The first 100 miles
“““““““““`It’s mid June and I’ve now crossed through the first 100 miles in the Roclite 300. 113 miles to be precise.
So far the feedback has been good. The shoes were instantly comfortable. Inov8 shoes have 5 width sizes and the Roclite 300 is a size 3, or ‘average’ width I guess. These for me fit well and compare comfortably to standard width Brooks and Nike.
The Roclite has a good upper and wraps the foot well. It gives a feeling of your foot being well supported in the shoe, especially the toe box, and the fit across the top of the foot is great.
The tongue is not overly thick and the laces colourful but nothing overly exciting to write about. The laces doe at least stay tied, something that not all other shoe’s I’ve had have managed!!!
In the heel these have the ‘X’ shaped support and this is really good. Your heel feels supported and locked in. There’s no movement and having run 3 marathons in these shoes now in their first few weeks, they hold their position and avoid rubbing and friction well.
The shoes themselves are not a very cushioned shoe, and coming form a Brooks Cascadia/Glycerin shoe you notice this quite clearly. That takes a little to get used to and is noticeable in the wearing of the shoe. I’ve decided to up the insole quality and gone for the new Enertor insoles to give a little more response and cushion. These fit the shoe well and provide a bit more cushion and response without making the shoe dull.
Grip wise the shoe promises a lot. It’s designed for firm rocky terrain, and was recommended to me by Inov8 themselves for mixed terrain running using roads and hard packed trails. They do have other shoes in this category as well but they often appear to be a wider fit, which I was dissuaded from trying.
The lugs are good and deep and on loose surfaces and general trails they hold well, giving good grip. They are also road comfortable. Even with the deep lugs they don’t feel like a tractor wheel on a race track and are pleasant to run in for those runs where you have to include mixed surfaces.
So far my only criticism is the wear. The rear lugs are showing quite a bit of wear already that I just don’t normally see with the other shoes I’ve used. I’m going to keep an eye on that and see how it goes. I like to get 500 + miles from a pair of shoes and at the moment I’m unsure if these will make that!
Overall, a great shoe, good value and comfortable. Well placed for trails, mixed surfaces and equally as comfortable on the road. They hold the foot well, give great ankle support, and, in my opinion, are a great looking shoe. There is a question over sole durability but I’ll see what things look like as I pass the 200/250 mile wear point. A really good option to consider for your next trail shoe.
Ridgeway Runner 