Sportiva Fell shoes

[david]

Comfort? All well and good, but it's not what you want for fellrunning, is it?

Exactly. It's not a proper fell shoe if you can't feel the ground through the sole . Too many wimps in the sport wanting comfort these days .

[Harry H Howgill]

Exactly. It's not a proper fell shoe if you can't feel the ground through the sole . Too many wimps in the sport wanting comfort these days .

Shoos! LUCKSHERY !

[dogrunner]

My wife and at least one other runner I know of are testing them at the moment, she's raving about them and has been wearing them ahead of her 270 mudclaw's for usual training runs due to comfort. However I think when she races next she'll still go with the 270's as it's a more aggressive sole. The main thing is durability though. As a broad footed runner I only have the option of walsh ultras and soloman speedcrosses as an out right fell shoe, I can wear terrocs, but not mudclaws/rocs. But the PB's only Solomans SX's last a few hundred miles (250ish) before the mesh fell apart (Solomans) or the sole looked like a slick (walshes).

Are you saying these will fit wide feet ? Curious because in the very brief review in the latest Trailrunner magazine (U.S.) these are listed as narrow to mid-width. Hope they are wide, not too many choices as you say.

[IainR]

Really?

They look broad, and one of the testers has quite broad feet and they suit him. I have hopes for them as very few fell shoes fit me. the terrocs fit me lovely but I don't think inov8 use that last for any of their pure fell shoe range.

[dogrunner]

Here's what it says in TrailRunner (issue 51) about them:
"blah blah blah ...these quick shoes offer a low, not overly padded ride blah blah ... The aggressive outsole grabbed in sloppy conditions, particularly mud . The shoe had a surprisingly supportive midsole and flexible forefoot. Testers commented that the shoe is a terrific option for trail races up to the marathon. The Crosslite fits narrow to medium widths ... blah."

fwiw, take with grain of salt, etc.

It is always difficult to know how a shoe is going to fit until you try it on. My feet like the Mudroc 290, Roclite 315, are ok with the flyroc 310. But the roclite 285 was a toe squeezer and the 305 was ok on width but the shape was wrong. I am concerned with the narrow to medium width statement, because that does not leave much room for interpretation as wide. So I guess we'll have to wait and see and get some real user reports. Somebody will take the bait

[A.P.E Knott]

The main point to consider is,how much do they cost?.

[Bonobo]

The main point to consider is,how much do they cost?.

About £65

http://www.rawoutdoors.co.uk/Models....1&ModelID=1205

And A.T. Grip Spikes are these:

http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/441

[Fellhound]

Hmmmm, interesting. Might make a good winter shoe.

[dogrunner]

Really?

They look broad, and one of the testers has quite broad feet and they suit him. I have hopes for them as very few fell shoes fit me. the terrocs fit me lovely but I don't think inov8 use that last for any of their pure fell shoe range.

Here's what the Sportiva customer service email answerer had to say about sizing. It does not sound promising for those of us with duck feet --

"I would say our line fits around a C width. We do not offer any other widths. The fireblade has the most room in the toe box and a pretty slim heel. Based off your needs in your email I would say that the Fireblade is your best shot to get a fit in our line. We run pretty narrow.
The skylite/crosslite fit pretty similiar just not quiet as wide in the toe box."

FWIW. I ordered a pair of fireblades before getting this email, but I may have to look elsewhere for for superlight trail shoes (skylite is the only model I've heard of besides Inov8 F-lite 250 in that wt range).

[IainR]

Bugger, I'll have to try on a pair. Bad news that, I suppose its carry on with Walshes.