Inov8 - Mudtalon

Hi. They do make the same shoe (+2mm drop) with more cushion. The standard mudtalon. Also, Trailtalon if you are running on wet rock and mud.

Hi. I cut a couple of mm off the lugs on the heel area to lower the drop, as I'm used to zero drop. Cutting the lugs made the shoes much more stable. They don't roll at all for me now.

Inov8 mud talons or trail talons. I have the old mud talons, good ground feel and crazy grip, not the most comfortable longer distance. Otherwise VJ Maxx. In group tests the La Sportiva Mutants often come out in top of anything grip based. Haven't tried them myself but that rubber has an excellent reputation.

I have wide feet and went for inov8 mudtalon wide in 1.5 size up. They were still not wide enough so I'd say she can skip them altogether with this shape of feet

I much prefer the new Mudtalon to these - have had both. The X-talon a pure soft ground shoe I think though. Wouldn't like to be caught on wet slabby rock. You can get a range of fits in the newer shoe too - precision, standard and wide which helps.

Long reply here but I understand this quite niche problem all too well. I have a bunion in the same place on left foot but actually have skinny midfoot so always struggle to get a lockdown in 'wide' shoes. The Inov8 Trailfly and their new range works well here. I'd actually go for the standard fit over wide as the toe box is already foot shaped. The width I think is in the midfoot. For example, I have a pair of precision fit Mudtalons and get a super snug midfoot lockdown but the toebox still lets my foot spread. The problem you actually have is that a lot of 'wide toe box' shoes still carry that super straight line on the inside of the foot which obviously doesn't work. Even the Prodigio Pro mentioned is quite accommodating but suffers from this to a degree as the bunion pushes the mesh out and can become uncomfortable by forcing your foot or all toes away to the side. Salomon shoes are quite bad for this, even though I suck it up and wear them as the midfoot just suits my feet. The Trailfy is the comfiest shoe I've worn in years, and I've even cleaned mine up and now wear them for walking around daily and the gym. They do a Trailtalon too if you need more softground grip, plus a road shoe. Edit to add: if anything like me, mine is just on the one foot so if I buy wide shoes, the other is super sloppy. This is why a better shape toe box works better than a wide fitting shoe in my opinion.

Gravel is a tricky surface, I agree. It probably depends on the the percentage of a certain terrain in a run that I choose the shoes. Generally, for steep grass I like Mudtalons with 8mm lugs, for snow the Genesis and for barely runnable rocks Bushidos. But then again, there is always a trade-off, since a run is usually composed of different surfaces. As an allrounder in alpine environment, I often go for Dynafit, Prodigio or Ribelle Run. YMMY. (And yes: I might have too many shoes).

These were amazing in mud but I had two pairs start to delaminate at the toe bumper after 40km and 60km respectively!

Which Mudtalon do you have? I had the regular Mudtalon women’s wide ones. I bought through sportsshoes.co.uk and they replaced the first pair and refunded the second pair thankfully.

I bought a pair if the new mud talons (having had x talon and several pairs of old mudclaw 300s) Worn once and sold them on. Seemed cheap, grio wasn't great and the quality felt far lower. (Upper glued to a block of foam). Seems like they've decided going more main stream is more lucrative🤷‍♂️

I maintain that it was a crime to replace the Mudclaw and Xtalon with that shoe. They replaced their fell shoes with a trail shoe that's good in mud. They're just shit at contouring and too fragile to bash through heather etc.

The more cusdhioned Inov-8 mudtalons did me for 80km last week. The La Sportiva mutants are decent too. Actually too cushioned for pure fell racing, but not bad over longer distances.

I’d have to check but the ones I saw definitely had far more stack. As for the mudtalons, the issue has never been the drop but the total lack of precision and durability compared to the mudclaws and xtalons they were supposed to be replacing. It’s rearranging the deck chairs in the titanic.

The obvious one is that they’ve replaced their fell shoes with a trail shoe that’s good in mud. It’s super sloppy on foot, no precision, high stack and delicate so it falls apart when you bash through heather or bracken. The roclite 275 has been replaced by the trailtalon. Again, it’s much higher stack and a baggy fit. It’s just not the same shoe. I’m not the only one - I’d say at least twice a month the topic of inov8 being in the bin comes up on the club run. Far fewer seen in races these days and those that are seen are often old mudclaws or xtalons. I’d rather race in walshes than mudtalons. I’m similar on being a long time repeat customer of theirs.. I’ve probably worn 8-10 pairs each of 212s and mudclaws down to slick. I can’t see myself buying another shoe of theirs unless something drastically changes. If they are forged in the fells (as they like to emphasise), they currently reside in Regents Park.

They’ve shifted from a fell shoe to a trail shoe that’s good in mud. They are too high stack and baggy to have the precision you want in a fell racing shoe, plus they aren’t nearly as durable. They fall apart after really quite limited heather bashing.

It’s a trail show that’s good in mud. They start baggy out of the box and get baggier somehow. Contouring in them is horrific!

They made a strategic decision to make shit shoes and send them for production without testing them. When the mudtalons fell apart after one run, they blamed a bad batch. Well one year on and it seems clear that every batch for every new model is a bad batch. Ultimately, they have shifted from a fell running brand to a trail one that’s chasing trends while still trying to bank on their previous fell, grippy credentials that got them to where they were. They don’t even make a fell shoe any more. It’s resulted in a completely disjointed product line and marketing strategy where they are selling shoes aimed at the fell which are too baggy and high stack to be much use. Similarly they are running a get dirty marketing campaign while releasing white t shirts and shorts!! It all went downhill rapidly when the ASDA guys came in.

The mudtalon simply isn't a fell shoe sadly - the speeds are better than the non-speeds, but they're still just a trail shoe that's good in mud. The iRocks are a spectacular shoe. Marginally better than the X talon generally and much better on wet rock, but you'll pay for them and the lugs wear faster. They are also narrow, which I imagine like me is what you want, but lots of people find them too narrow. These days I have gone from wearing xtalons and mudclaws for everything to iRocks for short races and VJ XTRMs for longer stuff - up to an including Old County Tops. Will probably wear for the Bob too. When not racing its La Sportiva Mutants and Roclites to try and save on the outsole wear on the VJs.

Yes! I use these in Switzerland in winter and they provide grip even if you're in mud up to your ankle. The only downside is that they absolutely suck if you need to run a short stretch of paved road. 

okay, one brand no one has mentioned - Inov8. The mudclaw and mudtalon are great, althought rubber on the X-Talon Ultra wasnt great for wet obstacles or rocks in my experience. but if you want the best grip on the planet, buy some VJ Ultra / iRock / MAXx shoes. they are epic.

Already been mentioned, but the Tecton X3 is a great fast shoe. If you want a really low slung fast shoe for the fells then you can’t beat the VJ iRock or the Inov8 MudTalon either. Also, I suspect it’s contentious but I really like the Merrell Longsky Matryx