“Fit like a slipper, but grip like a tiger!
These shoes are amazing. I was a bit worried about their low cushioning, but they have held up to long runs (80+km) in Scottish bogs and mountains my feet have been fine!
The only downside I could find would be that the outsole wears a bit quicker than inov8's GGrip when faced with repeated bouts of scree misery. The comfort is well worth this trade-off though in my opinion. They fit to size which is nice too.”
“Onto my second pair of lone peak 5s - one of my favourite trail shoes. They are, for me at least, the most comfortable running shoe I own. The wide toe box is just lovely, and they feel good and secure over the midfoot. The build quality is great - they feel good and sturdy.
HOWEVER. As with any trail shoe, it's important to keep clear what they work well for, and what they don't. They are absolutely hopeless in the wet. It's baffling that they have gator attachments - the grip is just not good enough for wet or soggy ground. That's not that big a criticism to be honest, the same is true of speedgoats and inov8 terraultras. On technical, hilly or really tough stuff - you're going to need something more than a trail shoe, and the lone peak is no different. Trail shoes in general are suited to fairly firm man made trails, or mildly more demanding paths on dry days.
What was disappointing with my last pair, was how quickly the studs wore down. At around 400km, some had almost completely worn away. Full disclosure, I do run on tarmac on a lot of runs in order to reach trails from where I live - so maybe this was an issue.
That said, even with these drawbacks - I found that I still would reach for these shoes as my go to; even on days when I knew full well that they were not adequate. The sheer level of comfort I found was worth the trade off. It's the reason that in spite of what I've said, I've bought another pair. It's the reason that even though the tread was almost gone after 400km, I still chalked up 800km in my old pair. There is no other trail shoe for me that my feet love as much.”
