Originally Posted by
mr brightside
Bought a pair of 212s after xmas to see how they compared to a Walsh. I suspected from the outset that they lacked grip, and after 4 months of use they've got to the point where i just can't push them to the limit of their grip any longer; that is to say that the limit of their grip is below the limit of my running. It took my last Walshes about a year to get to this point. They just don't seem to bite into the ground like Walshes. Coming down the final nasty bit to the fell gate at BOFRA Sedbergh Gala yesterday, i was striking my foot and they were really fighting for a purchase, i had to back off and nearly lost a place. Without sounding too haughty, i think that anyone who finds 212s to have better grip than PBs hasn't pushed either shoe to its limit.
I noted in theNoor's Fellrunner review of them that he had trouble getting the laces tight and i have the same problem. It's down at the front where they just seem to go loose and allow the foot to come forward and the toes to bounce off the ends during descents. I should imagine a fancy lacing system would counter this but there is no such problem with Walshes.
I think my next Inov8 shoe will be the Mudclaw 272, meanwhile i'm going back to my old PB racers.