Comments: I laughed when I read a review on another website where one reviewer described these shoes as wooden boards. I figured he just read Born to Run, started running trails for the first time in his life and expected the shoes to flex like Vibram Five Fingers. When you first put on the shoes, the arch support feels excellent; I've never put on a shoe and had an instant feel of comfort and support like I did in this shoe.  Sadly, wood is far more flexible than these shoes.  Steel I-beams wood be more descriptive of these shoes' stiffness.  If you're a lighter, efficient runner, you simply can't find trails technical enough for these shoes to be appropriate, unless they're 90% rock scrambles.  Attempting to flex these things is too daunting if you aren't heavy enough and your calves will let you know after about 10 miles, if not sooner.  Having said that, the protection from stone bruising is excllent (of course it is, you have steel plates between you and the ground). Also, the traction is excellent, as you would expect from a shoe with large lugs.  Possibly heavier runners would find this to be a good lightweight trail running shoe.  Nonetheless, I wouldn't use these shoes for anything other than a workout on the wall at the rock climbing gym.  They might work well for short hikes as well.  Also, if you snap a shoelace, you're not going to replace it unless you cut the gaiter over the laces.  I weigh around 135 lbs, have narrow feet, flat-to-normal arches and run around 60 - 70 miles of trails per week.  I bought these shoes for primarily running trail ultras.

From: James, Atlanta, GA

Please include any relevant information such as weekly mileage, training or race pace, or foot type.