believe that the Restless was a road shoe with a tough trail outsole stuck on as an afterthought. The upper has no obvious off-road qualities (and as with the Equipment Buzz, its curious lace covering is a candidate for Stanley-knife surgery

of trail shoes aimed at overpronators as well as neutral runners.Finally, there’s grip, and plenty of it. You could wear the Escape for small sections of road, but it’s really designed as a gloriously pure off-road beast. What’s more, it’s great value

Weight 399gEvaluation The Hurricane Ridge is an out-and-out off-road shoe from a brand which is favoured by adventure racers and all-day runners for its comfort and dependability. If you’ve seen Montrail’s Leona Divide), the Hurricane Ridge

Weight 415gEvaluation This is a good shoe from a non-running brand. The North Face has been building up a small collection of trail-running models, and the Ultra 100 is the most serious in the range. As its name suggests, it’s made for distance

it may represent Saucony’s attempt to wean runners off the Jazz. It keeps some key things the same: mainly an outsole with deep, triangular lugs that makes it good for both on- and off-road; and reasonable stability for a neutral shoe. (This has a cutaway

This model may still be available on clearance. But we've reviewed a newer version since we published this.Weight 330gEvaluation While soft, easy-riding shoes elicit a love-it or hate-it response, Nike’s super-cushy Air Pegasus has certainly been

over the ankle collar, but it does make the Crested Butte pretty warm in all but the lowest temperatures.In short The new Crested Butte is a sign that Nike is thinking about grip again when it comes to off-road shoes. But unless you really want its Gore

, and the underside of the forefoot is slightly bevelled on the medial side, which could cause you to toe-off at an angle if you already have a stability problem.In short The Terra Tupu is a pure off-road trail shoe in the mould of Nike’s old Air Terra Albis

This model may still be available on clearance. But we've reviewed a newer version since we published this. Weight 346gEvaluation Last year, New Balance showed that it could make good trail shoes after all, with the low-profile, top of the range 904

we did notice that it was warmer. But unlike the winter version of Nike's Air Pegasus, the 1080 H20 doesn't have an off-road outsole - it's just the same as the road version.Try it on if you liked Asics Gel 1070 (£65); Nike Air Span Triax (£65