Hands On: Hitting the Trail With the Montrail Sabino

Montrail Sabino Trail Shoes

Over hill, over dale, I hit the dusty trail and the Sabino carried me along. After years of primarily being one to pound the pavement, I laced up with a pair on Montrail Sabino shoes and got off road. Now truth be told, given the state of many roads and even sidewalks in much of the country these days, finding “off road” isn’t as hard as it seems. But these performance running shoes are really designed for stability in true trail conditions.

The Sabinos are heavier than many of today’s lightweight running training shoes, but that’s because these need to stand up to harsher terrain. In other words you wouldn’t use a sports car where a SUV needs to go – then again, many SUVs probably couldn’t go where these shoes will take you. Made of synthetic leather and lylon mesh upper materials and thermoplastic midfoot shank, the Sabinos fit like a glove and were just right for the rather humid and warm day when I hit the trail. Whether we’ll be able to say if these were neither too hot nor too cold will have to determined at another time, but it is safe to say that these will do the job in a variety of weather conditions. Continue reading Hands On: Hitting the Trail With the Montrail Sabino

Columbia Ravenous Eat Up the Dirt on the Trail

These trail running shoes will eat it up

If running on the pavement just isn’t your speed, and you prefer to get down and dirty than Columbia Sportswear has you covered – and your feet too. For 2010 the company has released a shoe that will let you eat up the trails. The 2010 Ravenous is just 600 grams a pair, and these feature a cushioned underfoot to make the hard trails seem not so hard.

To ease additional pounding the Ravenous are using what Columbia is calling a 3D Techlite heel system to offer a conforming fit while helping runners maintain stability in really rough terrain. This further provides a cushion that will make you feel like you’re running on a cloud while working up some dust. The shoes further offer a mesh upper, which is ideal for those summer heatwaves. But to protect your feet from the trails there is also a front toe bumper for good measure. All this combined result is a lightweight shoe that take a beating, and still looks stylish on or off the trails.

Columbia Ravenous Trail Shoe