Discussion: Trail Shoes vs Road Shoes for training?

Just wondering what the best type of shoes for doing the majority of training in are, especially when I run approximately 60% on road and 40% on trails. I currently run in Asics 2160's for almost all my runs except racing but wondered whether there was a better shoe that suited offroad a bit better and was maybe a bit lighter?

Can anyone recommend a shoe that can handle long miles, is not to heavy and provides a compromise between a road shoe and a fully offroad shoe? any suggestions much appreciated.

OoOh, a topic about shoes. My favorite.

If your trails aren't particularly gnarly, or are pretty hard packed, you're perfectly fine with a road shoe.

As trail shoes get more trail-y, they're going to slowly depart from road shoe feel and become more a trail shoe. That potentially means a) heavier, b) firmer, and c) stiffer.

If you want a trail shoe that is not extremely aggressive or a bit softer underfoot, I would recommend the Salomon Crossmax or Saucony Xodus, or a slightly lighter choice could be the inov-8 terrafly. Most mainstream shoe companies (e.g. Nike, Asics), also make quasi-trail shoes that are cushy and not aggressive, but are generally just road shoes with dark colours. If you want cush like nobody's business, try a Hoka Mafate.

If you want a lighter weight shoe, you're going to sacrifice a little bit of durability and cushion, but will often gain in flexibility. For that you could try the inov-8 X-Talon 212, La Sportiva Xcountry, Montrail Rogue Racer, New Balance 101, or the Saucony Peregrine.

Also, in full bias mode here, try on all the inov-8s. They're the best. Full stop. In the NZ they're distributed by High Beam, http://www.highbeam.co.nz/

I'm getting the shakes. All this new shoe talk is giving me a hankering for some.

The Trials I run are pretty hard pack (plus some rocks and grass/gravel), I guess when I said a combination of road and trial shoe I meant something that was durable when running offroad but also a bit lighter/lower than the typical Nike/Asics training shoe.

I am also rather Bias towards Inov8 (I have X-talon 212's, 190's and F-lite 230's) and I've also been looking at the road-X 255 for a general purpose running shoe but not sure whether it will be a bit low/not enough cushioning for longer runs. Also looked at the Asics DS trainer but I think it may not be durable enough.

I have the road-x 238s (the women's version of the road-x 255) and find them to be a lot cushier than the f-lite 230s (they are a 3-arrow shoe instead of 2-arrow, and they have a bit of a 'rock' to them, unlike the very flat F-lites), but certainly not as cushy as standard running trainers. The road-x's have smooth tread like a road shoe, but if you find the f-lites suitable for your hard pack then the road-x's would probably do, too.

Thanks! my 230's are perfect for what I want to do terrain wise but are just to light and flat (which is why I use them for races). Did you transition straight from normal trainers to 238's or have you used lower profile shoes before?

I had already been using a variety of shoes for road runs, including normal Asics trainers (2000 series or Kayano), f-lites, and Vibram Five Fingers. I had found the f-lites to be better suited to hard trails than to 10 mile road runs, but wanted to get away from the really cushy Asics. The road-x's fit the bill. I'm not sure that the road-x is any better suited to trails than the Asics, except for the lower profile, but they worked for me as a replacement on pavement and dirt roads.

Do you think the roadx would be as durable as something like the asics? just in terms of how long it lasts

No idea. I moved to where I hardly need road shoes, so I haven't worn out my first pair of road-x's yet! Comparing the material to a pair of 2160s they seem very similar. Mesh that would be fine on road and clear trails, but might rip if you took them through spiky things.

Thanks alot, really helpful!