I got a shout from Inov-8 about the new range, which in a few weeks I should be showing on here in more detail as we’re sorting out a visit, but for now I’ve got the Trailroc 255’s in for test.
I thought I knew what to expect from a pair of Inov-8s, there’s always been certain constants in the trail shoes I’ve had, certainly in the last, but the Trailrocs feel very different on my feet.
The shoe has a lot going on, when I do an update I’ll go into more detail, but the basics are it’s “two arrow” cushioning on here, which is pretty minimal, they’re low to the ground but there’s enough under your foot for comfy backpacking. There’s a 6mm differential, the rise from forefoot to heel, which the highest of the three Trailroc variants, the 235 has 0mm and the 245 having 3mm. You really can dial yourself in these days, the options are many.
The upper is mesh reinforced with some synthetic overlay. The heel has some protection from the same plastic and there’s a big flexible rand around most of the shoe. The sole is well studded and has three compounds in there, so it’ll be interesting to see how wear rate and grip balance out. There’s no heel counter and the whole sole is lovely and flexible.
The shape is what’s really got me on board though, these have the widest forefoot of any Inov-8’s I’ve tried, wide and rounded with room for toes to spread comfortably after many miles. I’m hoping.
In fact, these fit me better than most other Inov-8s in general, the heel cup feels taller and more, er, cupping for want of a better expression.
It’s early days, but I’ve got high hopes and we’ll see what happens.
Hiya fella,
Whilst these are wider at the front than other Inov8, do you think these would be more suitable than other brands of footwear for folk with wide feet?
To clarifyI’m unsure if Inov8 are normally a narrow fit, so whether these being wide at the front only makes them as wide as other brands.
My feet are like flippers these days, so it’d be good to get something with a bit of room for ‘splayage’.
Ta
This is a tough one to quantify, I wouldn’t say Inov-8 were narrow as much as well fitted, but must shoes I’ve had from them have a tapered toe, fell shoe style.
The back half of the Trailrocs don’t feel that different, other than what feels like a better heel cup to me, but the front is a different shape, wider and it loses the fell-shoe pointed toe so the shoe is shorter for a given size, some folk I reckon well have to size-up in these.
On my feet the Trailrocs feel closer to my dogeared Salomon XA’s than anything.
If I get a chance today I’ll do a comparison shot with a row of shoes.
Really good to see a review of these! Looking at these as a likely replacement for now unavailable (it seems) Montrail Sabino… will be interested to see what you think of them once you’ve taken them out and about…
Don’t know what’s happening with Montrail, no one is sending press releases anymore, so I’m out of the loop. Had a quick look at the website, Sabino’s there and some other interesting things too. But the brands been disapperaing from the UK for ages now, shame.
I’ll have a post-trip update on these soon.
I can (alas) still take these off my feet laced up.
Montrail now almost certainly worth avoiding on general annoyance grounds as availability is so random. May contain nuts have some Bajada’s which look really rather nice in principle but well….. http://trailandultrarunning.com/montrail-bajada-trail-shoe-full-review/ Ouch!
At least my spare pair of Streaks aren’t quite dead yet :)
I’ve still got one pair of Streaks untouched in a box. I’m about half way through my second pair just now, so I’m god for a while yet.
Interesting reviews, some Montrails have always been fragile despite not being very lightweight either because of design or fabric, so the new designers don’t seem to have learned anything from the many years of experience accrued when it really was Montrail.
It’s a shame. The new mids look nice though.
I gave up hoarding my streaks once the glue for the sole on my first (rather battered) ones went :)
Actually now I’ve been reminded and checked the few places with Montrail bits on sale (mostly quite savage), there *are* a few Sabino trail GTX’s left – ultra light outdoors gear has them for 50 pounds each. Also MM2 mids for similar prices.
The Rockridges I had for a bit worked well enough, although the rather thick cushioning did wear down to render the shoe fairly unusable after a few hundred miles.
The peeling sole, the Montrail signature :o)
I’ve no idea what they are, but I’ve been wearing last seasons Montrail Mids for ages now, they’ve got a bit of overlay on them and are tougher than my old Hardrocks.
Montrail did make a great shoe in its day.
How did you get on with these (if you can remember)?
Inov8 have discontinued the Terroc, and Trailroc 255 is one of the few shoes that they do in a 14.
Still wearing them, great shoes and they were round the Lang Craigs when I was doing some rangering last week.
Much softer than a Terroc and a different fit to my older Terrocs, but they are great shoe, if they fit and you like the soft flex they’re worth a look.
Great – I’ll order a pair
And if they don’t fit – such is the lack of choice for the ‘clown footed’ – then I’ll maybe have to go back to climbing hills in my Doc Martens :-)
Nice air cushioned soles :o)