thank you for doing this early review. I hadn't heard of the brand before, and while this specific model's price seems a bit high for my taste, i'm interested in a full review.
They do soften up after 50 or so miles. Plate def makes them feel harsher. Grip not as good as vibram on wet surfaces. Prob more suited to stony buffed out US trails. Def suit a wider foot too. Tricky to get in the UK though! They shipped when first released but stopped as too many complaints of expensive shipping fees and vat charges!
Reakly interesting but the lack of ability to change insoles kinda isolates a hige portion of runners that need to use their own orthotics or customised insoles. Shame, I'd love to try a decent boa system on the trails
Felt comfortable to start with and boa made it easy to tighten, but I found the toe box a bit narrow. It wasn't soft and cushioned like I expected so road and downhill sections were a bit painful, one of the boa fasteners got knocked off and I got blisters on outside of big and little toes and a massive blister on both heels. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.
Speedland seem to be one of the only companies that have considered that whilst trail running you don't always toe off, off the middle of the shoe and have added a much wider bit of rubber up the front of the shoe.
I know dedicated trail runners that use the Speedland shoes (this seems to be the 3rd version) and they ALL rave about the first 2 versions of the shoes. The plate has always been extra on these shoes.
@@jimoconnor8597 Really, thanks for the info. It's a novel idea but I guess, if there are people willing to pay for it then Speedland have done well with their marketing. I guess what's an extra $30 or so when the shoe is already so expensive. Their target market can afford it.
I was hoping it was going to be well cushioned. Also disappointing that it does sound like it transfers well to road sections. Considering a New Balance Hierro v8. Does anyone here recommend the Hierro v8?
Interested to hear about outsole wear, as another review suggested this was an issue. Also, maybe more importantly, how do you get them in the UK? Speedland don't ship internationally, right?
The concept of a performance-enhancing plate in the insole is the most utterly moronic shoe development I've seen in a very very long time. Ummm, hey moronic marketing maven at Speedland, quite a few of us wear orthotics which means our first move on buying a shoe is to take the insole out and toss it in the trash. They really do get greedier and stupider as every day passes.
