Speedland: GS: TMT for long trail runs (50 miles)
Speedland: GL: PDX, medium distance trail runs (150 miles, 2nd pair)
Lone Peak 8s: Daily runner, mixed road & trail (225 miles, probably owned like 30+ LPs)
I need to add a dedicated road shoe for days that I don't make it to one of the local parks.
Speedlands are a bit pricey but I've really been enjoying them so far. I rarely ever changed the tension on my laces midrun with traditional laces but being able to quickly tighten them up for technical downhills or loosen them for climbs has been nice.
I got on the Lone Peak band wagon around version 3 and have always been happy enough with them although I generally get some pain in the sole of my foot if going 20+ miles in them.
When I "technical trail" I winder what people mean because where I am at we have some black diamond shit. Wet, mossy rocks, mud, roots, more rocks and scree... we have everything except dry trails for 300+ days a year to put it into perspective. With that said I run in the following, ranked from most used to least...
1. Speedland GS GAR with some spikes added (3 on toe area and two all the way at the back) for a liiiitle extra grip on wet roots or rocks. I love these shoes for the wet, long run days. I leave the carbon plate out of these.
2. Speedland GL PDX: tempo/threshhold/ 5k, 10k even 20k but no more than that. Deeper lugs also helps when it gets really sloppy and also same spike arrangement added and I like the carbon plate in these.
3. VJ Ultra 3: Not the super deep lugs like the Inov8 shoes but amazing rubber and a really good wide toebox fit... at least by my standards.
Hoka Tecton/x 3: On the dry days where the trails have had a couple days prior to really get things dry. I really love these shoes but they just don't have the traction for trails as technical as these.
Hoka Zinal 2: For the short up's / hill races, hill sprints, etc. added a Sper Feet sole to these to add a little stiffness and protection.
That's my quiver and my recommendations :) at least for trails...
This is such an interesting contrast to my experience. I tried the Cascadia Elites out on a few miles of the Gorge course (I’m a local) and had a terrible experience, just constantly felt like they wanted to tip and didn’t handle cornering or the winding trail all that well. Felt like I almost rolled my ankle half a dozen times in that short demo section. This is terrain I’m very comfortable to running on as well. I also have wide feet and I felt they were too narrow compared to the other Brooks shoe I run in (Hyperion Max 2) with my foot going numb after not much time. Perhaps it’s because I went TTS, and maybe would have had a better time with a half or full size up? Regardless I did not race in them and have been hesitant to consider them as an option again.
I raced in the Speedland GL:PDX, used it last year as well. Went much better this year, shaved 50 minutes off. Yeah it takes a lot of concentration but I love it. Sounds like you had a good race shoe-wise, hope everything else went well!
So in love with my speedlands. I have a very wide forefoot and have had to run in wide versions of trail shoes for years but they all suck. Normal speedland pdx’s fit amazing! I love trail running again with these shoes, now on second pair
I tried the PDX and Tam 2 years ago and currently run in the MTC R1 (~100 miles) and T1 (~50 miles). I don't have them side by side though.
The Speedlands were ok but nothing special, there were already other fast shoes like Nnormal Kerag and Salomon Pulsar series, and long run/ultra shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Edge that worked great for me at a fraction of the price and lighter to boot. I don't care for boa, they add to costs, bulk, maybe weight and for me would be a hardware solution for a minor problem having to do with attention to detail when just lacing up.
R1 fits my feet well which is a major item for me, durability is good so far, and runs well enough. Will take time to compare to the Endorphin Speed 3s I enjoyed for a few years because I could get 900-1000+ miles/pair out of them and the current Endorphin Speed 4s are notably too narrow.
T1 is what the Speedgoat or MTN Racer could be. Fits my wide feet well, good amount of bouncy cushioning that I don't feel like I'm fighting when picking up the pace, and solid traction.
Top Trail Running Shoes on Reddit
1
Mount to Coast
H1
85% positive of 177 users
Versatile road-to-trail, but struggles on wet, technical downhills.
Any_Blacksmith5958
