Inov8 - Mudtalon Series

I started noticing this a couple years ago and planned accordingly. For me I have huge feet and it's hard to find good shoes. For those in my situation and like a low drop and low rise, look into Inov-8. I've only bought these shoes since early '23 and I hope they never change.

Inov8 mud talons or trail talons. I have the old mud talons, good ground feel and crazy grip, not the most comfortable longer distance. Otherwise VJ Maxx. In group tests the La Sportiva Mutants often come out in top of anything grip based. Haven't tried them myself but that rubber has an excellent reputation.

They still/again have zero drop trail runners? Trailfly zero, mudtalon zero. Trailfly speed is 4mm drop. So I'm not sure if you're looking in the right place?

Topo mtn racer has better grip. Inov8 has better grip also; Trailfly for hard trails and Mudfly for wet/mud.

It depends on how much mud and slippery stuff you are going to encounter. If it's 10 mins of mud in a 3 hour race then you can loose 3 mins by wearing your Pegasus trail if not then get 6mm+ lugs on your shoes. If it's ice then any trail shoes plus decent ice grippers/studs will work well.  I did a race at the weekend with roal to trail shoes plus grippers and it would have worked brilliantly had I bought decent grippers rather than use my wife's 5 year old £3 a pair rubber grippers with metal coils on. I do a triathlon in Scotland and wear my Inov8 mudtalons with 8mm lugs and they work really well. Half the run is mud or bog and I do not slip or slide. I've tried it in Nike Ultrafly and I was a lot slower! The most efficient trail shoes on runrepeat seem to be the Saucony Endorphin Edge and the Xodus Ultra 3. So if one of those has enough grip I would maybe give that a try. The best shoe is the one you already own, so if you have the Pegasus trail just wear it... But it is a very middling trail shoe. It does every pretty badly. It's not massively comfy, it's relatively slow and it's good poor grip... But you can look up your own metric see what you might like then try on a couple of them 🤞.

I have wide feet and went for inov8 mudtalon wide in 1.5 size up. They were still not wide enough so I'd say she can skip them altogether with this shape of feet

I much prefer the new Mudtalon to these - have had both. The X-talon a pure soft ground shoe I think though. Wouldn't like to be caught on wet slabby rock. You can get a range of fits in the newer shoe too - precision, standard and wide which helps.

Long reply here but I understand this quite niche problem all too well. I have a bunion in the same place on left foot but actually have skinny midfoot so always struggle to get a lockdown in 'wide' shoes. The Inov8 Trailfly and their new range works well here. I'd actually go for the standard fit over wide as the toe box is already foot shaped. The width I think is in the midfoot. For example, I have a pair of precision fit Mudtalons and get a super snug midfoot lockdown but the toebox still lets my foot spread. The problem you actually have is that a lot of 'wide toe box' shoes still carry that super straight line on the inside of the foot which obviously doesn't work. Even the Prodigio Pro mentioned is quite accommodating but suffers from this to a degree as the bunion pushes the mesh out and can become uncomfortable by forcing your foot or all toes away to the side. Salomon shoes are quite bad for this, even though I suck it up and wear them as the midfoot just suits my feet. The Trailfy is the comfiest shoe I've worn in years, and I've even cleaned mine up and now wear them for walking around daily and the gym. They do a Trailtalon too if you need more softground grip, plus a road shoe. Edit to add: if anything like me, mine is just on the one foot so if I buy wide shoes, the other is super sloppy. This is why a better shape toe box works better than a wide fitting shoe in my opinion.

Inov8s are the answer.

Gravel is a tricky surface, I agree. It probably depends on the the percentage of a certain terrain in a run that I choose the shoes. Generally, for steep grass I like Mudtalons with 8mm lugs, for snow the Genesis and for barely runnable rocks Bushidos. But then again, there is always a trade-off, since a run is usually composed of different surfaces. As an allrounder in alpine environment, I often go for Dynafit, Prodigio or Ribelle Run. YMMY. (And yes: I might have too many shoes).

I’ve been wearing Inov-8s for 15+ years for trail and fell running and even moved to them for XC races when achilles injuries meant I could no longer wear spikes. Always done the job for me, reasonable value and regularly available with chunky discounts online.

Inov-8 has a bunch of models in a wide size now. Even the older models I use have a lot of room for my toes. Durability is fine I think, compared to what I read about Altras.

I'd say yes (not having used the latest models personally though). I find mine very comfortable.

I can also confirm the durability of Inov-8s!