La Sportiva is the quiet giant in the shoe industry. They are sure to gain your attention however if you buy one of their products though. Their shoes are Italian made and the reputation precedes them. Light, durable, and incredibly comfortable. I have been wearing these shoes for a long time now and they are still looking and feeling great. If, and when it is time to get another pair, I will for sure get another pair of La Sportiva's as their quality, durability, and focus on design has sucked me in as a customer and supporter for good.

I've just recieved a pair of these beauties and without a doubt they'll be great for those 7 100 milers I'll run this year. Flexible, light, and fits like my pair of slippers. They breath better than most shoes with the mesh layer, and Sportiva's sticky sole makes them great when it gets wet and slick

I've put about 150 miles on these puppies since they arrived a month and a half ago, on everything from blacktop (so-so) to super-gnarly all-fours terrain (great) and I have to say that these are the best rail runners I've ever had. They breathe well, a very stable on chunky terrain, and they grip the slippery stuff like a boss. Like any non-gortex shoe, when the trail turns into a river, these get wet, but all told they perform well when soaked. The only downside that I've seen is that they don't shed mud really well, but that's the tradeoff for having such a nice knobby sole to negotiate rocky terrain. I'm sold.

you can see a longer review here: http://sittingstone.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/gear-review-la-sportiva-wildcat/

Awesome shoes! Absolutely no problems, great support and control, and excellent traction. I put about 75 miles on these shoes, and then ran with them in the VT50k. Not a single blister or hot spot even after a slogging through the mud for more than 6 hours.

Only thing to keep in mind is that these run small...I had to go up a full size from my road shoes (Gel Kayanos) and if your feet swell at all you may even want to go up 1 1/2 sizes.

Okay these shoes are just about as good as it could get out of the box. The toe box area is ample and the heel cup is stable. The tread is great, not as good as the Fireblades—what is, very little to no slippage on climbs with loose rock and soft powdered dirt. I like these shoes for an every day trainer, I would still wear my Fireblades in a race. My feet cannot handle the lack of cushion in the Fireblades to wear every day. You can feel the rocks under your feet in these, not to the point where it hurts but it is a good low to the ground feel for a cushion shoe—unlike the Fireblades where you can feel it in the pain cave after a good 5 miles. The nice thing about these, is the don't roll when you hit a rock off-center like the Cascadia 4's have done. I am hooked.

I've had a few different trail runners offered by La Sportiva - the Exum Ridge, the Sonic TR, and now the Wildcats. The Wildcats are the best by far. They're light, offer just enough support, but also have a minimal feel, and are stylish. Through training for the Chicago Marathon and an ultra in the fall, I've run both trail and road quite a bit in these shoes. They've held up and I love the fact that they've prevented me from some ankle sprains in the rocky CO terrain.

Fit like a glove. No hot spots or blisters. Very comfortable for running or casual wear. Great grip up or down the trails.

The La Sportiva Wildcats are great shoes. They offer good support for their weight and are some of the only shoes that accommodate the bone spurs on the back of my heals (haglund heal). The US sizing seams about a 1/2 size to small but the Euro size seams right on the money. 45.5 = 12 US instead of 46 = 12. These shoes have sticky traction and good all around protection.

I like the free feel of this meshy shoe for the flats, but if you are thinking about running any terrain with moderate to steep descent, I would recommend looking elsewhere. I have run this shoe for about a month 1/2, distances up to 26 miles. I think the traction is good as most La Sportiva's, but the translation to the foot is not secure. I got my first blister in 3 years running laps on Mt. Wire. The problem is on the descent, the forefoot is just not secure with exclusively mesh support. I would re-tie the shoe multiple times on runs and still feel like she was getting loose in the corners. Probably good for Midwest rollers, but not a mountain trail shoe. More Miles!