Norvan LD 4 GTX Shoe

I’ve heard no so good things about ON, so would skip those. Personally, I have arc’teryx Norvan LD 4s (they come in both gore tex and non gore Tex versions), they also have a vibram sole. I think they’re the most “normal” looking trail runners I could find and they have everything I need.

Trolling can be funny it’s a skill that you don’t have. I have this shoe alongside Sylans and Norvan 4s. I run mostly single track and hard pack and they KILL my legs…because they aren’t meant for that kind of running. My lack of understanding what this shoe was for has in turn showed me what *is* good about them. They fit snug, have great ground feel, are breathable and dry fast. Scrambling in them and hopping off rocks etc in them is great. I can’t see how this shoe could be great for technical terrain and groundbreakingly comfortable. Comfortable is high in importance for road running but running on technical terrain it seems as though you must sacrifice that in exchange for stability, as the degree of both is decided by the same thing (the midsole)

Consider Arcteryx Norvan LD4 as well? they carry small sizes (I just retired some LD3s in size 5.5)

Jumping in. I’ve had the Norvan LD 2’s, LD 3’s, & now the LD 4’s. They are great shoes. Honestly some of the most comfortable running shoes I’ve owned. I was rather surprised given arcteryx isn’t the first company I would think of when it came to footwear. They’ve changed the most recent model (LD4’s) in such a way that your foot kind of slides into an elasticized sock. Rather than a classic tongue situation. If that makes sense. It takes longer to put them on now. I found the LD3s the most comfortable but I’m still breaking on my LD4s so we will see. Quality is meh decent. The LD2s split at the edges where the upper toe fabric bends. The sole eventually wore right through as well. I felt I got a decent life span considering what they went through. But I’ve also got merril approach shoes that are 20 years old, saw much worse, and are still going strong.

I am going to challenge you on this - the Arcteryx shoes use the exact same outsole compound as the Nordas - Vibram Megagrip Lite-Base. As for tread pattern, that's very much terrain dependent and personal preference - so it's really subjective. For the record, I have and love many pairs of Nordas. I also have and love many pairs of Arcteryx shoes. I run primary in the Coast Mountains of Canada and both of those shoes perform very well in that region. I think that the durability of the Nordas is unmatched - you're absolutely correct, but I also think that the durability of the LD3, LD4, Sylans are very good. I have run many hundreds of KM ( I do keep close track of my milage for each shoe) with various pairs of Arcteryx shoes and I have had no major issues beyond normal wear and tear. I guess I just get frustrated by this narrative that Arcteryx shoes are "bad". They may be bad for you, but they are not bad for me. And they are not bad for many others.