Arc'teryx - Sylan Pro

Arc’teryx Sylan Pro. Monster of a midsole and rocker geometry and they feel like road race shoes. Upsetting ankle stability so they’d be perfect on a trail like this

I was given a pair and ran around 100 miles in them and found them to ultimately be too unstable and uncomfortable. Different shoes work for different people, so I’m sure others have had different experiences, but these were ultimately a hard pass for me.

My take, Arc shorts (Incendio) are awesome. Favourite shorts personally (7inch). I also have a superlight weight Arc merino t shirt for running which has been a comfortable alternate to all the synthetic I have. Can’t recall the model. I’ve had two pair of their shoes, the OG Norvan, and more recently the Sylan. OG Norvan was good, Sylan was a very different shoe, quite unique, a little stiff with a little of rocker and a bit unstable. Would not recommend. I’ve mostly run in Salomon, and would choose both their shoes and their Hydration vest over Arc, but greatly prefer Arc’s apparel (including Norvan jacket). Also, I just got my first Norda’s, and to me they’re the Arc or shoes. Premium material, great fit (for my feet) and look great. The durability on feel and upper so fair have been really strong.

Hi there. I am completely reviewing my shoes selection criteria after an accident that served as a "eureka" moment... I sprained my ankle pretty bad on a trail race the other day and realized that (beyond my obviously low skills) I was probably selecting the wrong shoes. Being relatively new to trails after many years of road-only running, I was selecting high-stack, fast or light models as the go-to shoes for my races, the same way I'd go for carbon-plated rockets on a road marathon. But it took me a few months (and a couple of accidents) before realizing that : 1. Like for road, it takes some significant experience before mastering the "pro" shoes. 2. Trail is a completely different skill set from road running in that regard 3. Trails is a word covering very different types of terrain So now I realize that two of the pairs I have (Arcteryx Sylan and Norda 001) aren't well suited for the Hong Kong trails. The trails here are usually very steep, many stairs often very irregular (so quite technical), with rocky or rooty sections all of a sudden. The concrete sections are closer to road running, but in between, the real trails are actually often technical. The Sylan are super comfy and great traction but too high and narrow (too many ankle issues), while the Norda are slightly more stable but the heel counter is bad and they are way too warm. Hence the search for new shoes, that would be very stable on technical sections to avoid another ankle sprain, breathable to handle the hot and humid Asian summer, comfortable and protective enough to run mid-long distances (25-50k) without regretting the choice. Any strong recommendations? (from experience only, not from hearsay). Oh, and budget isn't really a criteria. Thank you in advance

The MTN is roomy and i also like it. The reason why i ended up mostly running in the Kjerag is mid foot lock down. For whatever reason in the Topos i simply couldnt get my feet totally locked in on very steep techy downhills. They are great for me on mellow rolling trails and whatnot but for whatever reason my foot and the shoe just couldnt come to agreement on steep downhills. The Kjerag is light and feels like it has zero padding but my foot doesnt move once its in the shoe and so by default it became my go-to. Recently, i have found success w/the Arcteryx Sylan Pro, though. Excellent foot lock down **and** some actual soft feel underfoot. Thats been nice.

I love the arcteryx sylan pros. They are like the Goldilocks shoe for me. The prodigio pros are well liked but I didn't get the lockdown I needed. 

My friend and I ran the whole trail a few weeks ago and both used trail runners: I wore the Arc'teryx Sylan and he had the Nnormal Tomir. We didn't have heavy packs, but I would not use hiking boots on the TCT given how warm the island is and how little technicality the trail has. Enjoy! [https://www.strava.com/activities/14782948235](https://www.strava.com/activities/14782948235)

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.

Arcteryx trail shoes are pretty narrow and have wicked good grip. Vibram Soles.

For day to day running a shoe wearing out faster isn’t a big deal. When I’m on backpacking trips for weeks at a time, a shoe failing can cause big issues. I haven’t managed to justify the price of Nordas for casual running yet, but I love them for thru hikes where I don’t have to worry about the hundreds of kilometres between me and the next shoe store. Plus compared to some shoes my Nordas have lasted more than twice as long. Their uppers seem to be indestructible, so at 1000km when I retired them they were in better shape than my Arc’teryx shoes at 300km, On Clouds at 100km and Hokas at 10km (aka when they all got their first holes). The people I know who love Nordas are those who tend to shred shoes - if you’re not destroying your uppers long before you wear out the soles there’s not much point to them. 

The thing is, for a lot of us getting shoes to that 700mi is impressive, let alone the 300-400mi after that where the shoe works but is less awesome. My Hokas got a hole in the upper on day one (so within 5km). My On Clouds got multiple holes in the uppers week one (so within 100km). My Arc’teryx got holes in the uppers within 150km. My cousin’s partner has similar issues with regularly destroying uppers in the first few hundred kilometres, long before the soles show signs of wear.  Is it “gimmicky” for us to finally have an upper that is durable enough that we can actually use the shoe until the rubber is worn down? Or is it a shoe that is well designed for our needs?

Dayhike - arcteryx trail runners or day hikers. Backpacking trips - scarpa boots (saved me from ankle rolls many times)

Not supportive at all in the shoes but they are nice to dayhike in with lighter loads.