Inov-8 Roclite 295

Fucking love the tread on this shoe. Hats off to Inov-8

I was in Bishop, CA on a climbing trip when I accidentally crossed paths with the Roclite 295. I took one look at the tread and was smitten. After speaking with the sales lady and finding the best trails for them in the area, I begged Anthony to spot me the money, and walked out of there with some gnarliest of the gnar on my feet.

Love at first sight
The Roclite 295 is significantly beefier than the shoes I normally wear (merrell trail glove) but fuck it, the tread looked like too much fun not to play with. Inov-8 has a fairly simple formula for naming their shoes. The name is derived from the sole design (so all roclite shoes have a roclite sole) and the number is the shoes weight in grams. I originally bought the shoe for use as a 50 mile racing shoe. The differential is a bit higher than I like (9mm) but the shoe is unreasonably comfortable, feeling a bit more cushy than I have come to expect from a trail shoe, but it fits like a glove and seems fairly responsive. It should be noted that the cush could well be a side effect of the massive sticky rubber lugs, I have yet to take it for its first trail run.

Once the sparkles have faded
This is still an impressive piece of footwear. I took it for several long runs up in Inyo National Forest and the surrounding mountains, and it performed like a champ. The ridiculous tread bites well in all manner of terrain, but gives you enough surface area to really take advantage of the sticky rubber on rocks.

The nature of the mesh upper with webbing running down means that it can fit a wide variety of feet. That being said, with a slightly narrow foot, I am meant for this shoe. As predicted, it is incredibly responsive. Coming from a true minimalist shoe, I have no problems with the arch, and while the heel drop has given me some issues, for someone who is used to it there shouldn’t be any.

While this is not going to be my 50 mile racing shoe (largely because I can’t get over the heel/toe differential of 9mm), I will continue to use it as a hiking shoe for it’s comfortable fit and fucking ridiculous tread.

Should I take the plunge?
Pros
*Well priced for what you get
*Exquisitely made, I cannot seem to kill mine.
*Incredible tread.
*Comfortable shoe all around, the upper will hug your foot and sing it to sleep.

Cons
*Not the right shoe for ME to race in, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good for YOU. If you’re ok with the 9mm heel drop, enjoy.