Good shoe - but not enough cushion for me

By DCH Ranked #558 - Men's Trail Run Shoes May 7, 2009

I've had heavier, bulkier trail runners and wanted something more sleek and low-profile. I wanted shoes for moving quickly (fast hiking and running) on dry trails on day trips. The Fireblades definitely seem to be that - but unfortunately I didn't get to use them other than for extended periods of wearing them (trying them out) inside my house. The fit seemed good for my fairly low-volume, high-arched, just-the-narrow-side of medium width size 44 - 44.5 feet. The upper contoured the right places and curves. Right away, however, I could tell that there was not much in the way of cushioning. I felt this mostly in the forefoot. I think my rigid feet have lost some of their padding over the years of use, especially under the ball of the foot and behind the toes. My determination was that if I was feeling the lack of cushioning during inside use, then spending several hours in them on the trail might be uncomfortable - maybe even painful. I would like to have done some real runs in the Fireblades - maybe I would have been surprised, but I doubt it based on past experience with shoe feel and fit. I wanted to like them and keep them but think I need more underfoot padding and shock absorbing ability than these provide. Another thing is that the laces are quite short - they are barely long enough to make double knots.

Conclusion: These are probably good shoes for some people but didn't work for me so I returned them.

View Details: La Sportiva Fireblade Trail Running Shoe - Men's

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