Nike - Terra Kiger 9

I picked up a pair of Nike kiger 9 really cheap, they are fantastic trail shoes

It’s nice to see at least one shout-out in here for the Kigers. It’s currently my favorite shoe and I bought a bunch of extra pairs of the Kiger 9 when they were on sale. Hopefully the Kiger 10’s will be even better when they’re released next year with the Vibram soles. Just out of curiosity, how many miles do you get out of a pair? I’m at ~450 on my current pair and they still have some life in them.

The 9s are way more middle-of-the-road than previous gens. I actually preferred the old Kigers because they were minimal which helped differentiate them. Either way these shoes have been changing a lot lately and the 10s could be different again. The one constant so far is they are springy and soft but wear out fast.

Nike Kiger 9. Been using the kiger line for years and I wear them for everything up to 100k.

Look around for Salomon Genesis, Kiger 9.

Zegama 2s probably have the best long distance comfort for your feet, however at the expense of raw performance and agility. But there is a paradox that more cushioning does not always equal more comfort. I find with max stack cruiser shoes I don't have ground feel and run with worse form and more impact. I've run longer distances in the Kiger 9s than the Zegamas for instance.

Kiger is indeed great, totally underrated shoe.

Nike Trail is quite different in fit to their road shoes. Kiger 9 has a pretty wide toe box, but is very locked down over the midfoot and heel. Kiger is a bit more of curved last compared with the Zegama 2 which is a bit more straight.

Kiger 1-8 terrible on wet rock. Kiger 9 = pretty good. Kiger 10 = Vibram. Also Kiger 10 is significantly lighter than the 9 as it switches from React to Cushlon. Also one of the rare shoes that uses a thin rockplate which I prefer as I don't sink or distort over stones.

Ye, Kiger will be more demanding that's just a personal preference I guess. Kiger 9 is my favourite shoe for Trailrunning and Hiking, but I'm just light not top 20% or anything.

Peg trail 4 had the old compound, Kiger 9 is updated and is much better.

For me Kiger 9s. They just work for my footshape and cost $70 and last 1200 km. Kiger 10 they changed the foam so won't be durable like React.

Kiger 1-8 bad wet grip. The K9 is much better than Saucony now. Not quite on Vibram levels though. Currently i think these are the best value trail shoes around as I bought some pairs for $50-90 and they last each 1000+ km (compare that to the Norda 005 for $325 and 300km). Be aware of the fit. It's wide in the forefoot, narrow in the waist and narrowish in the heel. This works well for my high arch feet. I think flat feet won't work, similar to most Nike. Works well for a forefoot strike as low drop and the forefoot is stable and broad. Good lockdown without being restrictive on the toes. Heel strikers would probably want more cushioning though. Cushioning is firm in cold conditions and it's definitely more pleasant in summer. I've run a 90km race in them and no problems (I wish they made a ReactX version though). They are not soft and bouncy, but have good shock absorption and rock protection and good ground feel. Overall there is no special feature in this shoe, it just works and fits my foot shape incredibly well and is cheap and durable. I think this shoe flew under the radar a bit as people were tired of the Kiger series and the poor grip. 'Conversational Pace' did a great review of it.

Try pick up a pair of Kiger 9s for like $80. Solid heel and it's 4 mm drop similar stack to peregrine, and toebox is wider than you might expect from a Nike. Peg Trail 5 another option, although the heel foam is quite soft and high drop so it's not really for technical terrain. But it handles road and fireroads well.

Yeah I may replace my Kiger 9s just for the extra grip on wet rocks.

Here’s my contribution. I haven’t done controlled tests like you did, but I run a lot of rocky vertical terrain and have put lots of miles in all these shoes. Trying to focus here on wet rock grip from the outsole and ignore other shoe attributes (fit, lock down, flexibility/stiffness, weight, cushion, etc) that also come into play with their overall ability to do the job on wet rock 5: VJ Maxx 1&2 VJ Spark Arcteryx Norvan VT (limited mileage) 4. Arcteryx Norvan SL 1, 2, &3 Salomon s/Lab Sense 7&8 Nnormal Kjeraq 3. La Sportiva Helios SR La Sportiva Vertical K & VK INOV-8 F-Lite 195 2. Whole bunch of older inov-8 x-talon and RocLite models NB minimus Salomon s/lab ultra 3 Salomon s/lab sense 7SG 1. Old Nike Terra kiger Salomon s/lab sense 1, 2, 3 For spiked shoes, I actually think they suffer quite a bit on rock because they don’t stick instantly like pure rubber soles. 4. VJ Devil 4 3. VJ bold race, VJ ice hero, INOV-8 ORoc 280

Rotating out Nike Zegama 2 and Terra Kiger depending on run type and/or weather.

I can easily recommend Nike trail shoes. I had the Pegasus trails last year and got a pair of wildhorses this year. It might be the most comfortable (for me) shoe from Nike I’ve worn. The kigers are great too

Peg trails and the wild horses are my favorites right now. Terra Kigers are good too but I’ve just gone through 3-4 pairs of those.

Neutral shoes are fine because the terrain is so varied when trail running. Stability shoes on trails are a recipe for rolled ankles (have flat feet, run in Nike Peg Trails, Nike Terra Kigers, and Saucony Peregrines just fine)

Terra kiger , thank me later

I have haglunds, but it's rarely an issue for my trail shoes (apart from the heel being the main point of wear!). I've almost exclusively run in the Nike trail lineup (terra kiger, pegasus trail) which have softer heel counters, and have also tried Hoka SG 5s with no issues. Having said that, while they have always been fine for my use cases, I don't know if these would be quite aggressive enough for you.

That is truly impressive. I had to retire a pair of Nike Terra Kigers after ZG 50, some lugs ripped off and they were pretty thrashed generally. I am usually not hard on my gear.

Like any surface change, mix trail runs in gradually, starting at shorter distances/whatever you're doing now. Your ankles will thank you, and it'll give you some time to build the stabilizing muscles that don't get as much work on pavement. (Though I guess this partially depends on what gravel you're running on, too.) And, what u/medicore_remnants said about hiking, though I'd add that the goal is \*often\* to keep perceived effort mostly even across uphill/flat/downhill segments. That can mean hiking uphills, but doesn't have to be. (I also know trail runners who are very specific about uphill hiking form for efficiency — long strides and a solid hip bend for loading. I wouldn't sweat it.) I run in Nike Kiger/Pegasus Trail (with extra love for the Kigers — they're an amazing shoe and everyone I know who wears them swears by them, but that's also selecting for folks who liked the feel). Beyond that, I'll let other folks take over on shoe & preparation recs (and assume you'll be wise about HM training). For finding trails: whatever you use for hiking. AllTrails, Gaia, Avenza, Hiking Project, Google Maps, Strava, etc. It's all good. TBH sometimes I'll just look at a topo and pick a place that looks like it'd be fun/has trails. >I really want to do a half marathon at a national park. Lastly, and taking unsolicited advice as usual, I suspect I won't be the only one to say: consider setting some intermediate goals along the way. It's easy to get excited about a long race somewhere amazing (and I have done so!!), and just as easy to lose momentum when it feels too far away, either by date or by fitness. Having ways to celebrate milestones along the way (longest/furthest runs, most elevation, fastest split of a given distance) or to be in community with runners (run clubs, running shorter trail races, volunteering for the longer ones, etc.) is a great way to feed that joy and build momentum.

Meh, probably very similar to the previous 9 versions. I find Nike shoes comfortable, but they're only good in the very dry weather. A slight bit of mud and you're sliding about all over the place.... although as I've typed that, it looks like the Kiger have now got Vibram rubber... oooooohhh, that's actually interesting.

So first: Run Repeat does in-depth reviews which includes measuring and confirms stack height and drops. Their [Zegama 2](https://runrepeat.com/nike-zegama-2) review indicates 4 mm is accurate. Second: From a feels perspective: just recently tried on the wildhorse (9mm drop) and then the Zegama (4 mm) and then afterwards put my Kigers (4mm) back on. Was not a long run with the wildhorse and zegama but the zegama defintilty felt lower and more normal to me than the wildhorse just much more cushioned than the Kiger feel. So if you are looking for lower dropped cushioned shoe then I think Zegama fits the bill. If you want less cushioned and low drop then Nike Kiger is a nice shoe and gives a really good ground feel.

It it’s a wide toe-box/ball of the foot, Nike trail shoes are wide enough for me. My feet are super wide at the front, I can’t wear adidas, salomon or hoka due to toes getting squeezed, but seem to do well with Nike (wildhorse, Pegasus trail, kiger are good but wouldn’t suggest Juniper trail)

My feet are very wide at the forefoot, narrow at the heel, high arch. Altra don’t work for me because the seem narrow at the forefoot despite having a wide toebox (almost like a funnel shape). Nike trail shoes suit me well as they’re wide and rounded, like the Kiger. Hear good things about the fit of the Ultrafly and Wildhorse too. So maybe worth a try on

The last set of kigers or Wildhorses I have had was in 2014/2015. I’ll have to look into the new ones if they have fixed the previous issue.

i really like my Nike trail runner, i bought a few pair of the first iteration of the pegasus goretex trail. Looks like they aren't as wide in the newer iterations, but they have held up really well and the react foam is great.

>... false sense of security so you roll/sprain your ankle worse. This was very true for me :) In my country the "old hiking rule" was that you always need high boots for mountains because they would protect your ankles. But it turns out that with high boots I had a false sense of security and was thus less careful when descending and consequently often twisted my ankle. The high shoe maybe helped a bit and prevented a harder sprain but it still hurt. I then switched to trail runners and I can see that I now walk way more carefully and have a way more precise foot placement than before. Consequently I haven't twisted my ankle ever since the switch. However it must be said that not all trail runners are equal in terms of stability and ground feel... La Sportiva Bushido which I have now are awesome but some Nike trail runners I had in the past were very bad and unstable.

I got nike trail runners and they work great. If theres a nike outlet store you can find them on sale.. I make sure I get just the right size and not too loose so they're not sloppy. Personally I put in the spenco runner gel insoles to reduce impact because I play on turf half the time. I also rock the mcdavid level 3 ankle braces om both feet s. This helps make sure I never roll my ankle. Hope this helps