600 Mile Long Term Review - Topo Athletic MTN Racer 3 - Are they any good?! 

Great review! Although, I have to diaagree with you about the Topo Gaiters. I recently used them on an 86 mile backpacking trip and they worked phenomenally. The hook system works well, is easy to engage and does a great job of keeping out dirt and debire. I highly recommend the Topo gaiters for anyone running Topo shoes.

I been wearing Altra shoes for more than a decade. Unfortunately you’ve come along in what is the final devolvement for long time Altra fans. Since VF bought the company they have been drifting further away from what made the shoes exceptional: namely the foot shaped toe box and zero drop market. While the shoes are still mostly zero drop - saved for their latest high stack offering - we have seen the “original” toe box reduced to just the Olympus and the Lone Peak which is sadly not as advertised. Big bummer for those of us with splayed out (relaxed) toes for years of wearing Altra - only to find no shoes left that work. My last Altra looks to be the Olympus 4 which was considerably better than the O5 that followed. They have narrowed the toe box slightly and ruined the her fit with the high collar that rubs the ankle and the elf loop that funnels debris right in to the shoe. Maddening changes made all the worse by shoddy quality as evidenced by delaminating soles. My ranting lead me to Topo as my next hope, after having detoured to wide model Speed Goat which didn’t work to replace my O4s. Topo, not too coincidentally was founded by an engineer at Altra that defected because of his frustration with the new owners. The Mtn Racer 3 seemed great in store but a couple of hundred miles revealed the issues. Some were fixable- some were not. The biggest unfixable issues were the median arch, which if you look from the outside results from the dramatic wasp waisting at the middle of the shoe. I had hoped it would relax some but it continued to annoy me, even though I have fairly high arches. I would have lived with that but the toe box design tortured my fourth and fifth toes. The problem is they don’t begin the arc of the toe box from where the point of your forefoot bone is, but instead start curving around the fourth toe. As a consequence my outside toes are jammed in at the end. Unfortunately I am as US 13 and there is no half size offered. There is no wide offering either. That is a deal killer in what is otherwise a really great shoe. The sole offers great grip and I generally like it. What I did notice was the undercut heel was a blessing for agility, but at the cost of stability. The MR3 slid too much for my liking on mud when I heel planted - likely related to undercut heel. The Olympus sole is the SUV to the MTN Racer sports car - though it’s exactly the opposite with regard to the upper. The Topo tongue centering loops at the top work great, but the laces are too short to make use of ‘runners loop’ lacing pattern. I do like the laces themselves and think the lace keepers work well well the nicely padded tongue. The Topo insoles are open celled foam that is an absolute sponge for water. It’s why the shoes struggle to dry out. There also crap for shock absorption. I replaced my insoles with CurRex low profile insoles that are a game changer for improved ride and quick drying. Sadly still on the hunt for my Oly4 replacement. I also tried the new Topo Ultraverse in search of something wider at Topo. Unfortunately wider came at the cost of wrinkly mess of extra material in toe box and generally poor fit. The sole on that shoe is $hite… 2mm lugs in a useless widely spaced pattern. Cushy shoes that will never work for me. I’m on to the next try: just not sure what I haven’t considered that may work. Trying to squeeze out a few more miles out of one of my six retired pairs of Oly4s while the search continues. Sorry for the novel. Cheers all!

Great review there matie. Plenty of detail to help someone make a decision on buying them. They do look like a cracking shoe. I've been eyeing up the RUNVENTURE 4, because they are zero drop and I prefer less cushioning. I might give them a whirl once my Vivobarefoots have worn out.

they're still in once piece!! that's impressive after 5 weeks in the Pyrenees! I might get some when the boat comes in

Look like a good quality pair of trail shoes, I also hate it when laces come undone, definitely good to have decent ones on a shoe, good idea with the Velcro to Paul , atb Mick 👍

Great review mate. I think the long drying time of the shoe is mainly because of the insole. The Topo Traverse has an insole that doesn't soak in water and therefore dry a lot faster. I think that Topo sells this insole separately, så you could put this insole in the MTN racer.

How did the midsole cushioning hold up as you went past 600 miles+? Great video. Thank you.

Interesting review, thanks. I’ve just bought a pair of Topo Ultraventure 3 for the Camino Frances in 10 weeks time, which looking at your footage is obviously not as demanding as your hike. Having said that I expect that the road walking on the Frances might take its toll on the tread over the 500 miles. I think the vibram tread is identical to the MTN Racers. A bit concerned about the drying out time, though. I decided on non Gortex shoes thinking they’d dry out much quicker if soaked. I think the comfort of the Topo’s will make up for that issue.

i wore Altra for my camino francis the 2nd time. i have not worn topo for a camino. however, i do like how it fits and am willing to try them for a camino.

planning to get a shoe for coming ultra with trail crossing over 30 rivers, not sure if this shoe have proper drainage system. Was comparing this to the altra timp5.

I found it was just the insole in my V2 that was like a sponge, i changed them and they dried loads quicker. Topo do a much better insole, the Topo FKT insoles. I cant find them in the UK.

Hello Paul. I have several questions. Wet shoes usually result in blisters. I assume you had no blisters or hot spots? Did you have any foot pain? How many miles per day were you hiking? Could you hike 15 - 20 miles per day, in the rain, for several rainy days in a row, wearing these shoes? What is the drop on these shoes? What socks were you wearing? Did you wear liners under your socks? Thanks, Tom

Question… I recently purchased the topo Spector and had to return them because the ankle collar came up way too high for me and literally hit me in the middle of my ankle bone, which I can’t handle:( where does the ankle collar hit on you? I was looking between the Mountain Racer 3 and the MT-5…

How can i feel, that the midsole has worn out?

As you noted lots of concrete trail. Trail shoes should avoid that as it kills their tread

I wonder how Traverse compares to this one?

I like Altra because they virtually have no built in arch support. Do these shoes have a pretty high built in arch support. If they do, I’ll have to pass….thanks for your time.

"How to turn your Trail shoes in to slicks" 😀 Its a sign of quality, that a pair of shoes are worn down that much and still actually works and are not falling appart. I've had a couple of Topo shoes. All of them having the problem for me, that they are much to wide in the rear part of the shoe, from mid-ancle and backwards. People with "fat ancles" seem to not have an issue, but I had to abandon using the Topos all together. BUT I have a wide forefoot (2EE) and that part of the Topo shoes fits me absolutely perfect. Better than Altras, for some reason. And the build quality and the midsole foams are much better than Altra, is my experience. So eventually I dived in again, buying a pair of the MTN Racer 2's, beccause a few of the YT reviews mentioned a slightly better heel fit than on other Topo's. My standard sizing is US 9 (EU 42,5) so I went for the MTN Racers in US 8,5 (EU 42). And they fit my foot all around! It's "borderline" in the heel and I still feel that Topo should narrow the space in the latter 20% of the shoes a bit, but I can now walk/run in the shoe without constantly being reminded that my heel slips up and down in the shoe and feel loose. They need someone on the Topo design team with Athletic feet 😀 Oh, and the tounge is as allways on Topo's a bit short. When I tie the shoes its on the edge of the tounge and very close to sliding behind the tounge... 5mm more lenght would be awesome.