Lone Ranger: hi-ho Silver, and away…. For those of you old enough: remember the Lone Ranger? Do-gooder Texas Ranger cowboy dude sporting a black eyemask (that never really did conceal his identity) and an eye-brow-raising, rather tight for the times, all-lilac-blue outfit replete with a dainty red neckerchief. I mean, seriously, who wears lilac blue when barrelling along on a trusty steed pursuing dastardly outlaws in the badlands of the Wild West? All that dust shows up terribly on lilac…
Caldera Crushers: Minimalism is dead? We’re unsure – maybe it’s still on life support waiting for its own next big breath of fresh air (although read If These Shoes Could Talk, final page of ED#22 Trail Run Mag printed edition, and you might argue otherwise). Regardless, the big boys in trail shoe land are certainly putting the max factor back on the table following the tidal wave of fat-bottoms that Hoka had gumption to float into the market with. And – especially…
Aggravated Assault First up: what the hell is the use of a pretty darn good trail shoe if it’s hard to come by, try and buy? Worse still, if you don’t even know that it’s in the market? When it comes to the Adidas Terrex Agravic I didn’t, until I walked into Run Stop Shop in Melbourne. And my eyes lit up. Spoiler alert: it’s a top end performer. But who knew? So when I tell you it’s a contender,…
IT’S A CLICHÉ TERM: FITS LIKE A GLOVE. USUALLY TAKEN AS A POSITIVE DESCRIPTOR, IT’S APTLY APPLIED TO THE SALOMON S-LAB SENSE ULTRA SG. THESE RACY NUMBERS CUDDLE YOUR FOOT, LIKE A FULL BODY CONTACT SPOONING SESSION FOR YOUR FEET. I MENTION THIS UP FRONT BECAUSE IT’S THE FIRST ‘FEELING’ YOU GET PUTTING THEM ON – A NOTICEABLE ‘WOW’ FACTOR OF SILKY, FORM-FITTING COMFORT. [the following review first appeared in Edition #21 of Trail Run Mag. Download now at www.trailrunmag.com/magazines] The…
Crush’n It: It’s been a while since the Merrell brand has in any serious way popped its head up in trail-land in Australia. With a fairly successful outing in the minimalist category years back (with its broadly well-received Trail Glove range), they seemed to disappear on our radars, content to concentrate on the urban wanna-be adventurer category (comfortable shoes for pavement to pub that give the illusion the wearer is about to head into the wilderness). [the following review first appeared…
I was never a shopper. Until I became a trail runner. These days, I’m a bit of a gear guy. Here’s the latest we’ve been playing with on the trails, as featured in the latest edition of Trail Run Mag, Ed#21, downloadable for free from www.trailrunmag.com/magazines.
Scarpa, one of the world’s best hiking boot brands, have so far not had much success breaking into the Australian trail running market so when Dan Slater got the opportunity to test out their top model, the Atom, he was intrigued as to whether they deserved a fair go. *NOTE: this one’s for international readers or those looking to get a feel for Scarpa trail shoes in general, as this particular model is not available in AU unless you’re an…
The Rock biter. Careful. It bites. Just look at those teeth! It’s like they’d chomp your fingers off of you put your pinkies anywhere near them. Whomp! Luckily the new Saucony Peregrine 6 are vegetarian: they don’t eat meat (that we know of). Rather they eat dirt. And rocks. A bit like the Rock Biter in The Never Ending Story: munch, crumble, munch, swallow. The trail is just no match (or thinking about it another way, the perfect match) whatever its form….
In past reviews of the Cascadia, I have been highly complimentary of the model. After all, it was the shoe – out of the box – that got me through my very first trail marathon in the Blue Mountains. Back then (Cascadia 4 I believe), the shoe was a little more minimal. It still had the bulldozer-like qualities that all Cascadias have delivered, ready to roll through any bush terrain no matter the beef, but the V4 certainly had no…
