2013 Preview - New Shoes From Anatom

Antom V1 Trail Shoe gets a visual makeover...

... and a new, grippier sole unit.

And the women's version. All available with or without the tri-aria waterproof membrane.

And the new Anatom running shoe with colours yet to be finalised.

Smooth sole unit gives around 9mm of EVA cushioning and 4mm heel to toe drop - Anatom call it a 'transition shoe'.

Colour yet to be decided, but we liked the black (above) and the orange.

It was great to run into the Anatom guys over at the OutDoor trade show in Germany last week and get a sneak peek at their new shoes for 2013. Or more precisely, an updated and restyled V1 trail shoe plus the brand's first running shoe.

Starting with the V1 Trail Shoe, Anatom has revamped its restrained walking shoe to make it look and perform better. On the performance front, the main change is a new, grippier version of Anatom's Trail-Grip sole unit for all-round grip and traction - the shoe still has the brand's tri.aria waterproof membrane, but there's also a non-mebrane version to suit hotter conditions.

The other changes are visual, both to the sole unit and to the colour scheme, which lifts the look of the shoe and makes it look, well, just a bit brighter and more modern. This year's subdued brown suude with olive highlights has gone and instead you get a choice of grey suede with red or green highlighting for the men, with green or sky blue for the girls. 

Functionally we like the V1 - watch out for a review shortly - but the 2013 version just looks a bit more modern. And if you want to be subdued, but the 2012 version.

Anatom's New Running Shoe

Also on Anatom's small but perfectly formed stand was the brand's new running shoe. It is, they say, about 'natural running' , but is more of a transition shoe than a full-on minimal barefoot design. That means an EVA mid-sole unit with no plates or stiffeners, but about 9mm of padding along with a 4mm heel to toe drop - to put that in perspective, barefoot shoes are zero drop, conventional trail shoes are around 10mm and Scarpa's new Spark - see report - has 6mm drop.

The outsole's pretty slick rather than off-road gnarly, so you're looking at smoother surfaced running rather than full trail stuff, and the styling's slick with the final colour decisions yet to be made. We liked the black with green highlights for real world use, but the orange one is pretty slick too.

Both shoes due out early in 2013. More Anatom information at www.anatomfootwear.co.uk.