I tested this shoe on a wide variety of surfaces, including roads, urban gravel trails, buffed dirt trails, and technical rocky mountain trails. I found it to be a comfortable and nimble all-terrain shoe, best suited for hiking and trail running.Fist off: comfort. This is a reasonably comfortable shoe, but I wouldn’t call it plush. The midsole is made out of a dense, energetic foam. While comfortable enough, it doesn’t have that sink in, pillow-like feel that some ultra-cushioned shoes do. Rather, I found that it has a springy, firm feeling that allowed me to pick up the pace.Despite its billing as an “ultra” distance shoe, this shoe is surprisingly quick and agile. I was surprised at how capable it was on rocky, technical terrain. I also found the grip of the ... MoreI tested this shoe on a wide variety of surfaces, including roads, urban gravel trails, buffed dirt trails, and technical rocky mountain trails. I found it to be a comfortable and nimble all-terrain shoe, best suited for hiking and trail running.Fist off: comfort. This is a reasonably comfortable shoe, but I wouldn’t call it plush. The midsole is made out of a dense, energetic foam. While comfortable enough, it doesn’t have that sink in, pillow-like feel that some ultra-cushioned shoes do. Rather, I found that it has a springy, firm feeling that allowed me to pick up the pace.Despite its billing as an “ultra” distance shoe, this shoe is surprisingly quick and agile. I was surprised at how capable it was on rocky, technical terrain. I also found the grip of the sole to be quite aggressive. I had no issues moving up and down steep rocky slopes with technical sections.Perhaps the best feature of the shoe is the quick lace system. I absolutely hate laces: they come undone, trip you up, are hard to adjust, etc. The drawstring laces are amazing: once I got a proper fit, they didn’t came undone. That being said, the “lace garage” on the top of the tongue is a cool idea, but it is difficult to use.I would advise you to try the shoe on in store, or order multiple sizes. For me, the regular-width shoe runs a bit narrow. I imagine some might want to opt for the wide-width. The length is true to size.Personally, I would use this shoe for anything from a long day of hiking to running a half marathon on trails. Anything longer than that, and I would reach for something with more cushion. It wouldn’t be my first choice for roads or urban trails - the outsole is just a little too aggressive for that. I might use it as a winter road shoe on icy or slushy days.

My overall impression is that these are well designed shoes meant for maximum comfort on trail. These will be in my rotation for longer runs on easy to moderate terrain in good weather. I’ll share my experience followed by a summary of pros and cons.As I do with all new running shoes, upon receiving them I immediately tried them for a couple miles on the treadmill just to test fit. They hugged my midfoot and heel well and provided a comfortable ride in this controlled test. After passing this initial screen, I took them out on my next easy run on a mix of paved paths and gravel trails. I was impressed with the ease with which I was able to run in these. The midsole provides ample bounce to make running fairly effortless.I do most of my trail running in woodlands ... MoreMy overall impression is that these are well designed shoes meant for maximum comfort on trail. These will be in my rotation for longer runs on easy to moderate terrain in good weather. I’ll share my experience followed by a summary of pros and cons.As I do with all new running shoes, upon receiving them I immediately tried them for a couple miles on the treadmill just to test fit. They hugged my midfoot and heel well and provided a comfortable ride in this controlled test. After passing this initial screen, I took them out on my next easy run on a mix of paved paths and gravel trails. I was impressed with the ease with which I was able to run in these. The midsole provides ample bounce to make running fairly effortless.I do most of my trail running in woodlands and lake areas with the most technical areas including rocky terrain. I also had the opportunity to take these on trail in both sunny and wet conditions.The upper is immensely comfortable in the way it molds around your midfoot and provides excellent cushioning and more than ample support. The drawback to this is that they breathe ok, but they do hold heat and perspiration. Related to the upper, I LOVE the Quicklace system. With the Quicklaces, I was out the door faster and it was so much easier to make adjustments on the fly. The pocket on the tongue is a nice feature for stowing the Quicklaces, but it slowed down on-the-fly adjustments so I instead opted to tuck the ends of the Quicklaces under the lower laces to keep them from bouncing around.The midsole cushioning performed better than expected. With any heavily cushion shoe, I expect to lose the feel of the terrain. I do find that these do a reasonably good job of providing ample feedback from the terrain despite the amount of cushioning no matter the foot position. Even if my step on the terrain was at a bit of an odd angle, I never felt like I was disconnected from the ground. The quality of the feel combined with the ample bounce made for a good comfortable trail ride.One thing I did note about the overall comfort is that the shape of the toebox is adequately roomy under the majority of conditions but I did experience some feelings of constriction (not discomfort) during some more technical spots on trails where my toes wanted to spread more in response to the terrain. A bit more room by the little toes would address this issue. I don’t normally get wide shoes but that might be a solution for those that prefer more toe splay.I had no issues with the rubber soles at any point. They gripped very well no matter what I stepped on. Of course, runners need to be careful about where and how they are stepping no matter what they’re wearing, and these are no exception. However, I have stepped on wet mossy rocks and not slipped.In wet conditions, at first I was impressed that the shoes stayed relatively dry inside and didn’t seem to retain any water from running through wet terrain and occasional puddles. Running in rain, however, is a different story. Once water gets in it doesn’t drain very well. They handled the wet terrain well but running in the rain made for an uncomfortable run due to the water retention. The designs of the uppers are excellent for keeping water out from the sides, but the reverse is also true: once water is inside, it has no way to leave.Pros• One of the best feeling max cushion shoes I’ve tried, striking a fine balance between support, shock and terrain absorbsion, and terrain feel.• The midsole provides impressively good bounce.• Love the quicklace system.• Tread performed superbly in all conditions.• Upper cushioning makes for a very comfortable fit all around.• These are impressively light for the amount of cushioning.• I get compliments on the colors.Cons• Like any max cushion shoe, you lose some of the feel of the terrain.• Toe box could be a bit wider or shaped to allow more splay. This was mostly noticeable in technical terrain.• The shoe would probably work best for a heel to midfoot striker. This is only a con for forefoot strikers. I’m a forefoot striker so I don’t think I was able to take full advantage of the cushioning and rocker geometry.• While well cushioned, the upper could breathe a bit better.• Water retention if water gets inside.

I would probably give this a 4.5 if possible.I generally wear size 11 in Nike and La Sportiva, but these seem to be just a bit big on me - no big deal. My toes just seemed to have lots of room to wiggle, while the rest of the shoe fit really well.I absolutely love the idea behind the 'quicklace' system instead of normal shoe laces, but the one thing lacking is some type of holster for the plastic piece to sit when the shoes are tightened. In the attached picture, you can see there is a lot of slack when the shoes are being worn and tight. When running/walking, that extra slack with the plastic piece at the end bounces around, hits your opposite ankle, and its just kinda annoying. If there was some type of way for it to be secured (maybe above the toes?) I would ... MoreI would probably give this a 4.5 if possible.I generally wear size 11 in Nike and La Sportiva, but these seem to be just a bit big on me - no big deal. My toes just seemed to have lots of room to wiggle, while the rest of the shoe fit really well.I absolutely love the idea behind the 'quicklace' system instead of normal shoe laces, but the one thing lacking is some type of holster for the plastic piece to sit when the shoes are tightened. In the attached picture, you can see there is a lot of slack when the shoes are being worn and tight. When running/walking, that extra slack with the plastic piece at the end bounces around, hits your opposite ankle, and its just kinda annoying. If there was some type of way for it to be secured (maybe above the toes?) I would give these shoes a 5 star.They are quite comfortable, have a good amount of cushion/bounce, and seem to be pretty lightweight - ideal for trails or even just walks. The treads on the bottom might be the only other reason I would not go a full 5 stars. Some of my other trail runners (La Sportiva) have some BIG knobby grips on the tread...these seem to be normal, but not over the top.I would also like it if more color options were available. The off-white kinda taupe color is good since white would be ruined in one rainy trail run, but these are the type of shoes that I like to see bright color combinations.Overall, I would recommended these for sure.