Best plated road racing shoe for mellow trail ultras?

The endorphin speed was my initial thought too. None of the plated road shoes have trail worthy lugs. It's too bad the Craft racer is so heavy. It has trail chops.

I'm basically talking about a dirt singletrack course. Some slightly difficult sections but nothing that a standard road daily trainer couldn't handle. You could easily wear any basic trainer like a Boston, Pegasus, Ghost, 880, Ride, etc.

Trail shoe suggestions are accepted too. The new salomon pulsar is sold out in my size and probably not able to go 50 miles anyway, or even the second half.

I could swap shoes halfway, which is an option.

Hoka Carbon X 2

Carbon X 2 is terrible - it has no outsole, and the rubberized outsole is destroyed by stones.

I'd go with the GoMeb Speeds on that kind of surface. Metaracers would handle it too, but idk how your feet would feel after 50. I tend to roll my ankles in high stack, stiff shoes on the trails, so might be leery of the Sauconys.

Sauconys would probably be my pick due to their outsole seeming a little more solid and their midsole isn't too squishy to throw you off.

The North Face vectiv series have a carbon plated ultra racer.

Brooks Catamount is somewhat stiff and uses the same 'super foam' as Brooks Hyperion Elite and tempo.

I've seen people wear the Vaporfly on trail though. Check out the pictures from the most recent JFK 50. That race pops to mind, but honestly check out any recent high profile trail races and you will see some.

no farah wrote:

Sauconys would probably be my pick due to their outsole seeming a little more solid and their midsole isn't too squishy to throw you off.

The North Face vectiv series have a carbon plated ultra racer.

Brooks Catamount is somewhat stiff and uses the same 'super foam' as Brooks Hyperion Elite and tempo.

I've seen people wear the Vaporfly on trail though. Check out the pictures from the most recent JFK 50. That race pops to mind, but honestly check out any recent high profile trail races and you will see some.

I'm not trying to ignore any advice that isn't agreeing with me, but here are the points I'll make in response.

north face vectiv - would be perfect if this course had more % on trails. I actually own an early prototype of this shoe that has too many miles on it to race in for a full 50. I also think they'd be a little harsh on the pavement.

catamount - too heavy, too much outsole rubber even for a trail shoe. not enough of a hybrid. I have 200+ miles on the Hyperion Tempo and they're a bit firm for me over long distance. They also don't feel anything at all like a super shoe. I'd rather wear the Zoom Fly or Carbon X over anything Brooks makes right now.

The people who wore vaporflies at JFK mostly did shoe changes after the first AT section. One guy who didn't was Geoff Burns, who literally snapped the plate of his Next% in the first ten miles of the race.

Brett Hornig just won the Peterson Ridge Rumble in a pair Hoka Rocket Xs.

reed wrote:

I'm basically talking about a dirt singletrack course. Some slightly difficult sections but nothing that a standard road daily trainer couldn't handle. You could easily wear any basic trainer like a Boston, Pegasus, Ghost, 880, Ride, etc.

Trail shoe suggestions are accepted too. The new salomon pulsar is sold out in my size and probably not able to go 50 miles anyway, or even the second half.

I could swap shoes halfway, which is an option.

I recently wore the Pulsar for 50 miles and had no issues.

Saucony would be my pick for sure. The outsole is pretty grippy. I wore my PRO's for a couple 50k's on crushed gravel and did way better than I had thought. The cushion is good to have as well.

Haven't tried the Sauconys yet, but the Adizero Pro (not Adios Pro) is very grippy and comfortable. I was planning on using it for some FKT attempts this fall. But from your description I'd guess either of the Endorphins would be totally fine.

I have ordered the Endorphin Pro. I was hoping to get the Speed but it wasn't available from where I needed to order from to get a certain discount.

FYI I ordered a half size up in the Pro. Seems like it's running short.

Hoping to get them later this week to do a trail long run

Hopefully you twist your ankle on the trails using these clown shoes

I used the Endorphin Speed on semi-rugged trails at a 92km race this past weekend. They did the job with no issues.

Saucony seems like a good choice. I was going to recommend that or the Carbon X2 (which I've taken on the type of trail you describe, for about 12 miles, with no problem).

Good luck.

Update -

My endorphin pros took FOREVER to ship so I didn't get them until wednesday afternoon with my race on saturday.

ran 4 miles each the next two days in them and decided to go ahead and wear them, leaving a second pair of shoes at mile 26 of my 50 miler if I needed to swap.

They ended up working out well enough, about as well as you could expect actually. I did feel some ankle pain after the first 5mi trail section (have never had that happen before) but about ten miles on road followed that section and I never felt the ankle again.

For comparison, after 25 miles in my Next% (size 10.5, got the Sauconys in 11) during a road 50mi attempt, my toes were thrashed and in pain. I dropped at 31 with bloody toes (that's not why I dropped though).

Had no other pain from mile 7 to 47, then my instep felt like the tongue was rubbing it weird for the last 3 miles. The 50 miles took me 6.5 hours so they were great for 6 hours basically.

If I ran again I'd wear the same shoe again, but I'd be a little more cautious on the uneven terrain. It's been 6 days since the race and I do have some lingering ankle pain but nothing serious.

San Diego Hobby Jogger wrote:

Hopefully you twist your ankle on the trails using these clown shoes

LOL