Mudtalon

I've had problems with the durability of the mk1 mudtalons (upper splitting away from the sole). The speed are sloppy feeling but seem to be more durable.

Inov8 Mudtalon. Check my review https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2025/12/inov8-mudtalon-v2-review-mud-digger.html

Where I live, cold mud and slush are fairly standard conditions for several months of the year. It's no fun, but you do get used to it. Shoes: look for something with long, widely spaced lugs. Think soccer cleat. These shoes are good in mid because they dig into soft ground, but more importantly, they are better at releasing mud from between the lugs to help avoid that annoying mud-slab-on-shoe situation. That said, if your area has a lot of clay soil, there may be no avoiding the shoe slabs completely. Here are a few examples of good outsoles for mud and soft ground: https://www.inov8.com/ca/mudtalon-v2-mens?colours=3813 https://www.salomon.com/en-ca/product/speedcross-6-lg9212/L47980500 https://www.lasportivausa.com/cyklon-cross-gtx.html I would stay away from Gore-tex shoes unless it's also quite cold. It's generally better to have shoes that drain well, and just prepare for your feet to get wet, than it is to have a shoe that will hold all your foot moisture in there like you're marinating a chicken. The exception would be slushy snow or cold mud near freezing. These kinds of conditions could actually warrant a waterproof shoe, as long as you can be reasonably certain that water isn't going to come in the top. A built-in gaiter is nice for this, but those kinds of shoes tend to be very expensive. Your feet will be wet either way, whether from water or sweat, so you need to learn and practice foot care and blister prevention. Wear good socks - for most people this means merino wool. I personally like to slather my feet in zinc oxide cream if I know I'm going to be out for hours with wet feet. Everyone's feet are different, so try a few things and see what works. Run *through* the puddles, not around them. Running around them causes trail braiding and damage. Embrace the wet. Lastly, there may be areas near you that are just too wet or too susceptible to trail damage and you may just be best off avoiding them for the winter. This is pretty locally specific, it's not as simple as saying "don't ever run on muddy trails", so ask around.

Of the trail shoes I've used Innov8 has the most aggressive tread. In fact I stopped using my G270s for "normal' running and save them for winter mud/snow runs.

Inov-8 Mud/Trailtalon depending on the length of the lugs you need. Topo MTN Racer 4

It depends on how much mud and slippery stuff you are going to encounter. If it's 10 mins of mud in a 3 hour race then you can loose 3 mins by wearing your Pegasus trail if not then get 6mm+ lugs on your shoes. If it's ice then any trail shoes plus decent ice grippers/studs will work well.  I did a race at the weekend with roal to trail shoes plus grippers and it would have worked brilliantly had I bought decent grippers rather than use my wife's 5 year old £3 a pair rubber grippers with metal coils on. I do a triathlon in Scotland and wear my Inov8 mudtalons with 8mm lugs and they work really well. Half the run is mud or bog and I do not slip or slide. I've tried it in Nike Ultrafly and I was a lot slower! The most efficient trail shoes on runrepeat seem to be the Saucony Endorphin Edge and the Xodus Ultra 3. So if one of those has enough grip I would maybe give that a try. The best shoe is the one you already own, so if you have the Pegasus trail just wear it... But it is a very middling trail shoe. It does every pretty badly. It's not massively comfy, it's relatively slow and it's good poor grip... But you can look up your own metric see what you might like then try on a couple of them 🤞.

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).

They still don’t feel like a fell shoe to me though as the mudtalons cannot contour to save their life. Just so rolly! Their supposed fell shoe is just a trail shoe with big lugs.

They were great, then they took the strategic decision to make rubbish shoes that fell apart. The further they have strayed from their fell roots, the worse they have gotten. The only decent true fell shoes they currently sell are limited edition versions of their old ones - the mud talons are a trail shoe that’s good in mud. Forced in the fells, destroyed in Surrey these days.

Worth noting that G270s are very passive lug-wise for inov-8, have stopped being made, and inov-8 have gone massively downhill in the past few years, including but not limited to using a new factory with massive QC issues and replacing the excellent mudclaw with the mudtalon, which falls apart and much worse on rough terrain. The classic mud shoe of theirs was the mudclaw, which is coming back for sale this winter, however it is being made by their new shitty factory, so it remains to be seen if they will survive a week of running.

You need something with big enough lugs and separation between them where the mud will fall off as you're running. Inov8 mudtalons are really good. As the name suggests!