Low drop trail running shoes

[MC Bodge]

I am looking for replacements for my Brooks Pure Grit trail running shoes.

I would like a grippy outsole for stony/light mud terrain with 0-4mm heel drop and relatively thin soles for stability and some feel, but with a light rock plate.

A few years ago this was fairly common and made a lot of sense to me.

Nowadays everybody appears to be wearing Hokas or Hoka tributes with thick, squishy, platform soles.

Even Brooks no longer make the Pure range at all, which was often really good ...when they didn't completely change the fitting with a new version. Why do companies do this?

Ps. Even various "barefoot" or minimalist style shoes have become increasingly less so too, probably because the vast majority runners have weak cores and lower legs/feet and cannot cope with them.

[ajap1979]

Could try the Xero Scrambler Low or the Altra Superior 6, both have 0mm drop. Alternatively the Merrell MTL Skyfire 2 (6mm), or the Scarpa Spin Planet (4mm).

[Terminator X]

Innov8 used to do a 235 shoe with almost no heel. Not sure if they still do it as mine are a few years old now.

TX.

[MC Bodge]

Thanks for the suggestions

[MonkeyBusiness]

I've had a couple of Altra Lone Peaks.
Very good although don't seem to last long.

[blindspot]

Surprisingly (to me at least) Nike make some great low-drop trail shoes, the Terra Kiger range. By far the best I've found. 4mm drop I think.

[smn159]

I've got a pair of Altra Olympus 4s and really like them - 0mm

[MC Bodge]

blindspot said:

Surprisingly (to me at least) Nike make some great low-drop trail shoes, the Terra Kiger range. By far the best I've found. 4mm drop I think.

I found a lightly used pair cheap on eBay.

Having arrived, they fit, and look just to be just the sort of thing I was after.

Surprising to me too.

[MC Bodge]

MC Bodge said:

blindspot said:

Surprisingly (to me at least) Nike make some great low-drop trail shoes, the Terra Kiger range. By far the best I've found. 4mm drop I think.

I found a lightly used pair cheap on eBay.

Having arrived, they fit, and look just to be just the sort of thing I was after.

Surprising to me too.

Having field tested them, here is the verdict:

Good low heel-toe drop
Fairly low sole height.
Good traction on light trails and grass
Comfortable, with a good fit and toe box space

A little more cushioning than I would have chosen, but it's not a problem
I could feel stones through the soles more than in my Brooks Pure Grit.
A slippy muddy slope showed the limitations of the grip, but they are not Fell or XC shoes, and have much better mud grip than the Pure Grit.


I'm very pleased with these, especially used (unused?) for only £32.

Thanks for the recommendation