Teva Zilch: ‘Most Minimal Sport Sandal’
A thin sole, a footbed, and Velcro straps are the totality of the design. This sandal promises flip-flop weight with “sport sandal” performance and fit. Gear Junkie gives it a wear test.
Shoe Made For ‘Mountain Running’
Last summer, Gear Junkie put a made-for-the-mountains running shoe to the test on the 15-mile Jupiter Peak Steeplechase race in Utah. The shoe, La Sportiva’s Crosslite model, has since proved its worth in a variety of trail-running environments.
Stingrays and Pixie Dust: Columbia Sportswear 2012 Product Peek
Last night, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, amid dinosaur bones and live stingrays undulating in a shallow pool, Columbia Sportswear previewed its spring 2012 product line. Gear Junkie gives a run-down of the ceremonies and the company’s unique new wares.
Teva Launches Weight-Loss Footwear
Are you fed up with diet and exercise? Do you want to lose weight and fast? Adventure footwear brand Teva has a solution. This promotional video explains the rest!
Test: New Balance Minimus MT10 Trail Shoe
New Balance’s light and flexible new trail runner, the Minimus Trail, is so different from most of the market that it regularly gets mistaken as an aqua sock. Gear Junkie gives a complete review.
Boot up! Wolverine Leather Hiker
A waterproof liner, Vibram’s “Mutant” soles, and a spinning rubber disc in the heel area of the boot make the Fulcrums from Wolverine among the more interesting hiking boot introductions of late. Our writer gave the to-be-released boots an out of the box test on a backpacking trip this month.
UK Gear Shoes: 1000-Mile Guarantee
Running shoes designed with aid from a British military unit and rated to go 1,000 miles? That’s the claim from UK Gear with its PT-1000 running shoes. Our writer puts some miles down for a test.
Anti-Shoe: Silicone ‘Foot Glove’ with Five Toes
A new entry into the shoes-with-toes niche, the Evoskin from Inov-8 Ltd., is a direct vie for Vibram FiveFingers advocates. The pure-silicone shoe offers an experience that is “akin to running without shoes on,” our reviewer cites.
Super-Size Trail Running Shoes
Touted to have oversize geometry, copious cushioning, and a 30-percent bigger footprint overall, Tecnica’s new line of jumbo trail-running shoes turns the current “minimalist” footwear trend on its head. Gear Junkie gave the company’s Diablo Max model a thorough run test.
Test: ‘Heat-Moldable’ Bike Shoes
Time to cook your shoes! Shimano shoes that heat-mold onto your foot — that’s the shtick with the M240L shoes, a mid-level mtb model that cost $250 a pair. Our writer gets his feet baked for a test.
Inov-8 Road Runners
U.K.-based shoemaker known for its trail runners now has a line of shoes made for the road. Gear Junkie gets on a test, including a 26.2-mile race in the unique new smooth-sole shoes.
Outside ‘Gear of the Year’
In its next issue, due on newsstands at the end of this month, Outside magazine will announce the Summer 2011 winners of its Gear of the Year awards. Here’s a sneak peek. . .
Adidas Enters U.S. Outdoor Market
Athletics behemoth adidas AG is entering the U.S. outdoor marketplace with footwear, apparel, outerwear, and optics. Gear Junkie gets a Q&A with an adidas managing director for a peek at the company’s ambitious plans.
Nalini ‘Winterized’ MTB Shoe
The made-in-Italy Nalini Black Rocks are touted as “winterized” mountain biking shoes. T.C. Worley gives them a month-long test in the depths of a Minnesota winter to mostly disappointing results.
Merrell ‘Trail Glove’
Merrell’s go at the barefoot-footwear game includes six new models in its “Glove” line of shoes. Gear Junkie got an early pair of the trail model to test.
‘Kid-Size’ Trail Shoe
The incredibly light weight — and incredibly small! — Inov-8 X-Talon 160s are made for kids or shorter adults. Our pint-size tester gave the shoes a thorough test.
Women’s Winter Boots
After decades of lingering in the back alleys of fashion, winter boots made for women have hit a stride as of late with form as well as function. Our reviewer tromped in three pairs this winter for a test.
FiveFingers ‘Casual Shoes’
Can you say “casual kangaroo-leather zip boots with articulated toes”? That’s just one of the out-there offerings in a new line of casual footwear from Vibram FiveFingers in 2011.
‘Best in Show’ awards (part II)
Part II of Gear Junkie’s “Best in Show” series highlights top products from the Outdoor Retailer trade show and includes touchscreen gloves, an alpine “smock” jacket, and a GPS device that connects to your smartphone.
‘Best in Show’ awards (part I)
The twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show, held in Salt Lake City, is an exhibition of the best outdoors equipment in the world. Gear Junkie offers part I of our “Best in Show” gear list from the hundreds of new products that debuted in Utah last week.
OR Trade Show: 2011 Teaser
The Gear Junkie crew is off to Utah this week and the twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show. Here’s a quick visual tour of a few new products that have already caught our eye.
Barefoot Running Shoe Guide
Gear Junkie presents the ‘A to Z’ on the barefoot and minimalist running shoe market, including a cursory look at 2010/2011 models and all things burgeoning in the world of the “barefoot” shoe.
Ultimate Winter Shoe
La Sportiva’s CROSSOVER GTX makes a stride toward the title of “ultimate winter shoe.” Gear Junkie gives the $150 trail runner a two-week trial run.
Sandals made from Wine Corks
Looking to justify that next glass of wine? SOLE and ReCORK are teaming up to give recycled wine corks another life as “upcycled” sandals and shoe footbeds.
Saucony ProGrid Kinvara
Gear Junkie put 100+ miles on this shoe for a test. Conclusions? The shoe “rides a thin line between speed and support” where daily training and “race-speed minimalism” can finally meet up.
New Balance Minimus
With a lightweight build and a “barefoot”-style design, the Minimus shoe line from New Balance are set to debut in early 2011. Gear Junkie got two early-release pairs to put to the test.
Burton TRON Boot
What do actor Jeff Bridges, a movie from 1982, and snowboarding have in common. . . the “TRON” boot, we guess. New this month from Burton.
Newton Trail-Running Shoe
With its latest Momentum shoe, Boulder-based Newton Running strides fully into the trail-running market. Gear Junkie put a few miles on the mean, green shoes to give them a test.
Review: Vasque Transistor
The Transistor FS shoe has no footbed and a low-to-the-ground design. Contributing writer T.C. Worley put them to the test this fall.
Icebug SPIRIT OLX
Low-to-the-ground fit and carbide-tip studs make these shoes among the coolest footwear introductions seen in 2010.
Pearl Izumi Syncro Fuel
Contributor Stephen Krcmar puts Pearl Izumi’s Syncro Fuel XC running shoes to the test on Mammoth’s pumice trails.
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