendations The_Saint and autumnleaves! There are some on sale so am just wondering whether to buy online and risk having to send them back, or go and actually try some on. Are they sized 'bigger' or 'smaller' than road shoes? With the kanadias I was 2 whole sizes bigger than my adidas road shoes. With my road Hokas the kanadias are actually the same size. I'm a 9 in the Hokas if that helps?
The_Saint Jun 2017 12:26am, 3 Jun 2017 6,023 posts	0 The_Saint Obviously everyone has their own experience but I find Inov8 shoes very consistent for size with any other brand I use. Maybe I am unusual in wearing the same size in all footwear.
K5 Gus Jun 2017 8:00am, 3 Jun 2017 2,169 posts	0 K5 Gus I tend to find Inov8 quite large - I'm an 11 in Salomon, NB, Hoka, Brooks, but 10.5 in Inov8
jdarun Jun 2017 8:09am, 3 Jun 2017 1,588 posts	0 jdarun I've been running in inov8 mudclaws for a couple of years and am looking for a more mixed terrain shoe for summer and mixed use. Mudclaws are great on proper muddy fells but hard work on paved sections. I find the sizes run true, my precision fit 11s are very snug and standard fit 11.5 rather baggy (bought cheap in local sale and good with waterproof socks in winter). Usually take 11, rarely 10.5 from other manufacturers.
Rosehip Jun 2017 12:06pm, 3 Jun 2017 8,893 posts	0 Rosehip Loved my old Roclite 315s, wore for just about everything apart from "racing" on road - but didn't really get on with the 280s where are a tad too minimal for me. I do want to try the newer ones (forget what number they're using) which have a bit more drop but not huge. I have the inov-8 Roadclaws, which I didn't like to start with as they were very stiff around the heel cup - but having persevered with them they've softened up a bit and they're now my go-to favs for short bits of road and dry/damp but not too muddy trail.
Fenland (Fenners) Runner Jun 2017 12:09pm, 3 Jun 2017 12,621 posts	0 Fenland (Fenners) Runner Inov-8 are one brand that hate my feet. I have pairs from ages ago that are nearly box fresh.
Velociraptor Jun 2017 12:13pm, 3 Jun 2017 36,285 posts	0 Velociraptor I find inov8s very consistent in size, though I'm sure there was a change in their sizing some years back and I had to drop from 5.5 to 5. But I can pretty much pick up any size 5 inov8 and be confident that it'll fit me.
Derby Tup Jun 2017 1:45pm, 3 Jun 2017 23,001 posts	0 Derby Tup Inov8 for me. I've bought loads of pairs off t' internet without trying on
jdarun Jul 2017 10:28am, 2 Jul 2017 1,661 posts	0 jdarun Just as a followup to this, I recently bought some inov8 terraclaw 250s and raced in them for the first time yesterday - a forest trail run as part of a triathlon. The shoes were great, my running a bit less so Lightweight, decent grip (not really tested yesterday though) and much easier on hard surfaces than the mudclaws would have been. They are generously sized IMO - I might have dropped half a size if I'd been in a shop - but good enough when tightly laced. Could be a bit sloppy on tricky surfaces but that's not really what they are for. I actually wore them for the bike leg too as it saved two transitions (bike-run-bike) plus I would have had to carry the shoes with me otherwise as the run was not based at event centre.