Berghaus Phobic Stable Endure - First Look

Berghaus Phobic Stable Endure - First Look

The new for this year Phobic Stable Endure is one of three shoes that take up the baton from last year's Phobic Light - the others are the Phobic Stable Dry, which has a Gore-Tex lining, and the Phobic Light Flow, a lighter, less protective shoe.

The Stable Endure is, like the original Phobic, a trail-running shoe, but beefed up with a medial post for increased stability and revised protection for the upper. Again it's designed to shed water and dry fast and to be used for trail running though as with most trail-running shoes, there's no reason why you shouldn't also use it for lightweight walking. It's also intended to be more 'rugged' than its predecessor.

Berghaus has gone a little label crazy on its footwear with lots of three-letter acronyms - EHS and LPP to name two of them. The really key features are the Ergonomic Holding System, which is the external mouldings that help to seat the foot in the shoe - you can see it running from heel to forefoot for example and the Low Profile Protection, which is designed to strategically protect the mesh upper from damage.

The Phobic bit means that the materials used are treated to shed water and dry fast if you do get wet. The theory is that anyone running off road in the UK is going to encounter water, so you might as well live with it.

The Running variant of the Berghaus Opti-Stud sole makes an appearance. It's been designed to give great grip off road, but also through the unusual stud shape to stop studs from folding over and pushing back into your foot.

We found the original Phobic Light 's external protection mouldings actually pressed uncomfortably on our feet and the good news is that the more subtle toe bumper and other reinforcement no longer does this, making the Stable Endure a lot more comfortable for us.

The last on recent Berghaus footwear is light years ahead of its older models as well and we found the shoes felt really planted on our fairly typical British feet. The slick lacing system and, erm, EHS, gives a glove - like fit that's ideal for off-road running where it's crucial for your feet not to slop around inside the shoe.

That, along with a reasonably low EVA mid-sole, helps give decent, stable performance on uneven ground. And as with other Berghaus footwear we've used recently, the Opti-Stud sole unit gives tenacious, toothy grip on softer ground and is, in this incarnation anyway, fine on rockier terrain as well.

One thing worth noting, is that despite the pressure distribution plate, the thinner forefoot cushioning means you can feel small rocks underfoot through the front section of the sole unit. That's not really an issue for running where the pay-off is sensitivity, but if you're used to a stiffer-soled walking shoe or boot, you may find it disconcerting at first.

Finally, the Phobic element of the shoe, as we said in our review of last year's model, works well for quick drying, but doesn't really repel water noticeably better than other shoes in our opinion anyway. A big bonus though, is that the mesh construction makes the shoe hot weather-friendly.

Fit was glove-like for us and stability feels good. We also like the extra ventilation and quick drying nature of the Phobic construction. It's early days on the uppers' durability front, though we expect the EVA cushioning foam to get an abrasion battering on rocky terrain.

A cracking trail -running shoe, that also makes a decent lightweight walker as long as you can cope with feeling the odd rock through the forefoot. Note there's also a less lurid grey/silver colour option for the more discrete user...

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