Trailtalon Series

I’ll confirm that the toebox of a wide inov-8 is wider than the standard Altra toebox. They also have the same models in various drops and stack heights.

While I like my trailtalon wide, I agree that they’re very wide even compared to Altra. I will not get the wide in the future. Upper durability hasn’t been a problem so far. The heel collar has degraded somewhat but with no impact on how it feels.

Trailtalons have 6mm lugs and still do great in mud. The boomerang footbed helps on tarmac. Still much more a mud than road shoe though.

Can confirm the same for the Trailtalon. I’ll also say the inov8 footshape is broader at the forefoot than the prodigio pro.

Where I live, cold mud and slush are fairly standard conditions for several months of the year. It's no fun, but you do get used to it. Shoes: look for something with long, widely spaced lugs. Think soccer cleat. These shoes are good in mid because they dig into soft ground, but more importantly, they are better at releasing mud from between the lugs to help avoid that annoying mud-slab-on-shoe situation. That said, if your area has a lot of clay soil, there may be no avoiding the shoe slabs completely. Here are a few examples of good outsoles for mud and soft ground: https://www.inov8.com/ca/mudtalon-v2-mens?colours=3813 https://www.salomon.com/en-ca/product/speedcross-6-lg9212/L47980500 https://www.lasportivausa.com/cyklon-cross-gtx.html I would stay away from Gore-tex shoes unless it's also quite cold. It's generally better to have shoes that drain well, and just prepare for your feet to get wet, than it is to have a shoe that will hold all your foot moisture in there like you're marinating a chicken. The exception would be slushy snow or cold mud near freezing. These kinds of conditions could actually warrant a waterproof shoe, as long as you can be reasonably certain that water isn't going to come in the top. A built-in gaiter is nice for this, but those kinds of shoes tend to be very expensive. Your feet will be wet either way, whether from water or sweat, so you need to learn and practice foot care and blister prevention. Wear good socks - for most people this means merino wool. I personally like to slather my feet in zinc oxide cream if I know I'm going to be out for hours with wet feet. Everyone's feet are different, so try a few things and see what works. Run *through* the puddles, not around them. Running around them causes trail braiding and damage. Embrace the wet. Lastly, there may be areas near you that are just too wet or too susceptible to trail damage and you may just be best off avoiding them for the winter. This is pretty locally specific, it's not as simple as saying "don't ever run on muddy trails", so ask around.

If you don't have a very wide heel/midfoot you could also try the Inov8 Trailfly or Trailton wide models. Foot shaped, wide at the front and with a durable graphene sole. Both available in zero drop versions. I went from the Lone Peaks to these models and couldn't be happier, they better hold the midfoot in place on oneven trails if you don't have a beefy midfoot.

Inov8 Trailtalon, with rockplate, footshaped, choice of regular/wide and 6mm drop/zero drop. The front of the wide version is comparable in width to the Altra LP, the midfoot and heel offer much more stability. Also the Inov8 Trailfly model (designed harder surfaces) has a rockplate, but only the Trailfly, the Trailfly V2 doesn't have a rockplate.

I love Inov-8 the Trail Talons are great.

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.

Would definitely look at Inov8 Imo they fit this kind of foot shape. They are also relatively minimal compared to most, even their max cushion models are not particularly high stack by today's standards. They have a zero drop version of most models also. If you have a narrow heel I'd go 'precision fit', they still have decent toebox, and good ground feel imo. Depending on terrain - trailfly are good on hardpack and low-medium technical trails, trail talons are the all rounder for varied terrain and softer surfaces, and mud talons are for mud and highly technical terrain.