One of the benefits of trail running is that the effects of overpronation over many hard kilometres of repetitive strides on the road are not as relevant. So if your gait causes you physical ailments on the road and you’ve tried all sorts of shoes to help alleviate the problem, trying out a trail shoe could have surprising benefits, allowing you to run more freely.
Trail shoes generally use less tech and are currently becoming lighter and lighter as runners realise the protection of feet is more important than the need for support and cushioning.
Not all trail shoes are heavy, galoshing and clumsy. The new generation of trail shoes are minimalistic, light and this season, bright too. Here are five of our favourites.
Click next to read the next trail shoe reviews: Salomon, adidas, Inov8, New Balance and Vibram.
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The KSO Trek Sport is a better option for trail running – I was advised of this by the guys that import Vibrams into SA.
It features a “mesh” upper (instead of the leather), that is very strong yet dries extremely quickly.
I broke mine in on the trails in the Transkei, and they are fantastic. I now run only in my veebs :)
Would certainly recommend them to anyone wanting to run trail in minimalist shoes.
Hi
I don’t understand why runnersworld magazine recommends the adidas Kanadia 3 trail running shoe. About a month ago I purchased my first pair of trail running shoes and visit about 5 sports shoe stores including the sweat shop, sportsmans warehouse, ect… All of the stores I visited did not recommend this shoe.
I ended up purchasing the ASICS GEL TRABUCO 14 – I’m surprised this shoe has not made your list, at only R1000.00 its a great trail running shoe, especially for runners with mild pronations.
Hi Nathan,
The adidas Kanadia were chosen for 2 key reasons: a great entry level trail shoe with an affordable price point (R799). While the Asics you refer to are definitely a great shoe, we simply dont have space to include all the shoes out there – and chose 5 to cover any trail running needs.
Your question could also read. Why does Asics not advertise on this website?
Hi I recently bought my self the Hi-tec infinity HP but I notice all your top Five shoes have good grip that you can see underneath the shoe.
So what do you think of the hi-tec?? You can email me if you worried about their advertising
Hi Sneh, Hi Tec does a great trail shoe, the V-Lite (it was featured in our March magazine). I’ll pop the review online now for you to read. There’s a new model being released in Feb: watch out for it!
The V-Lite is obviously made for racing, because it does not last very long. A friend bought the shoe and did two training runs of 44km and 60km. After the 60km the shoe was already looking bad.
He could only do the first 60km of the Skyrun with the shoe before he had to throw it away.
Hi
i would like to start trail running and road running. (and cycling lol!). i did my first mini triathlon last weekend but no one told me about Sime so i only made it 6km’s into the ride – the thorns were HORRIFIC! apparently a trait of the eastern cape off road scene. sooooo, my question to you is: how would the Vibram FiveFingers KSO TREK shoes work out for trails and tar and cycling? (i’m never going to be an iron lady so maybe only small short triathlons and longer runs. what do you think? would LOVE to hear back from you!
thanx
El :-)
Hi
I am a road runner and just purchased a new pair road running shoes, problem is…now the trail running fever hit hard and can’t afford another pair of shoes at this moment.
Any suggestions on a less expensive brand to purchase for now?
Any help would be great…
Hi, i just filled this part in again incase i gave you the wrong email. very much looking forward to a reply. Thanx! El :-)