X-Talon G 210 V2 Womens
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Would love to know how inov8 ranks here, imo x talons are excellent at wet rock
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 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.
Inov-8. I've found all other mainstream brands trail shoes to be lacking in grip and spent 90% of my time in an 8 mile off road race on my backside being picked up by the lady behind me. I noticed all the other runners who weren't falling were wearing Inov-8 or Salomon. I particularly liked x-talons but make sure you try them on as they are very narrow.
Inov-8. I've found all other mainstream brands trail shoes to be lacking in grip and spent 90% of my time in an 8 mile off road race on my backside being picked up by the lady behind me. I noticed all the other runners who weren't falling were wearing Inov-8 or Salomon. I particularly liked x-talons but make sure you try them on as they are very narrow.
Inov8 with graphene has very good grip. Nike trail have no grip at all
The Inov8 graphene G-grip I have are awful on wet surfaces, but they last a long time, I have approx. 400 km on my G280 parkclaws and the outsole is almost like new. Their sticky grip outsole is apparently what you need for better grip.
I started noticing this a couple years ago and planned accordingly. For me I have huge feet and it's hard to find good shoes. For those in my situation and like a low drop and low rise, look into Inov-8. I've only bought these shoes since early '23 and I hope they never change.
Topo mtn racer has better grip. Inov8 has better grip also; Trailfly for hard trails and Mudfly for wet/mud.
Inov8s are the answer.