MT-5

You've asked for the holy grail of shoes and you'll find it doesn't exist. Basically there is a spectrum from hiking boots to formal shoes. Some are versatile (I've listed my favorites below) but nothing will cover the whole spectrum. My favorites: \- Topo Athletic MT-5 trail runners in dark grey: Excellent for hiking in all but the most aggressive terrain. My only pair of shoes for a 10-day trip to Switzerland. I wore them with jeans and a wool button down in some fairly nice restaurants, but would have been self-conscious in very upscale establishments. \- Blundstone boots (I have the 550 model): Look good enough for all but the finest restaurants. Adequate outdoors, but you'll wish for a more precise fit if you're in steep or uneven terrain.

3.) If you like the roomy toe box of Alta’s, try some Topo Athletics. I have a wide foot box and narrow heel so liked the basic fit of Altras but the zero drop was not for me. I’ve been running in Topo MT 5 and find they are just about as roomy but with enough drop to keep my mid foot happy. 2.) I’m happy with my cheap INOXTO vest from Amazon. I think it was like 30$ (including the bladder) and sounds like it would match what you are looking for: includes 1.5L bladder. There are 4 pockets in the front. I usually stuff those with snacks and my phone but have also put an extra 300cc silicon water bottle in there without a problem. Plus there is a back pocket which fits a windbreaker. If you hate it, it is Amazon and easily returned. 1.) My go to is English muffin with peanut butter and jelly + banana about 1hr before I get started and the Clif Bloks through the run with plenty of water. Cramping is also a sign you maybe going to hard. Fuel, slow down, drink water, enjoy the ride 🙂 Happy trails✌️

does Saucony make a wide toe box trail shoe? my experience with Peregrines is that they are medium to narrow in the toe. I switched to Topo for the wider box - I love both the MT-5 amd the Terraventure.

I had 3 pairs of superiors shred apart on the upper on both inside and outside just above where it connects to the base of the shoe. Same for 3 pairs of outroads. I've never had a non altra showle do this. They all died at under 250km. I have ~1800 km on a pair of nordas right now, and ~700 and 400 on a couple pairs of Topo mt5s. Ive put over 1000km on each of the last 3 pairs of topo phantoms I have had. I have a pair of timps and they have held up well, and the paradigm 4 was an amazing altra shoe. Altra is absolutely hit and miss and this topic comes up a ton. It isnt and OP thing. Its an altra thing.

I went from being a full on Altra wearer to Topo and Norda. I found the quality of Altra has declined dramatically from when I started using them, and I had 5 or 6 pairs of superiors, and a couple pairs of torins both die well under 200km. I swapped to Norda and Topo at the start of the summer last year. I think my first pair of Norda 002's have about 1400 km on them - still wearable, though the tread is mostly gone. I use them as road runners mostly now, but I also have been wearing them with Kathoola micro spikes for shoulder season running. I have another pair already purchased and a pair a full size up from both of these for upsizing into in the middle of my races. They do fit small. I went up a full size from altra, and I was already slightly upsized. I don't like the 001 or the new 005 as they pull on my achilles, but I find the 002 has no issues on that front. The new 005 seems sick though, its a high stack and super cushy, but I don't like the heel cup of that upper design. I would fully support making the switch over, but I would also heavily recommend that you try them on in person before you buy. Depending on where you are, there might be a demo fleet of shoes available to take out for a test run or 3 (SkiUphill/RunUphill had a full fleet of all sizes available last year) and I would seriously recommend trying them out, as they are not cheap. They are however extremely durable, and the dyneema upper is as sturdy as they claim. Given the only slight price difference between them and altra, it makes absolute sense for me to use Norda. Hope that helps a bit. Good running!

Not under 100 bucks but IMHO worth every penny and my joints and back thank me, ToPo brand MT-5 model (5’s just launched a week ago so 4’s might be on sale now). Edit to add Salomon XA Pro 3D’s are my faves too

Love my ToPo mountain racer 5’s! Love ToPo! Phantom model for my daily walkers and gym time

Yes love my new ToPo MT-5’s (mountain racers)

Altra LP, Saucony Perigrine, Topo MT or Terraventures, Brooks Cascadia, and the list goes on. I am biased for Altra Lone Peaks for its ultimate comfort. The Olympus are a bit chunky for trails in my opinion but it is up to you to try them on and decide. Altra LP are comfortable out of the box. The outsole is durable and work well for most conditions. If you run on wet trails, find a shoe with Vibram outsole (Olympus for Altra). IMO, on trails the lower the drop the better. The zero drop is very unnoticeable. Most moderate and harder trails are constantly changing under foot, having a drop of greater than 4mm for me is detrimental for stability. If you are running easy trails or gravel paths a regular road shoe will be fine. The advantages of a trail shoe are foot protection, water drainage and grip. Otherwise a pair of road shoe can handle flat paths of gravel or packed dirt just fine. Go to a specialty store and try try, try. Remember sales associates can give good advice......but they can also be misinformed or biased. They can recommend but you need to make the decision based on your preferences.

Not sure if they’re trail runners but I made the switch from Hoka Speedgoats and zero drop Altras to Topos with a 5mm drop. The Topos are still going strong on the soles.

I just switched to Topo. I went with a 5mm drop but it checks the other boxes. I have not put much time on them but out of the box I'm happy. Altra shoes started wearing out way to fast.

I've got a couple Topos as well and I love the fit, but the arch is too high for me, and the midsole is very 'meh' and seems to break down a lot faster than other brands.

Topos are reasonably normal (whatever that means), widely available, wide toe Bos, and low drop shoes.

Try Topos in the wide width. I speak from experience. My feet are EEE width.