Trail/Mountain Running Shoes

statss

I went to have look at Inov8' earlier and on my way to the shop I popped into Elverys and got my gait analysed for the craic...it seems I'm a pronator so Inov8's might not be the best idea. Looking at the Mizuno Ascends now. The Soloman Missions seem to give people blisters, judging from this review http://www.runningshoesguru.com/reviews/?brands=salomon, so I am none the wiser at the moment!

spurscormac

statss wrote: »

I went to have look at Inov8' earlier and on my way to the shop I popped into Elverys and got my gait analysed for the craic...it seems I'm a pronator so Inov8's might not be the best idea. Looking at the Mizuno Ascends now. The Soloman Missions seem to give people blisters, judging from this review http://www.runningshoesguru.com/reviews/?brands=salomon, so I am none the wiser at the moment!

Did they give you any indication as the level of pronation, is it in both feet, are there different levels in both feet?
My guess would be, probably not.

I would always advise a 2nd opinion of any gait analysis from Elvery's.

Oh - and did they recommend buying their custom insoles? :rolleyes:

b.harte

statss wrote: »

got my gait analysed for the craic...it seems I'm a pronator so Inov8's might not be the best idea....so I am none the wiser at the moment!

My 0.02c is that pronation, unless its very severe doesn't matter so much off road due to the varying terrain, even on a gravel fire road etc.
This isn't based on anything other than my own experience, so could be completely wrong. But, given that I am allegedly and over-pronator (based on GA in reputable running stores) and how all of my shoes are neutral nikes or inov-8 I seem to be managing okay. (FWIW: the recommended support shoes left me in pain)

I think the low drop of the inov-8 or comparable shoes tends to change how your foot lands so the extreme pronation noticed at the heel is lessened / less severe as the natural arch of the foot works a bit more to balance all the forces out.
Again, I would like to stress this is my own opinion, not founded in science or anything remotely related to an understanding of bio-mechanics.
But, as plenty of other posters, on plenty of other threads here have said, find a shoe that is comfortable for your run and use that. You will notice right away if you are in the "wrong" shoe so don't buy an expensive shoe based on my or any one else's ramblings / reviews.
I can't recommend inov-8 trailroc 255 more highly, from 0km they were superb, if your after an shoe for just banging about in on an odd trail run then the kanadia is more than up to the task and half the price.
However if you do go for the inov08 you will be spending most of you time getting muddy, because they are that good.

Happy hunting

mossym

wouldn't trust elverys gait analysis at all. told me the same thing, but several subsequent encounters with doctors running video analysis and a much better shop(AK) all say i'm a neutral runner. waste of time getting it done at elverys

statss

I hear you all re Elevery's and I took what he said with a pinch of salt. (I got my road racers in AK after trying on about 5 different pairs, I never got my gait analysed though, but their store locations are not convenient for me)

However, I was doing the old "wet my foot in a paper towel" trick to guess my gait this morning so as I was walking by Elverys on the way to Base Camp at lunch to check out the Innov8's I thought sure it would do no harm to pop in, because my head was being melted trying to pick a pair of trail shoes.

The guy, to my surprise, seemed to know what he was talking about. The shop was dead so he spent about 15 minutes with me. I was upfront right at the start and said I don't think Elevery's carry what I am looking for but would he mind going through my gait anyway and I'd possibly consider a Brooks day to day trainer off him at a later date. He did mention the insoles alright but he put me under no pressure to buy anything. I think he was glad to get away from the till for a while and have the chats!

He said I have a low arch and pronate slightly, my left foot a little more so than my right. He emailed me a PDF showing an image of my feet and the resulting suggestion.

Long story short, on my way home from work after my previous posts this afternoon I used a €50 voucher for Champions Sports which has been burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas and picked up a pair of Adidas Kanadia's 5 for €18! Problem sorted in the short term, at least until I do enough volume on trails to justify a €80-100+ outlay. I'll give them a whirl on Saturday over the weekend.

spurscormac

He probably didn't try the hard sell as he knew you weren't buying, however I have serious concerns over the pdf provided.
They are recommending stability/motion control AND insoles.

Their claim on the insoles is that they will help realignment, from what I've seen, all they do is heat up the insoles & mold them to your feet, similar to what's done with snowboarding boot insoles.
I can't see how that performs any realignment.
On top of that, proper insoles should only ever be used with neutral shoes, as custom insoles should perform the same function that stability/motion control shoes do, i.e. help in correcting your alignment.
If you combine effective custom insoles with stability/motion control shoes, you are over correcting the problem & going to cause further problems (not that I believe their insoles do any correction mind, its just an unnecessary add-on, like Ryanair Priority Queue).

He may well have read your gait correctly, but the recommendation is wrong.

Finally, I'd be in full agreement with b.harte on the lack of a built up heel in the Inov-8 encouraging a better foot-strike, thereby reducing the amount of over-pronation. In fact I've found exactly this since I moved to Inov-8 for both road & trail shoes. Their whole shoe design philosophy is built around this.
If the guy in Elvery's was indeed right, and your just a slight over-pronator, then I think you wouldn't have much problems coping with something like an Inov-8 shoe.
Remember, on trails, you'll be picking your way through muddy, rocky, stony rough terrain with possible tree roots etc, so you'll be much more aware of foot placement and more on your toes than on a standard road run.

I still strongly advise getting to AK, Runways or somewhere like that to have a trustworthy assessment done.

statss

yeah I agree, and thanks for informative input both of you, I'll make the time to get out to AK again.

ThisRegard

I over pronate but it doesn't really matter when it comes to trail shoes, you spend a lot of your time on your toes or uneven ground anyway as the guys said.

mossym

spurscormac wrote: »

H


Finally, I'd be in full agreement with b.harte on the lack of a built up heel in the Inov-8 encouraging a better foot-strike, thereby reducing the amount of over-pronation. In fact I've found exactly this since I moved to Inov-8 for both road & trail shoes. Their whole shoe design philosophy is built around this.
I

i just fininshed a course of treatment in the sport surgery clinic in sanrty, part of which was a run clinic, where they used multiple cameras to monitor my running. seems i was a complete heel striker, but they've managed to change me voer to a mid sole striker now, which shuld help with the issues i was having

they also recommended i try a shoe with less drop, had been in brooks ghost 5, which i still run in, but picked up a pair of saucony kinvara 3's and love running in them, the hugely reduced heel to toe drop makes the mid foot strike much easier and feel more natural, so totally agree with this

PaulieC

I had a pair of the Kanadia 4 and my main gripe with them was the lack of lateral grip in muddy conditions. This was due to the side to side direction of the lugs. This looks to have been sorted in the Kanadia 5, so in my opinion they should be a decent pair of general purpose trail shoes.