off road shoes...my arse!

shadowcreaper · 12 Dec 2011 at 10:53

So heres the story..

With the road season over for running and cross country starting i was looking for some specific off-road shoes, given last time i tried off road in my road shoes even though they were ok they had 0 grip.

So with this in mind i went to shop and was shown a few shoes, out of all of them the "Adidas Men's Kanadia 4 " felt the best, though ofc it hard to judge shoes without running properly in them.

Anyhow after my first race off-road it soon became apparent they were near useless on anything that was not flat and not muddy. :eek:

These shoes really are **** poor, and given they are the most popular off-road shoe i suprised a lot.

They have i quote" mud release surface" on the bottom on shoe, this is utter ******** to be honest as after 1 lap of a course the mud had stuck fast and the shoes became as usefull as ice skates......

so after a couple of races now im very much dissapointed with them and most likely will only use them for training sessions around the flat grass green..

for races it seems i going to need to get some spikes....

any suggestions ..

bcjames · 12 Dec 2011 at 11:28

I've got off road trainers for running on grass and I still slide around with them. XC spikes are the way to go and they feel good to me as a track distance runner. The problem then is multi-surface work or when I'm coaching. I've got a pair of brooks xc spikes but I have no particular brand allegiance so I just try them all in the shop. It's annoying they don't have a muddy hill to run up out the back, but I just go with what feels comfortable and hope that translates to performance when running.

beh · 12 Dec 2011 at 11:29

Inov-8 (mudroc and x-talon), Walsh (PB elite), or Sportiva (crosslite) are all worth a look. Obviously the fit is a very personal thing, pair of mudrocs I have are a bit wide for me whereas my crosslites fit like a glove.

What shoes do you spot other people wearing at races?

shadowcreaper · 12 Dec 2011 at 11:52

beh said:
Inov-8 (mudroc and x-talon), Walsh (PB elite), or Sportiva (crosslite) are all worth a look. Obviously the fit is a very personal thing, pair of mudrocs I have are a bit wide for me whereas my crosslites fit like a glove.

What shoes do you spot other people wearing at races?

A lot of people do use those Inov 8s but they are insanely exspencive around £70+ :eek:

and given i can get a pair of road shoes for that sort of cost and the fact that i spend more time during the year on the road, id personally rather spend that money on a new pair of road shoes....(which il soon need

)

But most people wear spikes and everyone who i know comes top places in the races all use spikes(even when they are broken lol)

My main concern is support with spikes as i have never really used them and worried i might mess up my shins or knees with them, i know cross-country spike shoes do have more support than track ones but i would like some advice from those "who in the know".

Do i need to change my training or do exercises before using spikes ie building up ankle strength ect?

platypus · 15 Dec 2011 at 09:35

Innov-8, Brooks or Walsh are the only ones worth bothering with.

8s are indeed expensive, but man are they good shoes.

Edinho · 15 Dec 2011 at 11:33

Innov8s are not that expensive no different to a pair of road shoes. I have the innov8 flyrocs there ok but there are many off roaders that don't rate the innov8s.

The Salomon range are very good but even more expensive than the 8s. Just look at some reviews on the net.

For support surely you are using orthotics if you have pronation issues?