Strengths: Plenty of grip and felt cushioned even on rocky tracks. Sheds water very efficiently.
Weaknesses: A little heavy to be a racer, but that's no bad thing for a long training run. Quite narrow and the toe box feels a bit clumpy until they are broken in. Pricey if you pay full whack
Overall: Having had puma replace my mashed trailfoxes with the ax-alps, I could immediately tell that this is a far better shoes for me. They have a nice balance of grip and cushioning and your foot feels very stable, even on steep contours, thanks to the odd-looking heel bands. Although a fair amount of water came in, it came out easily enough so even in torrential rain and standing water my feet never got worse than warm and damp, which didn't cause any problems.
Strengths: Grip is pretty good and comfortable. Initially very impressive.
Weaknesses: Fallen apart after less than 100 miles - all off road. The cushioning has literally disintegrated and flaked off. As a result there is no cushioning between the floor and the hard protective plastic plate, so it feels like running barefoot. These shoes cost be about a tenner for each run I was able to do in them!
Overall: Might get better if puma sort out the materials - they are pretty well designed otherwise but I would hold off buying them until then
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