Hoka - Zinal 2

Puh, I have about 7-9 shoes in use I guess. Mainly because I buy those ones which work well for me when they are in sales. 3x Kjerag, one only for races, the other for daily trail runs. But I rotate with two / three other trail running shoes (altra lone peak, Hoka Zinal 2, Norda 002). But some of them will be retired soon. Road Shoes I have just two, but they are also soon before retirement 😄. I know it is too much at the end. But I use all of them from time to time and only retire them if they are really really down. One of the Kjerag has more than 800km yet and still works quite good

Yes, I love them! I would not call them a super shoe however they are very light and comfortable. The traction is not the best for the rainy city I live but they do drain nicely and imo are perfect for hill intervals or 400m repeats on gravel roads. I also added Superfeet insole to give them a little more pop ☺️

When I "technical trail" I winder what people mean because where I am at we have some black diamond shit. Wet, mossy rocks, mud, roots, more rocks and scree... we have everything except dry trails for 300+ days a year to put it into perspective. With that said I run in the following, ranked from most used to least... 1. Speedland GS GAR with some spikes added (3 on toe area and two all the way at the back) for a liiiitle extra grip on wet roots or rocks. I love these shoes for the wet, long run days. I leave the carbon plate out of these. 2. Speedland GL PDX: tempo/threshhold/ 5k, 10k even 20k but no more than that. Deeper lugs also helps when it gets really sloppy and also same spike arrangement added and I like the carbon plate in these. 3. VJ Ultra 3: Not the super deep lugs like the Inov8 shoes but amazing rubber and a really good wide toebox fit... at least by my standards. Hoka Tecton/x 3: On the dry days where the trails have had a couple days prior to really get things dry. I really love these shoes but they just don't have the traction for trails as technical as these. Hoka Zinal 2: For the short up's / hill races, hill sprints, etc. added a Sper Feet sole to these to add a little stiffness and protection. That's my quiver and my recommendations :) at least for trails...

If it’s not too muddy, Nnormal Kjerag. If it is muddy, the Hoka Zinal 2 are ok (I’m in the uk too)

Nike alpha flys for my short loops! Kidding kidding I’m a brooks guy, caldera is what I use and keep in rotation. I need something soft to avoid fatigue. Hoka zinal for speed sessions. Hoka torrent for race day, they do wreck my legs though but in fastest in those. Ohh I use to use a lot of inov-8 but they don’t last for me at all, terrible for me and Altra don’t last either My next venture is asics. I did get Nike Pegasus trail this year as a gift, so we’ll see

I still like peregrines for 50km distance, and speedgoats start feeling not cushioned enough once you hit 100km! I haven’t tried the others though. But it also depends on terrain and personal preference! Both peregrine and speedgoats are pretty grippy, so great for technical terrain. Speed goats are the most comfortable on the downhill, especially if technical or steep. I’ll happily deal with less comfort/cushion but more secure footing. I used to hate speed goats for uphill because they’re so chonky that I felt like I couldn’t get onto my tippy toes on steep climbs. But now I’m used to them and I’m happy with how they fare in longer ultras. On shorter distances around 50km, feet can handle more so I am more likely to go with shoes where I have better ground feel. So peregrine for technical terrain, and hoka zinal for non-technical!

This is amazing to hear from a fellow TBI survivor and kudos to you for continuing your running. For your trail feedback a shoe with a minimal stack of cushion underfoot typically gives the best feedback. But you also should consider that most thin or minimal shoes might also have a rock plate in them but also if the cushioning is soft or firm it will influence the feedback with firmer usually being better feedback. Zero drop being the answer for feedback is flat out wrong. Zero drop does not equal less foam underfoot, case in point is the Altra Olympus. Very high stack and stiff shoe with zero drop. Also the minimal shoe won’t offer you protection so be mindful of how long you might be able to run in the shoe even while you are slowly getting used to the minimal protection. Consider that even if there is a great option for the minimal shoe that fits the bill for your ground feedback but doesn’t allow you to run even 50% of the length of runs you’d like to be running, well than that is kind of a useless option. I think having a shoe that fits your foot better and better communicates where the shoe is on your foot also outweighs the pure ground feedback as it is more predictable of shoe. Totally my bias but I have fit shoes at Running stores for 15+ years so I’m going to be at least a little biased. Most trail shoes now have Vibram outsole which is really the benchmark for other brands to match. I have personally had multiple pairs of Saucony trail shoes with their Powertrack outsole have every bit as good as traction as Vibram. From Saucony, I believe the Peregrine to have great trail feedback in addition to the Powertrack outsole. Also the traction from Salomon Contagrip is widely regarded as equitable to Vibram. From Salomon, their S-lab pulsar 3 is a fantastic shoe with fairly minimal cushioning, and a firmer cushion that also relays feedback well. I know Inov8 is well regarded for their grip with incredibly tall lugs, sometimes 6-8mm lugs, but those super tall lugs feel like shit on anything but very soft ground that they can dig into. Think about what kind of dirt you have and that will also play a part in the lugs that will grip better. Inov8 definitely fits the category for tall lugs and minimal cushioning for several of their shoes. Altra Maxtrack outsole has been fine but I’ve found it to be not quite up to par with Vibram/Contragrip/Powertrak. Altra with Vibram outsoles has been good but definitely shoot for a lower stack that you can run with and put the mileage you would like to run in. Topo Mtn Racer with Vibram outsole is great grip but might leave trail feedback be desired. I find Topo to fit more locked in overall than Altra. Hoka Zinal is a great minimal trail shoe but leaves traction to be desired unless you have quite hard pack dirt. Hope this helps. Thank you for reading my novel. I apologize

Here is my excessive collection of trail running shoes - all of them still have some usable mileage, although a number of shoes are nearing retirement Salomon * S/lab Ultra 3 * 2x S/lab Genesis * 2x S/lab Pulsar * S/lab Pulsar 2 SG La Sportiva * 2x Prodigio * Kaptiva * Bushido 2 * Mutant * Akasha NNormal * 2x Kjerag Dynafit * Ultra 100 * 2x Alpine * Feline SL Hoka * Zinal * Speedgoat 5 Also have 3 pairs of road shoes Note: obviously I didn't buy these all at once. Many of these are several years old.

I’m on my 3rd season of switching to trail runners over hiking boots. Everyone may have a different experience but for me, my feet have never been happier (Hooka, Speedgoat 5).

I’ve switched almost entirely to trail runners including on a lot,of rugged terrain. I did find that when I was using Hokas that I had an increased tendency to roll my ankle after about ten miles. I like the padding, but have found lower drop shoes to be better for this. Altras are good, but I destroy them in about 300 miles. Trying Topos right now. Not as padded, but low drop with a wide toe box and they seem to be holding up better.

Trail runner will be fine. I was talking to a guy recently that said the AT requires real boots. But even by his argument, trail runners will be fine. The thing with trail runners is when you are tired, it is easier to roll your ankle. I have only found this to be a concern when I was using Hoka. Altras and Topos have less to zero drop and they don’t have this occur for me. Though Altras kind of suck for durability (expect 300 miles unless they fixed things). And Topos have less padding and are not as comfortable.