A mountain running shoe with a carbon plate - an idea that's crossed over from road running - the Kima RT is designed to reduce fatigue over long distances. Rob Greenwood felt the benefit, but then ran into some big issues. If these can be resolved, he says, then Scarpa may have really hit on something.
Oof, I'll them a miss thanks Scarpa (and I speak as someone with 5 pairs of Scarpa rock shoes on rotation). 50 miles would get you round a longish training run and the Kima itself. Customer or beta tester? Shame.
A hard overlay against mesh just scissors the mesh on the flex point, see so many shoes that have this obvious flaw, probably fine on trails but do a lot of up hill in the Lakes or Peak and this is the result, not just limited to Scarpa unfortunatley
Oof. Sounds like I dodged a bullet. I sold my pair as they were a touch too small and gave me blisters across the toes. I didn’t like the stiffness either and they felt tippy to me on rocky trails. I replaced them with the Hoka Tecton X which also has a carbon plate but feels a lot more flexible. I mainly use them on non technical trails and after 500Km I’m not convinced that a carbon plate does much in a trail shoe (apart from increase the price tag).
Why have Scarpa not nailed trail shoes yet given their climbing shoes and mountain boots are so incredibly good and durable?
Hoka seem to make brilliant uppers that never split or wear out (the Matryx fabric is really durable) but annoyingly their midsoles don’t last.
In reply to Tom Briggs: Everyone makes a dog - Hoka Challengers 2 and 3 fell to pieces very quickly, I had a pair that had holes in the upper after a 100 miles before some lugs on the outer sole fell off. The mids lasted ages tho'.
I've had 2 Ribelle Runs for a year or so now, and the upper on those is really good, ditto the mid but the outsole went a few months ago.
Fri Night Vid Ethan Pringle on one of Portugal's Hardest Sport Climb
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Podcast Factor Two - S3 Ep.5: Deep Play
Press Release Arc'teryx Alpine Academy returns to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc - July 4 – July 7, 2024