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Oct 2010
11:27pm, 7 Oct 2010
12,213 posts
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SPR™
I wore the X-talon 212 last year, this year i'll be wearing the X-talon 190, both have very aggressive outsoles and are light. In most conditions i'd have thought they'd be as good as spikes but both as marketed as XC shoes rather than trail.
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Oct 2010
8:14am, 8 Oct 2010
38,097 posts
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Gobi
Agree spikes will get less use but then they last for years as they are specific for a task.
SPR - in the league I run in the only thing you do wearing trainers(no matter how good you think they are) is risk slipping and sliding even the people at the back are in spikes because they have learnt the hard way.
A trainer will never do the job of a 15mm spike
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Oct 2010
8:40am, 8 Oct 2010
28,100 posts
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mxhornet
I agree than not matter how good an outsole the X-talon or similar shoes has, on wet slippery surface you won't get the grip of spikes that reach down to firmer surface below. If the spikes still struggle you'd be struggling whatever you wear.
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Oct 2010
8:43am, 8 Oct 2010
28,101 posts
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mxhornet
Forgot to mention I'll be making a later than normal entry in to the CC season. Then again I hardly did any last year.
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Oct 2010
9:13am, 8 Oct 2010
1,740 posts
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island991
Speaking of spikes, what length should one use? I have only what came with my shoes, and was thinking they dont look as long as I imagined xc spikes would.
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Oct 2010
9:16am, 8 Oct 2010
12,214 posts
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SPR™
Fair enough Gobi & Hornet, I only had trouble on snow last year, but what you say makes sense.
Island - I believe it depends on the conditions, you need a few different lengths so you can change depending on the conditions
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Oct 2010
9:16am, 8 Oct 2010
6,021 posts
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Rach E
Island, Depends on the race! I keep my 9mm in as default for our XC league, but 6mm is fine if the course isn't too muddy and slippery. You'd be amazed at the amount of grip the 6mm will give you.
Re. the spikes vs trail/XC shoes argument. As Gobi said, you can't get away with anything but spikes for the Oxford Mail league. One of the ladies in our team wore X-talons for one race last year and swore never too again! Whilst they may be good for some courses, for the real muddy quagmires, only spikes will do. I've only ever worn trail shoes once - when the course was so hard and frosty, my spikes would have got dented.
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Oct 2010
12:29pm, 8 Oct 2010
263 posts
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Lexo
I own both X_talons and Spikes but hanvt used my Spikes at all since getting the X-Talons. Ive worn both and much prefer the X-Tallons,Although as you say spikes are possibly slighty better in certain conditions the X-Talon is far more versatile alrounder , and can be used on a lot of courses that spikes would strugglle on. Also at least 40% of the courses I compete on are not suitable for spikes and at least a quarter of them ban them altogether or dont recomend you wear them , so you have to own two pairs if you run all the XC events and end up lugging them both around.Whereas the X-talons you can use on any course . As too them not being as good as spikes in mud I hanvt found this to be the case at all. I ran a course in them last year that was absolutly diabolical conditions wise and I didnt even break stride. And they were at least as good as my Kilkenies. They also have the added bonus for me that i can use them in the hills as well. ive c locked up just under 400 miles in my 212s and they are still going strong (although bought a nice shiny pair of red 190s for this season). And there is less fiddle as you dont have to bother re changing the spikes ect (as Im lazy/forgetfull I always end up with the wrong spikes )
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Oct 2010
1:15pm, 8 Oct 2010
28,107 posts
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mxhornet
Re spike length I tend to go with 9mm as default for CC, however I'd opt for 12 or 15mm on a course like Parliament Hill. I find it best to have a set of each length available on the day so you can swap them over if need be, I also use vaseline on the threads to make sure they don't rust in place.
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Oct 2010
1:32pm, 8 Oct 2010
6,022 posts
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Rach E
A cross country league BANNING spikes?! That's a bit like a tennis match banning racquets.
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