AsicsAsics Gel Orient (off-road) £55 EccoEcco RXP 3040 (stability) £85 Ecco RXP 1000 (stability) £60 Helly HansenHelly Hansen Trail Beater (off-road) £80 New Balance854 (stability) £70 North FaceNorth Face Vapor Light (off-road) £70 Puma

Weight 412gEvaluation Asics has trimmed its off-road range down to two shoes: one light and basic (the £40, 314g Gel Canyon), and the other this ultra-protective trail crusher.The Trabuco is certainly nothing like its 324g predecessor, except

Weight 381gEvaluation The Wasatch II is designed for slightly more technical running than Montrail's Leona Divide was, with deeper outsole tread, and a strongly curved last.A curved last is unusual in a trail shoe, because in one sense it reduces

with the fast, grippy 904. But if you like the old-style trail shoes for their chunky protection, you could do worse than the 704. It’s only moderately responsive and its grip is only good enough for forest trails and grass, but it’s not overly heavy, its ride

Weight 378gEvaluation Nike’s top-end trail shoes had gone off the boil over the last couple of years because they showcased the company’s flat, sticky-rubber G-Tek outsoles. These outsoles were great on dry surfaces, but hopeless on mud, so Nike

Weight 347gEvaluation This is a great trail shoe. Nike describes it as utilitarian, which is true, and about as understated as hype gets. The grip is probably the best you’ll experience outside of a fell shoe, from deep, well-spaced waffle lugs. It

Weight 309gEvaluation Think of the Perigree as a performance trainer for the trails. It’s light, responsiveand grippy, and our faster testers loved it. Because the foot sits low to the ground, and because – unusually – it has good grip

. The reality is that if you wanted to place well in a two-day race like the X-Adventure, you’d go for a lighter trail shoe than this. It’s not bad, though – it’s like an old-style, protective trail shoe in the rearfoot, with a flexible, performance

is fairly light and smooth (and it has a nice roomy toe-box), it’s not a head-to-head alternative to a good normal trail shoe. That’s for two reasons: it’s bulkier than normal under the rearfoot, and its grip is moderate in mud. In short If you want a fairly

Weight 390gEvaluation You probably know about adventure racing by now. It’s the off-road run-bike-kayak competition that can take anywhere from six hours to six days non-stop. Some racers wear fast, grippy trail shoes from running brands. Others