I'm not a big fan of trail shoes and have only had one pair before - a clunky pair of Montrails. I find that my road shoes work quite well on the trails too. However I was in Foot Zone the other day picking up some Hammer Gel and, needing some new shoes, was looking at the offerings on display. The Cascadia caught my eye because it's light and low, especially for a 'trail' shoe. I tried them on in the store and found they fit me very well. I like a shoe that's narrow/tight in the heel with lots of room in the toebox. The outsole had nice traction lugs and a 'rock plate' to help keep stone bruises at bay. My only initial concern was how soft the cushioning was.
I tried them out on a 12 mile run including a climb up Cedar Butte on a wet day. The shoes felt good and had fair traction on the loamy soil, but when the trail was muddy the shoes didn't do as well. They also had NO traction on wet roots and rocks. I nearly fell a couple times due to this.
I wore them again on a 24 mile trail run featuring 6,000' of elevation gain, mud, snow, and dry surfaces today. The snow was soft and slippery and I doubt any shoe would have done well. These certainly didn't. I also seemed to be twisting my foot and ankle a lot. I don't know if it is because the soft cushioning of the shoe allowed more 'roll' or if it was just the trail conditions.
The Brooks Cascadia 5 seems like a shoe that will find a place in my shoe library due to its good dry weather traction, its fit, and its light weight and suitability for both road and trail running.
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