S-Lab Sense 4 Ultra SG

I'll second this, by far best running shoe I've had. They are minimalist enough, minimal toe drop, good enough arch support, good at keeping out debris, don't need to be sinched down tight as they fit perfectly snug, not much cushion, but the tread is amazing, lasts way longer than Salomon, and they have enough protection to not kill your feet when you land on a pointy rock wrong. I thought they were too tight at first, but man these are good shoes. Might go up a half size next pair. For reference I'm at 10.5 in Salomon, and got 10.5 sky DNA. The length is good enough on the dynafit, but they are a tad narrower. they are also a bit harder to get into. I've also been using a few gen ago Salomon sense sLabs soft grounds. They are pretty cool, feels likes wearing a sock with tread, very comfy and good grip, but tread doesn't last very long and they don't have enough rock protection.

Personal preference. For years it was the Sportiva Bushido for me. But now I find the Akasha the perfect mix - more cushioning and really good to run in and does not lose much scrambling ability to the Bushido. I had over 1000k on version one. Version two still going strong. If it helps, I ran/scrambled this route multiple times with Akashas no problem: [https://whympr.com/en/route/18031-rocher-des-mottets-chamonix-voie-caline](https://whympr.com/en/route/18031-rocher-des-mottets-chamonix-voie-caline)

The older I get, the more cush I need. While shoes I own are much nicer on my joints (Speedgoat, Prodigio Pro, Aero Glide) I never wear them when it gets technical. Of course the heavy and not too soft Akasha seems a bit outdated to those latest models but I have yet to find a better mix of run/scrambling shoe. Maybe if I was younger or better trained I just go with the Bushido again...but then... I also used a lot of Salomon models: S/LAB Sense SG (good scramble shoe, to harsh to run in for me), Ultra Glide (very good to run in but no scrambling shoe) XA Elevate (I would put it in between Bushido and Akasha - but it's not available anymore). Also: Sportiva rubber has so much better grip on rocks than Salomon's...

I‘m unfortunately also very prone to ankle rolls. That’s we many shoes are out of question for me already when I do a slight roll test while standing in them. The NNormal shoes work fine for me except the Kjerag 2. I sent them back after standing in them. What works for me is: - Kjerag - Tomir 1 - Tomir 2 (best) - Tomir 2 NN (feels harder) - Cadí (my new favorite) I‘m personally very impressed by the durability. I had to retire most shoes at the 400km mark. With Salomon Sense Ultra, already the last 100k from 300k upwards were bad. On the Tomirs, I could do 1000k. However, the last 200k were merely fillers because I wanted to reach the 1000k mark. I‘ve never before ran in shoes >500km and I have >80 pairs of shoes tracked in my strava.

Yes, consistent sizing throughout the line. I‘d say durability as a whole. With Salomon (my other go to) I kill the outsole after 300k and also the midsole starts to give. The NNormals were consistent good in all respects. Even pairs used in races didn’t look terrible on the upper. Of course, after 700k it wasn’t a fresh shoe of course but still fully functional. With Salomon, the upper started to give too, especially with shoes I raced in (>100k trail ultras). My theory is that the salt from sweating during race efforts weakens the upper. Disclaimer: i got my Cadi only recently and only ran about 250k in them, so I can’t comment on the durability yet.

Contragrip wet traction was the best - it was on the XA Alpine and XA Elevate and the Sense Ultra, Sense 6. But since then it has gotten worse. The Ultraglide 1s were pretty terrible.

I used to run in salomons (s/lab sense & ultra 3s). I’ve since found Arcteryx Norvan SL to be a great replacement for the Sense, with the SL3 sharing obvious DNA with the sense 8. I was thinking a Norvan LD might be worth a look as an ultra 3 replacement, even though I’ve never tried them personally.