New trail shoes and boots from top French lightweight brand Salomon.
One of our favourite stands at the OutDoor trade show in Germany last
month was
Salomon's.
We're thoroughly impressed with footwear like the
Quest
4D GTX lightweight three-season trekking boot
with its trail running-based chassis and it looks like there's more of
the same in the pipeline.
We had a quick whisk through the entire range starting with the
Techamphibian shoes
below made from mesh with water-shedding uppers and sole units
incorporating special fissures in the rubber of the outsole to give
reliable grip on slippy, wet rock.
There's a new leather version out the for spring 2010 and, as you can
see, the heel section folds down so the shoe can be worn like a quick
and dirty flip-flop. The sole unit's also non-marking, making it ideal
for indoor use.
There's also a completely re-styled version of the
Elios and
Elios Mid shoes
called the Elios 2. They have new, more modern cosmetics, a new last
with more volume - the original was quite narrow - and a new insole
incorporating EVA cushioning plus a padded 3D tongue for instant
comfort.
Like we said, we're impressed with the Quest trekking boot, which, it
turns out, is based on the US-market last and foot shape and therefore
has more internal space. Completely new though is the rabidly orange
Wings Sky GTX mid
which is based on the Wings. It's extremely light and is basically a
running shoe with a high ankle cuff.
Our favourite though is the new
XA
Pro 3D Mid Ultra which, as you've probably guessed, is
basically a high -ankled XA Pro trail-runnng shoe.
That's the women's version above looking slick in black and with a
powder blue stretch heel cuff to keep the debris out, and below is the
men's incarnation of the new shoe. We reckon they should make a
cracking lightweight trail-boot come shoe.
A couple more, this is the new
Tracks
shoe, a very soft, comfortable, cushioned runner.
There are also lots of new colours for the classic XA Pros
trail-running / adventure-racing shoe, but completely new is the
XA Pro 5 which uses
a very wide last along with EVA cushioning and then there's the
XT Whisper 2 which
Salomon says is the world's lightest fitness shoe.
Most interesting though is the new
Relax
recovery shoe. It's a multi-coloured, mesh-uppered slip-on that's
designed specifically to be slipped on after hardcore events to help
rejuvenate your feet. Looks awesome in a very bright way and might even
make a cracking hut/tent shoe.
All the above available early iin 2010. Details of the current Salomon
range at
www.salomonsports.com
