Vitisse

The bane of most hikers and climbers is getting a boot or trail shoe that works for their feet. If you're unlucky as I am when it comes to getting trail shoes that fit, then you'll comprehend easily the dilemna that faces some of us. I've tried approach shoe after approach shoe and before the end of the trip, my feet are killing me. I bought superfeet inserts and that didn't help on my NB803's, my Merrell nor my Nikes. Then a salesguy at REI (can you believe this one?) recommended the Vitesse. He said he had some of the same problems as I did but that the Vitesse solved them for him. Amazing as it may seem, he was right (for me anyway)

Once I added the superfeet, I tried them out on a 6 miler and had no pain. Then I tried a 15 miler in the Eagle Creek area and still no pain. I love these shoes. I don't seem to roll my right ankle anymore with the way the wide footbed is made and coupling these with my Montrail Torre GTX's, I have solved my shoe and boot problems. Recently I did a three day trip into the Enchantments and had no problems with these shoes while carrying 25 lb pack. I give them 5 stars because they are the first trail shoe that has really worked for me and they have taken a beating (rain, mud, snow, scree, crud, and the like) I feel they are very well put together and I don't seem to bang my toes as painfully as some of the other trail shoes I've used.

One consistant thing about the Vitesse model, they seem to have been around since 1995 without Montrail messing with the formula.

I used these shoes on my through-hike of the mountains to sea trail last summer and I have to say they did the job. They werent exceptional but they were sufficient. On the Pro side, their very lightweight, breathable. On the con side, they do nothing to keep your feet dry and they tend to show wear and tear relatively quickly. I put about 750 miles on them in one year and had to retire them. But despite that, I would use them again, their a good bargain.

Pro:

fit, comfort, durability, traction



Con:

bad stability, not enough cushioning



I love the lycra sock fit of these shoes. They are really quite comfortable. The durabilty has been amazing! I have abused mine for over 3 years and they still are completely intact and look fine. The traction of the soles is quite good, the lug pattern works well in lots of situations and the rubber is pretty sticky.



I don't like the lack of stability I feel in these shoes. Even when worn quite tightly, my ankles and feet feel like they could roll off the shoe (laterally) much too easily. Also, for a pair of 'trail running' shoes, they offer very little cushioning. That may be ok for some people, but I could never use these for any kind of distance running.



So, these have become my good old friends when around town, walking the dog, etc. However, when I head out to the mountains, I grab other shoes.