Inov8 roclite 265

So these are meant to be womens shoes.
Ah well, they fit me.

The rather delightful grey and light blue-ness of them really doesnt detract from their usage, I have to say.
When I first put them on, in comparison to my previous mudrocs, they felt like they had a much better heel grip, much less blister-ablility all-round, though perhaps not quite as much grip.
Having used them a fair amount as a running shoe and as a biking shoe, I can happily talk about them with a bit of authority- well in terms of comparing them with the mudrocs.

First off, after a while running and biking the mudrocs, the centre grips on the shoes seem to have worn away quite significantly, they seem to have a much stickier, and hence less robust and longer lasting rubber. The Roclites appear to be lasting much better than the mudrocs.
Ive been out on them in all weathers, and have done a fair few fell races in them. Alright, they don't give quite as much grip, or inspire quite as much confidence on the crazy slick mud as the mudrocs, but I havent slipped yet.

The only place where they have let me down is on slick wet rock. My old shoes worked really well in bad situations like that. Crossing rivers and the like, I wouldnt have thought twice about jumping on a wet rock- the roclites- not a chance. As soon as I even think about it, I'm off and in the drink.

My original thoughts on using them as a cycling shoe (on flats) was a little dubious. Again, comparing to the mudrocs, which felt like they were glued to my V12s, these kept slipping off. I could scarcly believe that my feet weren't anchored to the pedals like in the good old green battleships...
Again, this is down to the slightly harder wearing, but not quite as sticky rubber- and to the fact I was on a different bike (same pedals though), and wasn't keeping my heels down. Since then I have used them on a number of ocassions, and my feet didnt slip off the pedals, but still didnt feel quite as rock steady.

However, all in all, over a long adventure race, if you dont want to have to change your shoes, these are a good pick. I wouldnt go back to the heel destroying mudrocs, these are comfortable, and run well, with a fair degree of cushioning to make long days running relatively non stressful on the feet.

I have a pair of Baregrips to try out as well, so when Ive been out in them a few times I shall write about them... but Im not just going to go out and race in them, no matter HOW comfortable they may be at first feel.