User Review: Inov8 Roclite 318 GTX

Inov8 Roclite 318 GTX
Above: The current Roclite 318 GTX, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed May 22, 2008 by allfreej

Rating:
Break-in Period: None
Price Paid: $106.25

A great shoe for long distance trail runs in muddy, snowy, or otherwise sloppy conditions. I ran in a pair of these in a local 50 km trail race in extremely rugged terrain. There was snow and mud throughout the course, and the Roclite 318 GTXs turned in a stellar performance.

These shoes were brand new, fresh out of the box when I laced them up for that race. I've run enough to know better, but needed a Gore-Tex-lined shoe due to the course conditions. I had ordered a pair of TNF Ultra 103 XCRs, but ended up sending them back as they were 1-1/2 sizes too large, but the replacements hadn't arrived by the day before the race. I purchased the inov-8s at the Trail Store in Louisville (highly recommended!) and was glad that I did.

I wore a pair of Dirty Girl gaiters over the tops and between those and the Gore-tex lining of the inov-8s, my feet stayed nice and dry. I never even changed socks, though my lower half was almost entirely coated in cold, wet mud. The shoes were comfortable, roomy in the toe box, reasonable light, and the sticky sole compound resulted in zero slipping on wet rocks and roots.

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