Voyage NITRO™ 4 Men's Trail Running Shoes

I suspect they may be harder to find and more expensive in the States, but I find the Puma Voyage nitro 4 to be a fantastic road to trail shoe. Feels good on both, the foam is great and it’s seriously grippy.

Nice time for your first 5km. If you can try these on, or get them from somewhere with a good returns policy, the Puma Voyage Nitro 4 is well worth looking at. It’s a fantastic road to trail shoe that is often discounted. Should suit your narrow foot well too.

I have similar feet (appointment with a podiatrist upcoming). The genesis is the first shoe I've owned that doesn't have a crease in the upper from my flat foot hanging over the medial side of the insole. It is relatively straight but I think the support pieces in the heel are what is doing the work. Now if they'd make a "genius max" or similar id be set. I just tried on the north face altamesa 500, the north face vective enduris 4, and puma voyage 4. All have cool tech, but all have curve and/or a cutout in the midfoot that removes them from consideration. You may need to try different sock thicknesses to dial in the fit with the genius (or fill in the volume with an insole). Lete know if you find something. There aren't a lot of shoes for us lol.

Great review. I got a pair a while ago for cheap and while I don’t run a load of trail ,they’re great UK autumn/winter weather trainers, when it’s been raining recently and the conditions aren’t ideal. the grip is amazing even on mostly road routes and the lugs are just right to be road to trail. Also really good Parkrun trainers, my local one is in a forest around a lake so terrain can be variable and these just shred through it. For anyone in the UK they’re down to £52 in sale sizes with the code EXTRA20 on the Puma website. I’m interested to know how they fit compared to other Puma models, as for me they’re a great fit width wise. Any non MagMax models you’ve tried you can compare them to in fit? 

I won a pair, I’ve only done 2 runs in them so far and they seem decent. I got them in the same size I wear the Result Nitro (very similar shoe to the Magnify available in NZ/AU) and the Deviate Elite 3. They don’t have the grip of my LaSportiva Prodigio Pro, but the grip is still solid. Only knock against the shoe so far in the toe guard has a hard edge that has rubbed the tops of my little toes on a run with lots of downhill, but I think different socks will help against that.

Tried the Magmax 1 and 2 & own the VN4. Voyage is my Daily Trail shoe, midsole is actually softer/more squish than those, but this is slightly offset by the outsole coverage on the underside stabilising the shoe. Love it for an easy day shoe that I can use from the front door - as others have said it works well for 'door to trail'

Have a look at the Puma Voyager range. I've had quite good success with v3 - loving the v4, big improvement in my opinion but not had them long enough to say how durable the foam is, but the v3 lasted ages for me. For reference, my latest v3 (the disc version, but I don't think that should make a difference to the foam) has 905km on them and has more life in them yet (but they have dulled a bit which is to be expected, but are by no means finished).

I ran extensively in the v3 (x2 pairs and clocked up over 1000miles between them) but I've only done one run in the v4 (but it was 31 miles 🤷). First off, love the v4 - massive upgrade. The foam is a lot more bouncy and has loads of energy return - felt a bit like I was running in some road up-tempo shoes compared to the v3 - especially my, admittedly pretty dead, v3's - it was like night and day. There is also a (much needed imo) rockplate so between that and the foam you do loose a bit of ground feel but it's acceptable. I got a touch of rubbing on one heel but that might have been some dirt so I'll withhold judgement on that (my run was VERY muddy - and they got submerged a number of times). The lugs on these seem a bit different to the v3's, not quite so articulated, so I was a little apprehensive at first but on foot they felt just like the v3 in terms of grip so no complaints there + they seem to shed mud a bit better which is a bonus. The best part for me was as I was nearly home (so \~30mile mark) I was running along and I realised I was already up the final hill and I hadn't noticed(!) which shoes the foam really was doing it's job. For me a solid 11 our of 10 upgrade.

https://preview.redd.it/qi63xst57frg1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d90d4cb816b67ee247e0d95d67554d56745079 https://preview.redd.it/av9o8st57frg1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d47a1842d1f35b775128a766a8880f528713e83d https://preview.redd.it/mewxstt57frg1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22effee17e2e2905dfb79e7bea4120001accf675 https://reddit.com/link/1s4d5ct/video/tuoa0u7w6frg1/player I asked in the general Puma thread this weekend if anyone had tried the Puma Voyage Nitro 4 because reviews were limited. I got a few responses, which were enough to make me bite the bullet and get them. [Here is the thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/RunningShoeGeeks/comments/1rtgj7m/comment/oagarbm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button), in case anyone else wants to read. I wanted them for a solid long run light trail and gravel shoe and I am super glad I took a chance on them because (spoiler alert) I love them.  **Runner profile:** I am 5’7” and 150 pounds. During normal times, I run 50-75 miles/week, occasionally jumping up to 100+ miles/week. I am a heel striker with less than ideal form with paces in the 8:00-11:00/mile pace range on road and light trail. **First run:** 34 degrees F, wet conditions, mostly light gravel and dirt trails with a little bit of road. 7 miles at a 10:30 pace. Tired legs, as per usual.  **Fit:**  These are *not* a standard Puma fit. These have a wide toe box. The midfoot isn’t super wide, but wider than the standard Puma shoe. I had to tighten the laces to get a solid lockdown on my narrow(ish) feet. The heel is nicely padded and holds my super narrow heel in well though. TTS in terms of length. No baggyness in the upper. The fit reminds me of the Puma MagMax.  **Outsole:** The lugs are ideal for wet trails and mud. They aren’t super aggressive, but I went through mud without any slippage. They did well on wet rock and roots too. PumaGrip is incredible in their road shoes, and equally good (maybe even better) on their trail shoes. I was on pretty light trails today, but the shoes seem like they would do great on technical trails too. They’re stable, grippy, and have solid but not too aggressive lugs.  **Comfort:** The shoes are cushioned to a level I didn’t know Puma could meet in a trail shoe. They remind me of what a trail MagMax would feel like. I didn’t expect that, especially because this version (v4) supposedly has a rock plate. I would easily feel comfortable taking these on a long run, which was my main reason for this purchase.  I didn’t love them on the short road sections I did because I could feel the lugs, but I am more sensitive to that than a lot of people, so take that with a grain of salt. They were fine, just not as comfortable as on the trails. Again, the lugs aren’t aggressive, so in terms of trail shoes, these are as comfortable on the roads as one can get. **Ride:** These are fun. Bouncy, solid energy return. Like I said above, nicely cushioned for supported landings. They’re stable too. Everything I would want for a long run. While I didn’t attempt any pace pick ups, I bet these would be great for that. As stated above, these are like a trail version of the MagMax. **Bonus:** The toe box is designed to look like a puma. The reflective on the front acts as the eyes, the toe bumper acts as a nose, and they added little teeth. I am tickled by this. What a fun little hidden treasure.  https://reddit.com/link/1s4d5ct/video/hrlbl32y6frg1/player **Overall thoughts:** I love these shoes. They are exactly what I was looking for as a long distance PNW runner surrounded by trails. They are comfortable, well-cushioned, perfect-fitting, grippy, bouncy, and fun. I know this review doesn’t provide a ton more additional information than what is already out there, but I wanted to get this out ASAP because I know I wasn’t the only one curious about them and disappointed by the lack of reviews. I am happy to provide more feedback after clicking off more miles in them if people are interested. 

I had better luck with these on the wet rocks than any Vibram-soled shoes I have used. A few people in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskRunningShoeGeeks/comments/1qmu6mm/has_anyone_tried_puma_voyage_nitro_4_as_a_trail/) talked about the grip too, if you want more opinions (all seem positive regarding grip).

I am curious too. Someone in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskRunningShoeGeeks/comments/1qmu6mm/has_anyone_tried_puma_voyage_nitro_4_as_a_trail/) mentioned they used these for that purpose and that they did well. If you want a more road-specific shoe, I used the Puma MagMax through snow, slush and ice last year and they were great.