And animal tracks on the soles, I had a pair of those.
Best fell shoes I had were ETAs but they didn't produce them for very long. First pair I had were excellent, lasted a long time and had good grip. Replaced them with another pair, they were nowhere near as good, I think the guys behind them had been bought out and standards had dropped?
Was £25-30 in the eighties as expensive as £100+ today? It feels like £100 is a lot more money even in 2020.
In a shop looking into buying my first pair of fell running shoes - they sold Walshes - the salesman said something like "If I was you I would go to a shop that sells Inov8s" - and I did. I have tried Salomons - too narrow - Sportiva - too slippery and they bite your heels - Altra - good, but so wide they really tilt on traversing - so Inov8s for me - some last longer than others - X-Claws were lovely but fell apart too soon - now replaced with the 260s - a bit narrower unfortunately but still good. I agree £140 is too much, but who pays that?
The Mudclaws 300s and the old Roclite 290s seem to last pretty well, and I've generally had over 500 miles out of these, but nearly all other Inov-8s I've tried (and I've tried loads!) have issues with the uppers failing after a couple of hundred miles, especially if used a lot when wet. Bad enough when you get last seasons around £70, but no way I'd spend £100+ on a pair!
I'm currently looking for a new pair similar to the old Roclites, but the range is bewildering - 275, 290, 300, 305, 315 and the numbers don't seem to accurately correspond with weight anymore, which used to be a good indicator of upper robustness.
I had an “issue” with a Mudclaw Classic (otherwise a fantastic shoe), covered elsewhere on this forum in more detail, but basically fell apart halfway round the Ennerdale race, causing much merriment and adventure in the 2nd half.
Prior to that had no problem with Inov8 shoes, but since then have tried other makes. You only have to look at the quality of some of the shoes in your hands to see that some of the other makes seem to be far superior in terms of finish and it would seem durability.
Not to bash them too much... they are the no.1 brand with good reason, but I do feel that many people fall for the marketing.... the mass hysteria on Facebook surrounding the launch of the graphene shoes being an example.
I’d go back to mudclaws again without hesitation, but at the moment I think there are one or two superior options
Not the best place for that to happen Travs!
Just coming off top of Green Gable into Windy Gap.... long way to go from there! Worst bit was the organisers were impressed with my determination to finish, so gave me a prize..... an Inov8 voucher.....!
That genuinely made me laugh out loud - oh, the irony!!!