Is the such a trainer that would be ideal for road and trail running? Off to the sweat shop tommorrow and just wanted a bit of advice before i go, the type of running will probably be 50/50.

Ooh can of worms, bigger than the what tyres for…
I had saucony, then went to inov8 now gone to merrel barefoot trail glove thing for summer and a vivo barefoot for winter as the tread is better. Admittedly I don’t run as much as I did but it was a progression thing for me. I went for saucony on a recommendation from a friend.
I would suggest paying less than seventy quid if you’re not sure…

http://sportspursuit.com – have a sale on for Inov-8s at the moment (think the site is currently being refreshed so might have to wait a short while).

I think they’re about £60 a pair from £100 odd.

I swop between New Balance Minimus Trails, Inov-8’s and Vivo Barefoots.

I have a pair of Merral Trail running shoes, can’t remember the exact model but I love them for everything!

Check out pete bland’s website for good deals, just got a pair of La Sportivas for 50% off trade price! Unlike Sportpursuit they use royal mail and not Yodel who are possibly THE worst couriors going!

for road/trail you don’t want anything too aggressively lugged. anything that has loads of cusioning on the heel give it a wide birth if you are going off road too as they will cause you no end of problems.

Ignore alot of the pish on here and go see the folk at sweatshop- certainly the one near me are one of the best local shops. Sweatshop at the gym at the a92

They will give you guidance for your first pair of shoes to base future decisions on

For someone on here who hasnt seen the shape of your feet to be reccomending shoes is irrelevent. Not convinced on the different corrective features but i like the fact that sweatshop dont have prices on their shoes , you pick whats comfy they let you run round the carpark which is a good bit more representative than the treadmill.

As trail rat said. Forget ‘what shoe is best for x terrain’ or ‘what brand is best value’. Go to a proper runner’s shop, get properly fitted with a shoe which fits your feet and gait and go with that.

My experience:
Two weeks ago I went to Up & Running in Horsham where I went for a run down the street and back in about half a dozen different shoes before finally deciding on a pair of Brooks, which I then used on the treadmill in the shop for a brief video analysis.

None of which I paid any extra for.

I’ve run every day since with the exception of christmas day and am not suffering in the slightest from the knee pain which had niggled me for the last six months.

I guess first off there’s trails and trails. When some people say trail them mean a gravel path through a park, others mean the edge of a ploughed field. Start off thinking about what tyres you’d stick on your bike to ride the trails you want to run on, then bear in mind that tread when choosing a shoe. If a salesman offers you a shoe that doesn’t look like it’s got the same grip as the bike tyre, it won’t have.

Trails for me on xmas day was knee deep wading through streams and floods. And mid ankle mud

My five fingers were a bit lack lustre for it :/

As trail rat said. Forget ‘what shoe is best for x terrain’ or ‘what brand is best value’. Go to a proper runner’s shop, get properly fitted with a shoe which fits your feet and gait and go with that.

Thats all well and good for road running, but the OP specifically asked for 50/50 road/trail shoes and unless they let you run off road to test them, then no amount of running around a carpark is going to give him a good analog for trail running.

All that gait analysis stuff they do is mostly a gimmick designed to sell you some shoes.

just buy a pair online, try them on. if you feel they are comfortable enough go for a run as no amount of trying different pairs of shoes in a shop will translate to real-life.

Thats all well and good for road running, but the OP specifically asked for 50/50 road/trail shoes and unless they let you run off road to test them, then no amount of running around a carpark is going to give him a good analog for trail running.

All that gait analysis stuff they do is mostly a gimmick designed to sell you some shoes.

just buy a pair online, try them on. if you feel they are comfortable enough go for a run as no amount of trying different pairs of shoes in a shop will translate to real-life.

+1

Who mentioned gait analysis ? That is alot of shite

I said trainers that fit.

Youll spend alot on postage to find a first pair of comfy trainers. Esp if you dont know what comfy actually is.

I went shopping for shoes, they looked at my feet and said tht shape , try these these and these

Went for a run – if its comfy for road ( carpark) be comfy for trail . We all have eyes to see how grippy a shoe is.

Oh and once i found a comfy pair they told me the price. – no where near as much as i had budgeted

I went shopping for shoes, they looked at my feet and said tht shape , try these these and these

If I were a cynic, I might suggest that if some minimum-wage shop monkey can take one look at your feet and tell you what shoes you need then it probably doesn’t make any difference. Running shoes are flexible and as long as you get the right size (and possibly width if you are significantly different to average) they are going to fit OK. You could run in a pair of plimsoles and you’d be fine. I have run in Chuck Taylor’s before when i’ve forgotten my running shoes which are probably one of the least “fitted” shoes you can get and they are also fine (except the soles are not very flexible).

Who mentioned gait analysis ? That is alot of shite

except, of course, it isn’t, unless you are naturally gifted with a perfect running style (unlikely). Next time you see someone running, have a look at what their feet/knees are doing. Most people I observe have something wrong – feet turned in/out, knees/ankles twisting, etc. This is what is going to lead to injury in the long term, not wearing the “wrong” shoes.

This is what is going to lead to injury in the long term, not wearing the “wrong” shoes.

or, just or, it could be the shoes they are wearing are making them run that way!

Ive run with my left foot doing circles and clipping my ankle of my right foot sometimes.

Never caused me pain. Is how i always have , correcting that would do me more harm than good i feel.

Always ended up with neutral shoes in a wide fit

Agree about shoes forcing people to run wrong.

unless you are naturally gifted with a perfect running style

The thing is, if you’re running off road and it’s reet muddy, it’s quite hard to maintain the perfect gait while trying not to slide on your arse.

Today’s run was spent mostly going sideways.

…but then I do run like a crab.

or, just or, it could be the shoes they are wearing are making them run that way!

possibly, if you run in stilettos or something ridiculous by reebok with a pillow strapped on the bottom. Otherwise the difference of a few millimetres in the design of a shoe is not going to outweigh the mechanics of your entire lower body or a lifetime of walking/running a certain way.

The thing is, if you’re running off road and it’s reet muddy, it’s quite hard to maintain the perfect gait while trying not to slide on your arse.

True, but then that’s a good reason to get your style sorted on the flat before venturing too much off road IMO.

All that gait analysis stuff they do is mostly a gimmick designed to sell you some shoes.

Comments like this really annoy me. Especially when the come on a mountain bike forum with a peculiar addiction to the latest kit for cycling. It seems running is not viewed in the same way.

The point I’m making is that if you go to a proper running shop you’re not going to be dealt with by a ‘shop monkey’ as someone said above, you’ll be dealt with my someone who knows and understands their products and the importance of fitting the right shoe to the customer, much in the same way that you’d expect a bike shop assistant to be able to correctly size you to one of their bikes. Similarly to a correctly fitted bike, a correctly fitted shoe will optimize your performance and reduce the likelihood of injury, however unlike with a bike selecting the shoe with the correct amount of support for an individual is not as simple as making a single measurement.

Still. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.