Puma - Deviate NITRO™ Elite Trail

Are you in America? Go to Ross. I’ve found all sorts of nice trail shoes there for like 30-45 bucks. Bought my wife some zegamas recently bought my buddy some terrex ultras, I’ve got puma deviate nitros from there. I see all sorts of shit. Just gotta look incrementally

Interested to know if anyone else has experienced horrific rubbing/blistering on the Achilles from these shoes. I’ve never had a shoe that was this uncomfortable out the box in 20+ years of running.

I haven't seen much about these shoes yet, so I thought I'd share some initial thoughts after receiving them from [runningxpert.com](http://runningxpert.com/) last night and having just a short run on road today. Some comparable other trail shoes currently in rotation are also pictured and are: Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra, Saucony Endorphin Edge, Norda 001. Feel free to ask questions about anything. I'm 70 kg, 175 cm, male that averages 60 - 70 km per week with about 60% being on roads, 30% easy trail and gravel roads, 10% technical trail. **Fit/upper:** They fit very narrow. While not as narrow in the midfoot as Adidas, they are a lot narrower in the across the forefoot and about the same in the heel. The heel collar is very comfortable and the best fitting of all the shoes here if you can live with it being narrow. I get no heel slip. I usually wear size US9/EU42.5 and got these in size US9/EU42, so my regular us size, but 0.5 smaller than usual in EU size. They fit me pretty good lengthwise, and are maybe a bit small for their us size, but not enough for me to size up. I sit more on top of the foam than Nordas and Adidas, but they st **Midsole:** The foam feels very lively and with a semi rigid carbon plate it feels like a super shoe/super trainer for the roads than a regular trail shoe. They have a very aggressive rocker in the forefoot that is very comparable to Adidas, but they don't have the heel rocker Adidas have, so they're much more comfortable to stand, walk and heel strike in. They are narrow, so they will probably be a bit unstable but I feel closer to the ground in them then Adidas and Saucony. **Outsole:** The least technical outsole I have experienced in a trail shoe. The rubber seems pretty sticky, but the short lug depth will make these unusable in mud. (The white upper probably won't like it either). **Conclusion:** I'm not sure I'd classify these as trail shoes. But I'm sure they will be perfect for me as a faster shoe for gravel and easy trails where I spend most of my time. I also have about 2 km to the trailhead from home and these will be great road to trail shoes. Feel free to ask if you want to know more.

Hoka Challenger is a comfortable road to trail hybrid. I also enjoy (even more) ASICS Trabuco Max 2 for trail/road. Puma running shoes have “Puma Grip“ which works great for both roads and trails. The MagMax and Deviate Elite models are great.

I have both. (50, male, 80kg, sub-20 5k, 1:32 half) Have used the Nitro Elite 3 for everything from 5k to marathon - and absolutely love them. A lot of my training runs are around Rutland Water paths, which are combination of pavement, light gravel, packed-trail, but can get a little muddy if it rains a lot. The Trail are perfect for this. They feel similar to the road shoe - not quite as "bouncy", but you certainly feel the foam doing its work. Very comfortable and stable. Good on pavement too. I also ran in woodland on more technical trail (in the dry), and they coped admirably with tut grip on loose terrain and I didn't feel unstable on the technical or steep downhill sections. If you like the Elite 3s, and do a bit of hard trail on your runs, then these got the purpose. Also, after 300k, they are wearing really well - the sole looks good, the upper is fine, and they feel great still.

Quick and Dirty: **Upper:** Comfortable and breathable. Everything you need, nothing you don’t. Toe cap won’t provide much protection. For some reason, Puma couldn’t be bothered to add a loop on the tongue to put the laces through (although pics from their website do show loops, my pair sadly has none). By the end of the run the tongue had slid down below the top of the laces, which had been biting into my foot. However, there are plenty of ventilation holes on the tongue that I wound up lacing through which should work fine. Excellent lock-down. **Midsole:** Amazing. 10/10. Soft, almost plush for a trail shoe. Despite the softness the foam is quite responsive. The carbon plate definitely gives it some pop. Feels like a very comfortable shoe for long races. **Sole:** Just enough tread for light trails. Given the shoe isn’t designed for technical terrain, the lugs are perfect. The 3mm lugs feel similar to the Agravic Speed Ultra. **Fit:** True to size. Narrow and low volume. Might be too snug for wide feet, but hard for me to say as I have some narrow and low volume feet. **Value:** TBD but I’m loving the shoe so far. $230 is a competitive price for a trail super shoe.   Is this the trail super shoe we have been asking for? After walking around the neighborhood and running in them once, I am cautiously optimistic that the answer is YES. The cushion is incredibly soft yet has a bounciness to it that turns into screaming speed when the pace picks up. This truly feels like a road super shoe that has a little tread and a little more stability. Actually, a decent amount of stability compared to a road super shoe. However, I would not want to run on technical or rocky terrain in them. But rip some flowy single track and fire roads? Yes, please. These are the ticket. The closest comparison IMO is the Adidas Agravic Speed Ultra. I’m reserving total judgment until more miles have been ripped, but my first impression is that the *Pumas absolutely dunk on the ASUs* in every way. They are much more stable, yet just as fast (and maybe even faster). The foam is also way softer, yielding greater comfort over longer distances. Heel lock-down? Set it and forget it. Breathability is on par with the ASU, if not better. I could actually feel the gentle ocean breeze on my feet as I ripped the fire roads of the Marin Headlands. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to many more miles in these bad kitties.

I agree these shoes are definitely specific to very runnable terrain. The Pro Pro seems like the best all arounder to me as well. For me, the foam always dies in a shoe before the tread wears off so that is a concern as well. I don't track mileage, just go off feel, but I probably have about 500 on my ASUs and they're still going strong. I'll be curious to see how the Puma foam holds up. Given how soft it is, I'm guessing it won't be as durable.

Everyday road: Mizuno Wave Inspire Long road/race: Puma Deviate Nitro Light and mixed trails: La Sportiva Kaptiva More technical trails: La Sportiva Bushido Slushy winter misery: Arc’teryx Norvan VT Goretex At my mom’s house when I visit: North Face Endurus Backpacking/fastpacking/looser fit: Norda 001 (two pairs, both at 900ish km) I’d buy everything but the Norvans again. I’ve already got a spare of the Mizunos, Nordas, Pumas and Kaptivas on standby. 

Have just done a lake district run through snow slush and rain in puma nitro deviates without any loss of traction.

My BQ qualifier is getting worryingly close to the estimated cut off, so I'm considering a full send effort at one of the Seattle area downhill, rail to trail marathons in September. The one I'm looking at is the Cascade Express, which loses 1500ft very evenly over the last roughly 19 miles (about 80ft per mile) so not steep but still a lot of downhill. The surface is completely rail to trail, so hard packed crushed gravel. My last marathon I ran the AP4's, but with heel grove in those, I know they'd pick up a lot of gravel, so looking at marathon shoes without cut outs that could catch rocks. I already have the AP3's, which I think may work well but they've got quite a few miles on them. Looking at the Metaspeed Sky Paris as an option as well. Any thoughts?

good beta. I do have the Puma Deviate Elite Trail but it’s a few ounces heavier than the road version. I do a lot of gravel running, so yeah realize it’s a boost from downhill but a minus from the gravel in terms of pace boost. Looks like a beautiful course!

Any recent Pegasus has a decent outsole that works on trails, as do a lot of Puma shoes with the PumaGrip outsole, namely the Deviate and the Velocity. Craft’s road shoes are all trail capable and I’ve been a fan of the CTM Ultra lineup as a trail-capable road shoe.

Yep big fan ako ng nitro line hehehe.