Mesa Trail II

Altra has the Superior and King Mtn, both of which have less cushioning and arch support than the Lone Peaks. The Superior 6 is my go-to right now. I train almost exclusively in Xero Prios. I also run in Mesa Trail IIs with a rock plate.

I am also a fan. I run regularly in my Prio Neos, and I just hiked the Salkantay trek in Peru in my Mesa 2s. Xeros fit so perfectly right away for me and never cause any rubbing or pain. Finding hiking shoes has been a struggle. No traditional boot brands fit me comfortably, so I gave up. The Xeros aren't great in deep mud unfortunately, I had to put shoe covers on for part of the trail one day. So far the shoes are holding up well. I'm an avid runner and hiker, so we will see... I haven't found any other barefoot shoe brand that fits me so perfectly, but there are a lot I haven't tried (Whitins, Vivos, and Altras don't work for sure). I can get the Xeros on sale online occasionally, so I don't normally pay more than $65-85 a pair.

My Mesa 2 Xeros have great traction. I hiked the Salkantay trek in them and it rained a lot, so we were hiking on wet rocks. I never slipped even once. They have the same traction as my old expensive hiking boots but are 10x more comfortable.

I have the same problem. I still can't find any boots that work. Merrells and Oboz do not work for me. Xero Mesa 2 trail runners are the only shoe that I have found that holds my heel in the back on downhills without hurting my ankle. Everything else hurts my toes. They are minimalist shoes though, so they take some getting used to (they also run really small, so size up a whole size) I hear good things about Lems, but haven't tried them yet.

Seconding Xero. After New Balance abandoned their trail running customers, I ordered Xero walking shoes just to checkout the material and build quality of what was (to me) an unknown brand. They've been great, durable, and still look pretty new despite a lot of use. When it was time for new trail runners, got those from Xero and they've been great. 14w flat and I love the Mesa Trail II Barefoot

I’ve worn Xero shoes for the past five years, and I love them. I wear the scrambler lows right now and they’re great. Mesa Trail II are excellent as well (and they make great yard work shoes after you wear em down disc Golfing). I got two-three seasons out of them each

Xero Mesa II are my favs! Never loved a shoe this much.