The BEST Trail Running Shoes 2020 | Feat. New Balance, Asics, Saucony and more

hi and welcome to the running channel i'm anna and today along with andy we are going to be taking a look at the best trail running shoes out there at the moment we've tested a whole load of different trail shoes i'm going to take you through all of our favorites including all of the key information about each and every pair but if you're new around here please hit subscribe so you can support us in what we're trying to do at the running channel tap the bell icon to be notified when we upload new videos about running which we do every week whether you're an elite marathoner or a beginner runner or somewhere in between it doesn't matter one of the key factors to successful running is going to be your choice of shoes and what works for one person might not necessarily work for the other so if you're about to embark on trail running for the very first time then your road shoes may well transfer over quite well to some groomed trails but if it's more of an adventure that you're seeking on rugged terrain then it might be time to take a look at investing in a pair of trail shoes it's worth noting when we're talking about trail shoes that you might not find some of the traditional categories that you'd associate with your road running shoes like neutral or supportive shoes so instead we're going to focus on the things that differentiate the brands and the individual models that we're going to take a look at things like cushioning where you can have a whole range from really maximalist shoes with really thick midsoles right the way down to really barefoot or minimalist shoes with very little cushioning another thing that we'll look at is the heel to toe drop or the drop figure usually given in millimeters which just tells you how much higher the heel is than the toe low drop can be associated with slightly more aggressive shoes often the the faster more racing shoes have a lower drop but they're also because they're more aggressive can put more pressure on your biomechanics particularly your achilles and your calf muscle so a good guide is to take a look at the drop that you're used to even if you don't know what it is look it up for your current road shoes and then look for trail shoes that have a similar drop or if you are going to go more aggressive be aware of that and account for the impact that might have on your body trail shoes are traditionally heavier than your road shoes and that's because they're designed to be more durable to protect against things like rocks and stones from hurting your feet they also come with a more rugged sole that's to help you stop slipping when it's wet and on rocks and things and they also mostly come with a toe bumper too to stop you from stubbing your toes on anything whilst you're out on the trail so those are some things to look for just to add as well that there are some brands that are missing from this roundup that we would have liked to include the likes of salomon adidas terrex and also nike but with the world as it is at the moment it's been a little bit more tricky for us to get our hands on those ones so stay tuned to the running channel because we will be back with a roundup number two for trail shoes so keep your eyes peeled for that one now let's dive in and have a look at some of our favorites this is the new balance fresh foam here version 5. first a quick note from me is that i really like the styling of it and it feel like it's something that i could wear down to the pub but i appreciate that's a matter of taste it might not be for everybody now into the more technical stuff it's built on the fresh phone platform so it does have a nice plush cushioned and fairly responsive ride but it does have a really thick high stack height so it might not be for everybody because it might feel a little bit unstable on more technical terrain also because of that extra stack cart and extra cushioning it's quite heavy it's one of the heaviest shoes on test at well over 300 grams there are some nice extra features though the toe box is well protected it comes in widths because it's a new balance shoe so you can get extra wide versions of this shoe as well as a couple of different color ways there's a nice little feature on the back here there's an extra extension to the heel for downhill running the lugs on the back aren't the most comprehensive on test here so i think this would struggle in really sloppy terrain it's pretty dry at the moment but in real mud there are definitely some shoes with better grip that we've looked at but for a versatile shoe that you can wear casually as well as running on the road this actually felt pretty comfortable running on pavement as well as on pine needle trails and more rocky surfaces it's pretty versatile so it could be something that could allow you to be out on the trails for a long time with that extra level of cushioning so this is the asics fuji tribuco pro now this one has an interesting lacing feature it's got elasticated laces that comes with a tightening little thing here which is great if your fingers are frozen and you can't untie the knots in your laces at the end of your run or if you've done cross country and you've got mud caked all over your laces i always find that that's tricky it also comes with a built-in eva sockliner which is great for keeping moisture out and to some extent some stones and rocks that kind of thing any kind of sticks that might come in the fit of this shoe was pretty much true to size i'm a uk six and a half and it felt great on my foot i have got quite a wide foot but the toe box didn't feel too narrow despite it looking like quite a narrow shoe also it's super light this is one of the lightest ones that we tested at 245 grams so you could really feel like you could get some speed going on the trails whilst wearing this shoe this is a saucony peregrine tent which is a nice versatile shoe which probably sits right in the middle of the scale of the shoes that we've tested here so it's neither a really heavy weight plush all day on the trail shoe nor is it an all-out racer but it's actually a nice balance between the two where the weight sits right in the middle the heel toe drop is four millimeters which is slightly more aggressive there's also some other nice touches like the d-ring on the front here where you can attach a gator if you're going to tackle something a bit more aggressive and similarly there's a really nice strap here to capture your laces to stop them getting caught in branches and other detritus as you hit the trails similarly there is a rock plate although i did notice some of the rocks on the trickier stuff that i was running on i did feel them a little bit more through than i did on some of the others on test but still not too bad the grip as well was really good no issues with rocks or stones getting stuck and certainly wasn't slipping either but if i was slipping there's another version of this shoe which is the peregrine 10 st which amazingly stands for sloppy terrain which has a different outsole other than that it's more or less the same as a different outsole which is supposed to be grippier uh has much more aggressive lugs on the bottom um and those lugs allow you to deal with really sticky mud really slippery mud and even snow uh reportedly obviously it's not snowing at the moment so i couldn't test that you can't miss this one this is the arc terrax novan ld2 this is a lighter weight version of their previous trail shoe and as you can see super bright so you're not going to get lost wearing these ones now these were super easy to get on they've got a really big loop on the tongue there to really pull them on and they do feel super light at 260 grams they're on the light end of the scale now the lugs on the sole of these ones are three and a half millimeters so they transition really well from road to trail so if you're running on a road section to get to your trail or you're running on your road section to get home after you've been on the trails then these ones are really great for transitioning but with the lower millimeter lug depth it does mean that they are perhaps less sticky when it comes to wet surfaces and really boggy terrain this is the brooks cascadia 14 which actually feels quite different onto a lot of the other models because the cushioning is quite a bit firmer it didn't suffer for that and i didn't feel like my legs were beaten up running on the trails in it but it's worth bearing in mind if you like a slightly plusher feel has an eight millimeter drop so not too aggressive and it weighs in about 292 grams so fairly mid-weight it felt nice and responsive actually and i enjoyed running on both the trails and the roads because the lugs aren't too aggressive so actually transitioning between the trail and the road wasn't too difficult it felt natural and at ease on both surfaces but because they are less aggressive i would say that i'd feel slightly less confident using these for really wet or slippery conditions some really nice touches like a gator strap at the back here as well as somewhere to tuck your laces in the tongue there's also a gore-tex version of this shoe so if you wanted to pay a little bit more money to make sure you had a fully waterproof version then that might be worth considering too these are the on cloud venture waterproof now i put my old ons through the ringer a little bit on the world's toughest island road so this was the old cloud venture peak so this one is the new cloud venture waterproof so this has added waterproof protection on the upper the tongue is joined to the inside of the lining as well so it's all one piece of fabric which means that it's less like you're gonna get rocks and stones inside your shoe with these now one thing to note about these on trail shoes is that they are a little bit heavy in fact they are the heaviest of the ones that we've reviewed so they do feel very very different to wearing road shoes or some of the lighter trail shoes that we're looking at in this video that said they are still pretty nimble and the lugs on them do provide a lot of good traction out on some sloppier trails but you'll notice as well that the gaps between the lugs on the sole has been made a lot smaller so with the older models of the cloudventure peaks for example there were larger gaps between the lugs which often meant that they could get rocks and things caught within them that you have to pick out but these ones didn't have a problem with that because the lugs are now much closer together now these are super comfy true to size they're quite cushioned as well so good for some long distance trails this is the hoka one a speed goat 4. i'm new to hokas so these scared me a little bit just because of how big they look but actually i was pleasantly surprised they look heavy and they're not at all and have a four millimeter heel to toe drop now that's quite aggressive but actually because of the extra cushioning i didn't really notice it and my legs felt pretty good after running these and i was pleasantly surprised at how responsive and lightweight they feel despite looking how they do and i know that the stack height is one of the things that separates hoka it's what they've built their brand on and actually stack heights can sometimes be a negative thing when it comes to trail shoes because you're higher off the ground and therefore more at risk of twisting an ankle on more technical ground but actually they felt wide enough to deal with some of the more technical single track that i took on wearing them they felt pretty good on the road too and the multi-directional lugs on the bottom give you a decent sense of grip going both up and down hill which is the design behind them there's a rock plate built in which seems to do its job because i didn't really notice it the upper slightly flimsier actually than some of the others on test there's less protection around the toes in particular and hoka say that they've improved the width of the toe box because that was a complaint of the predecessor to this shoe i didn't notice any issues they felt nice and roomy for me i got relatively narrow feet and they fit me pretty nicely just like new balance there are also width versions available from hoka so if you needed a wider version then these might be a shoe to consider for that this one is the salming trail six now this is the first time that i've ever run in selming trainers and i was really pleasantly surprised the fit instantly felt really comfortable for my foot and just getting them on and off was super easy as well they're reasonably lightweight and they felt really responsive running out on the trails now the bottom of the outer sole so that is a vibram outer sole as with a lot of the shoes that we're looking at so it did grip really really well on pretty much all surfaces that i was running on one addition to this model is the soft foam at the heel which apparently is better for shock absorption than eva and you could feel that whilst running in them now one thing to say about these ones is that they are at the upper end of the price range for the other trail shoes that we're looking at but personally i think they're worth the money this is a 361 degrees taroco ii so it's not a brand that i've been particularly familiar with previously but it is a nice shoe although i would say that this is more of a hybrid between a trail shoe and a trainer a road running shoe it's got a lower stack height and it's pretty flexible so actually i did feel a lot more of what was underfoot than i did in a lot of the other shoes so if you're looking for something that's gonna deal with some really rocky or uneven terrain then i don't think this is the shoe for you it's a nine millimeter drop which is one of the least aggressive shoes actually on test even though it's got that lower stack height a few unusual touches which is almost like a built-in butterfly lacing system if anyone's familiar with the way that you use butterfly lacing to lace your shoes up and actually this little lace here when you pull it tight pulls a lace tight around the back of your heel here i'm not sure it made a massive difference but it did feel pretty snug on and i certainly didn't have any problems with the heel slipping up and down because it's a hybrid the sole's not the most aggressive on test actually the lugs seem relatively small although it did transition really nicely because it's designed to from the road to the trail it's not the shoe that i would turn to if i was tackling something really slippery or really technical the merrell mtl long sky is another really light trail shoe that we're looking at so this one comes in at 280 grams and you could really feel that it wasn't too cumbersome or clunky whilst running in it one thing i did find about the fit with these though is that although i do have a reasonably wide foot the toe box was super roomy so it felt like it was quite deep at the front and there are also little gaps around the heel as well where it didn't quite fit as snugly as perhaps i would have liked it to now the mtl long sky doesn't have a rock plate built into it but you could still tell that the vibram megagrip outsole does give you a lot of traction out on the trails and protection from those rocks and stones under foot and extra bonus points for the reflective logo as well which is great if you're running in low light or in darkness this is the scarpa spin ultra now scarpa are better known for their mountaineering and climbing shoes but this is a decent trail shoe in fact it probably has the most protected toe box of any of the shoes on test with this welded tpu toe cap at the front it weighs in at 280 grams and has a six ml drop so somewhere in the middle of the shoes on test it has a vibram light base outsole which is one millimeter thinner than the regular vibram trail running shoe outsole which is supposed to make it 25 to 30 lighter so in the efforts of saving weight they've cut out some of the outsole but i didn't suffer for grip and even though there's no rock plate i couldn't really feel any of the rocks when i was running so that's a real positive these definitely come up wider than a lot of the shoes on test so if you are looking for a shoe that's slightly wider slightly roomier then this could be a shoe for you if you're looking for something snug and close fitting then this might not be the one couple of other extra features there's a little pocket to tuck your laces up on the tongue which is padded so that's actually pretty comfortable regardless of how tight you have the laces done up and this is one of the only shoes on test which is vegan friendly so bear that in mind too the innovate rock light g275 is probably one of my favorites that i tested for this video now these shoes are called the g275 because the 275 signifies the weight they're the lightest of the rock light brands and also the g stands for graphene which is one of the world's strongest materials so innovative used graphene within the sole apparently it's 200 times stronger than steel now a couple of my running heroes do swear by these shoes jasmine paris and nikki spinks in fact jasmine paris won the spine race outright against all of the men wearing just one pair of these so that goes to show that over 268 miles in a race situation they can hold their own the fit for the innovate rock light g275 felt really true to size i would say that the cushioning is bang smack in the middle of a scale of super hard and super bouncy so it did feel really comfortable to wear felt really responsive out on the trails and from the outsole you can see the lugs on the bottom they're really designed to hold their own on some pretty gnarly trails so there we have it some of our favorite trail running shoes out there at the moment now we do know that there were a few brands missing in there but don't you worry we will be back for round two of our favorite trail shows on the running channel very soon so keep your eyes peeled for that if you are thinking about buying a pair of trail shoes then it is best to try as many on as you can now we know that that's not always possible so perhaps if you are ordering online then you can look at the returns policy and maybe order two pairs in the sizes closest to what you are with the aim to then return the second pair just a little tip in case you are trying to get your hands on a pair of trail shoes but just remember what's right for one person and what we like the best doesn't necessarily mean that it will work for you it's also worth thinking about what type of trails you're most likely to be running on there's no point in investing in a hardcore pair of trail shoes with a really aggressive outsole design for the world's most technical trails if you're going to be hitting relatively well groomed ones what shoes are your current favorites and have any in this video taking your fancy let us know in the comments below in the meantime please do subscribe to the running channel and come back for more videos all about running which we upload every week and we'll see you next time you

Channel: The Running Channel

Views: 94,415

Rating: 4.9112177 out of 5

Keywords: The running channel, trail shoes, trail running, best shoes for trails, best trail shoes, new balance, asics, saucony, hoka one one, brooks, scarpa, merrell, salming, inov8, best trail shoes 2020, best running trail shoes 2020, trail shoes 2020, running, running advice, running tips, running gear, best on test, running shoes, best running shoes, best running shoes 2020, solo running, running advice for beginners, trail running for beginners, dirt trails, inov8 graphene, hoka

Id: xkQVOZxBAos

Length: 17min 20sec (1040 seconds)

Published: Sat May 02 2020