OK - a first short and easy 7 mile road run in the f-lite 220's, and here are my Initial impressions:Originally Posted by AJF
Snug around the ankle but with enough room and 'looseness' in the forefoot for the foot to be able to do it's thing. In a way it 'feels' like a more substantial shoe than the 230, but that may just be the newness of it. You can tell that the rubber compound is different, but the ground 'feel' is pretty good. I'll reserve judgement on them until the materials have lost their 'newness'.
The upper is very similar to the x-talon212 and will 'soften' significantly with use, and the forefoot is higher volume than the 230 (also very similar to the x-talon)
This will be great news for people that find the 230 too low profile.
Now the odd bit.
Measuring the actual soles against the 230 - they are the same - but wearing them, the 220's FEEL broader. I suspect that is because there is more nett room with the extra volume.
I want to wear these a bit more, because I'm making a comparison with my 230's that have 450 miles on them, and ALL inov-8's soften and become more flexible with use, and in fact improve with use from the perspective of allowing the foot to work in the way it was designed to !!
I also want to wear them in the wet - the 230's are fabulous for traction in turning sharp 90 degree bends at 6 min/mile in the wet. One of the best shoes I've ever worn from that perspective - and I an intrigued to find out how well the 220's compare.
That said, I could feel the joints in the asphalt and any surface imperfections much in the same way as I can in the 230's, and the ability to 'stealth run' and scare the bejeezus out of swaggering chavlings was very much in evidence
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