First Impressions: Brooks Cascadia shoes
My new running shoes are Brooks Cascadia – my first ever trail running shoes. The shoes are ugly enough to make you puke. They are so ugly that apparently REI made Brooks produce a grey version just for them. But at least you don’t have to worry about the red/yellow look clashing with any particular outfit – they clash with all your outfits (the girl’s version is a pretty blue though).
I had to choose between the Brooks and and Montrail Masai’s. The Brooks are trail running shoes made by a road running company, the Masai’s are trail running shoes made by a hiking boot company. The Masai’s were grey (a bonus) and had a good mid-foot gusset. But they were hard under the toe, cut high in the back and I’ve been running in various Brooks since I came to the US (apart from a failed Asics experiment) so I went with the Brooks.
Took them for a spin around Cougar doing (what Danika and I are now calling) Scott’s Loop for about 100 minutes yesterday. Stuck my ever reliable Superfeet inside them as insoles. And I liked them. Like all new shoes that fit well they feel supportive and fast.
To be honest the ground was harder than concrete (36°F) and I didn’t notice anything particularly trail runnerish about the shoes. On one occasion I kicked a rock and liked the rubber toe, and they maybe gripped a little better on an uneven corner or two, but I think it’ll take more mud to determine how much better they are than my road shoes.
Did I say they were fast?
