I recently wore these Pearl Izumi shoes for a Trail ultra marathon. They handled the uphills great and had good traction. The shoe is comfortable and rugged, but there is a lot of forefoot room so you may move around. I have wide feet and had the laces cinched very tight, so it's not for narrow-footed people! Mud and huge rocks were no problem.
My gripe would be that they are not set up for distance or extremes. They definitely would not be recommended for anyone going much over 10-15 miles at a whack. After 50 miles they were tapped.

Nice neutral shoe that was a little heavy but worked well. It is hard to find something for trails that is not intensely for motion control. A little hard to break in but imagine they will wear. I was the only person in these shoes that I saw, maybe that is an indicator.

I was given a pair of these shoes for christmas last year when I was in Iraq and they are like a dream come true. The shoe fits prefectly and the heel doesn't slip at all, not to agressive sole, but it does have alot of grip. The only down side to them is the durability, I'm kinda hard on shoes but they lasted me a year over there and the opnly thing I have wrong with them is I have a few tears in the mesh on the shoe, but other than that they rock!

I have tried all brands from Asics, Brooks,Salomon, Zoot. I am 79 Kg or 176ibs tried on my new Syncro Syn 2 trail shoes for my 14k long run just last sunday. No breaking required. Shoes were super comfortable, looks great, very light and awesome support. Looking for another pair of Peral Izumi for my marathon trainning.

Great shoe across a range of surfaces, from trail to blacktop, even for a 230lb runner like myself. Comfortable, durable and still pretty light. Sweet.

I use these shoes for long distance trail runs, about 20 miles at a time. They have great grip, fit like a glove and keep my feet happy. Plus lets face it they look pretty freaking great too!!

The cushion heal section (with the exposed stacking balls) separated top from bottom and now squeaks when wet. Extremely annoying (have to crank the ipod up to not hear it). Other than that, they are pretty good running shoes.

2nd pair. As a heavy (230lb) trail-runner find these the perfect blend of durability, support and traction, without being too stiff or heavy. Has been a long search, but won't be looking elsewhere for a while.

These shoes were everything I'd hoped they'd be. Kind of like the SUV of shoes. Equally adept on trails and off. I just hope Nautilus who recently purchased Pearl Izumi doesn't destroy or cheapen the brand.

The most comfortable shoes I've ever had. Going to buy another pair, in case they discontinue the line.

I'm a big dude and was looking for a shoe for some light trail action. Wore these to the gym and the support and stability felt good so I started running. Couple weeks later I am still running without any foot or joint pain. I love them.

Lovin the shoes they're comfortable and great to run in feels like a slipper, no regrets!

With a wide forefoot finding a trail runner with ample room but a snug, smaller heel pocket is a challenge. I vary between size 11.5 and 12 and went with the 12 for these. After a few uses I would recommend the 11.5 so you may need to size down. I've run approx 30 miles in these shoes and found them to be very comfortable with quite a bit of fore and aft cushion even on the most rugged trail and the amazing venting kept my feet cool despite the 100 degree temps. Because the shoe is generously wide in the forefoot myself and a buddy both had to snug down the laces as tight as they go. I think that the shoe actually needs one more lace hole farther down towards the toe because it takes full throttle cinch powers to get the forefoot snug. To not follow this advice you may have blisters like myself and a friend did after our first run in them. After realizing the need to snug down the laces all the way, I really enjoyed running in these shoes and would recommend to a wide footed runner.

I bought these for some marathon training while I am deployed to Afghanistan. Ground often changes from paved to dirt to sand back to dirt etc on base. Shoes are very comfortable however. I would suggest giving them a little bit of extra time to break in since I now have some mighty good blisters from switching shoes without the break in.

Use this shoe for ultralight backpacking and have found the cushion to be very comfortable. At 165lbs and carrying my whole family's (3 people) gear (37lbs) for a RMNP trip, the shoes never felt flat. Good support and decent traction. Very breathable. Very light on my feet. Durability is much improved over previous incarnations by Pearl Izumi. I've owed the last 2 versions.

Love 'em, super light weight, very breathable mesh. The rubber around the toes saves you from any unwanted stubs and bangs. I did have one of the lace gromets come out, but a little super glue fixed that.

These shoes have been a nice addition. They are a good combination of light, comfortable and great traction. I was pleased with how they felt in all conditions. I have feet that really hurt if I get a bad fit and these had a very pleasant feel.