keep looking

By sethlsande1633643 Ranked #1024 - Men's Trail Run Shoes January 29, 2009

These are frustrating shoes. The gaiters are a nice touch, and the waterproofing is good, but Sportiva makes great climbing and running shoes (the Fireblades are awesome) so I was a little startled at some of the lame aspects of these. I'd say for short to medium runs on wet or snowy terrain they're solid, but they don't feel fast or comfy enough for much else.

Cushioning: minimal--a long run on a hard surface will be very uncomfortable. That would be OK if they rode low, so you could get good feel for the surface, but they seem to ride higher than the minimalist Fireblades.

Fit: solidly cylindrical--for a person with a wide toe and narrow heel it's hard to feel completely comfortable in them.

Lacing: inflexible and strangely uncomfortable--you have to keep playing with the lacing to get it to feel right, and it's really easy to crank it too hard in one place and get a bad pinch.

Gaiters: Water-resistant, but not waterproof. Great for snow and splashes. These take some doing to attach to the shoe, and because the clips aren't too well designed I have to use something like a butter knife to keep the attachments open to receive them. Once they're on they protect well against snow, though I'm not sure why they didn't make them out of XCR.

View Details: La Sportiva Ultranord GTX-XCR Trail Running Shoe - Men's

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