Inov8 - X-Talon 255

Yeh xtalon long lugs, mud and rain + gaitors is a must for me with my lab running through hilly woods. I only wear them for that occasion and lasting me years. I wanted to get trailfly max when I saw I pic of them, went to the shop to try them and the shallow heel cup was the reason I'm looking elsewhere, different brands.

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.

Would love to know how inov8 ranks here, imo x talons are excellent at wet rock

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.

I feel the 'new' range is just uninspiring and feels old fashioned. I tried the Trailfly Speed which was heavy with a dull foam. Standard Trailfly was heavier with more dull foam! They just aren't competitive with other shoes out there. La Sportiva Prodigio shows how a modern all round trail shoe should be (and it's been a massive success). It's a shameas they used to be one of my favourite shoe brands, I went through 4 pairs of the G270's loved that shoe. Numerous Roclite, Mudclaw, X-Talon. I just don't consider them as an option any more. I live in the Lake District and not many of my friends wear them either any more. Mudclaws used to be the go to. See a lot of VJ, Terrex, Nnormal, La Sportiva and Hoka now.

The first pair of "proper" running shoes I bought were Inov8 terrocs in late 2005. I thought I was going to buy some Walsh PBs, but tried the Inov8s in a running shop and thought they were just what I wanted. By later standards, at 330g they were heavy, but lighter and better in mud than anything I'd known then. I used them for mountain biking and many activities. At this point, inov8 was a new, innovative company making seemingly more modern trail running shoes than others whose designs had barely changed in years. Later, Inov8 remained my go to for a trail running shoe, and I used x-talons as my favourite for years, then things like Roadclaw when I was running on harder surfaces, Terralultra when I started running longer distances. Living in a rural area, having shoes I knew fitted me and would work meant I could buy them again online, without needing to go into a shop and fit. The shoes fitted me well, they were light, I liked the off road grip of eg x-talon, and new running on tarmac from my door to get to somewhere off road was fine. Then came the rebrand and complete redesign of almost all the shoes. I bought up a few pairs of my favourite x-talons, immediately suspicious of their replacements with much deeper cushioning, but not wanting to take the time to go to a shop and start working out new shoes and new fit. The new logo looked cheap and unoriginal vs the old one. I hadn't followed the chnges of ownership, but was immediately suspicious. I've still not tried the "new" designs, remain wary, but as of today see that x-talons are being manufactured again. I can probably retreat into my safe comfort zone with the shoes Ive been wearing for years.

There's rarely a perfect trail shoe for UK winters, just which compromises work best. Here's my advice. 1. If your route is fairly flat for the muddy bits then most regular trails shoes are probably fine, you'll be slipping around a bit but overall if you have a mix of terrain you'll be fine. Just try to relax and have fun! 2. If your route is steep or off camber for the muddy bits lean more towards a shoe with better traction in mud and suck it up on the tarmac bits. 3. If your run is long but flat and muddy where your legs will be really tired, lean more towards a shoe that's better in mud. I've run some ultras where it's been really muddy for miles towards the end and nobody can stay on their feet and it's brutal and the funny side soon wears off. Be the one in the grippy shoes but try not too look too smug. Everyone has their favourite shoes because we all have different feet and running styles but if you have a road shoe that you really like and they do a trail version, that'll probably be fine for option 1. Option 2 and 3, then something that's more mud focussed. Inov-8 always excelled for UK trails, I loved the x-talon's but I've not really used Inov-8 shoes since they went a bit more mainstream. The x-talons were my go to for winter trails. Avoid any US brands for UK winter trails, they usually suck.

It's a bit strange but the shoe seems to move around my foot more when running. The actual grip of the lugs is great, but my foot moves around in the Mudtalons more, so they're not as stable. Very often I'll put my foot down and because of the instability my ankle or lower leg will twist or move awkwardly. I've never had that issue with a pair of fell running shoes before - the X-Talons were like a tight glove with minimal movement running. It's not much of an issue for training runs but I can't race in the Mudtalons.

I have the opposite problem! I find speedgoats very comfortable for road portions of off-road runs, even long road sections, and they're good on easy trail and wet rock, but I struggle with them on technical trail stuff as they're far too unstable and they're terrible in mud. (I do a lot of fell running, so my definition of 'technical' might be more extreme!) What I'm struggling with is finding something as comfortable as the speedgoats that handles technical trail, steep off-trail descents / 'light' fell running well, but is comfortable for long runs. I currently wear inov-8 x-talons for short fell races but need something for longer fell runs.

Asics trabucos might be worth a look. Inov8 aren't that wide apart from the toe box. I tried their wide fit and found trabucos to be wider around the arch of your foot. I have flat-ish arches so find it very uncomfortable if my foot ends up collapsing over the end of the shoe. Tried lots of Hoka, couldn't find a comfortable fit in any. Only downside to trabucos is the mid sole isn't very energetic and they are very "ploddy" to run in. If you want to be fast then look elsewhere. Be aware they moved the toe bumper internally on the 13s and they can rub so all of the above is based on the 12s.