I got my pair as prize from RW. For me they have not been a 100% perfect shoe but am growing to like them despite the issues mentioned below.
THE BAD:
When I first went running in them the left shoe rubbed on my little toe causing a small blister.
I have also found that the Ortholite liner in right shoe (the fat rubbery inside edge) is too raised. On two ocassions it has caused my sock to rub in the arch of the foot making it blister in that area. The worst blister was then my socks got wet when crossing a ditch the friction it created was quite bad.
Its strange how the two problems are only isolated to each foot and dont occur in both.
The shoes also fail to provide traction in a few cm of wet slippery mud, but I guess the shoes aren't really designed for that and are more suited to rocky mountain slopes. However my usual park/trail run does have one or two muddy slopes when it rains and the shoes fail to give me the grip I need to climb them.
THE GOOD:
The shoes have been fantastic in this snowy/icy weather. I have managed to run in the snow and ice with very few problems and the traction is great. OK they dont handle the sheet/black ice and I dont expect them to. No shoe will unless they have spikes. However they handle snow and crushed iced pavements with no problems, so have been a god send during this last week.
Another plus point is that the aglity and flexibility of the shoe has been good whilst providing the right amount of support around the foot on uneven ground. I'm pretty sure if I had used my normal running shoes I'd have one or two sprains by now.
I've done about 100km in the shoes now. The small toe rubbing is becoming less frequent as I wear thicker socks and the shoe is starting to soften up now. The arch rubbing in the other shoe is still hit and miss I have invested in a pair of Hilly Mono skin trail socks this week so will see if that helps, my old thick cotton sports socks dont really fit my feet that well so might be contributing to the problem.
Posted: 12/01/2010 at 21:19
