Product Review: Topo Terraventure

Runnin' runnin', I like runnin'.

 Especially in good shoes. And I got some good shoes right here. The Topo Terraventure.

I did get both sneakers to make a pair, but chose to only photograph one sneaker.

A quick backstory, I have great friends.

  

I've only recently heard of Topo. I'd bet many of you haven't yet? Lemme give you a small bit of history: 

The dude running this company worked for Rockport AND Vibram. This company is based out of Newton (outside Boston) MA.  

So there's a few positives for me before I even tried the shoe. (I love Vibrams and if you've ever heard me speak, you can tell I'm from the Boston area). 

Here's some Dropkick Murphys for ya.

One of the first things noticed is the Toe Box. We've all seen Altras and it's easy and understandable to make a quick comparison. It's not an unfair comparison! A good idea is a good idea.

Not quite as wide looking as my Lone Peak 3s but still a good comfy box. Everyone loves a comfy box.

The large toe box is designed to allow your toes to do what they would normally do while running barefoot, splay. The wide toe box also makes this a candidate shoe if one had bunions.

I've been running in Altras and Vibram 5s for years, but many people when first trying a shoe with a wide toe box feel a little sloppy in the shoe. This sensation, if the shoe is tightened around the foot correctly, will soon go away and you start to really appreciate the room.

Speaking of tightening the shoe, these fit nice and snug around my mid-foot without any pain or having to modify the lacing pattern. So straight out of the box they were ready to go.

Ready.

Here's a piss-poor quality video, I took while running, of me running in them.

My stride looks like I have two left feet.

My entire foot feels secure in there. No heel slippage.

My terrain isn't very gnarly around here, but there is a rock plate underfoot to prevent foot abuse. You can see on the video the one very small rock garden I ran.  So I cannot give an honest opinion if the plate works or not.

What I can tell you though is that you don't notice it there. This shoe felt pretty springy and the toe off rolled nicely. It's not smooshy like a Hoka and doesn't feel a thing like a Lone Peak, but still has a great ride. 

Topo says this shoe's a bit on the stiff side. I'm a 6 footer weighing in at about 180#s, I didn't feel anything I'd call "stiff". It's not all loosey goosey sloppy feeling, but nothing that felt stiff.

Another quality photo by yours truly.

The traction is magnificent. Yes, magnificent. It's rugged enough for anything I want to run, but just gentle enough for those pavement sections at Knock on Wood. (Which is May18-20th 2018, by the way. Sign up here, we've got a big group and you can come hang with us. Tell Mat I sent ya.) I never slipped climbing or descending, my feet always felt secure to the ground.

Gah, you can't even tell how great that tread is. Go to their website.

I ran through some puddles while trying these. They are NOT advertised as water proof, which is good because they aren't. But I gotta tell ya, while puddle jumping they didn't let in a ton of water. When I took them off to dry at home, they were ready to go in two days.

They weigh in at just under 11oz for a Mens 9. That doesn't seem too bad for a trail shoe eh?

This is a Neutral shoe with 3mm drop and stack heights of 25 to 22mm. If you're predominantly a heel striker or you wicked over pronate, you probably should shy away from this shoe.

If you mid/forefoot strike with a natural gait, this is good option to have in your trail shoe collection. Which should be a minimum of 4 pairs.

My final thoughts on the Topo Terraventure:

It's not the baddest ass looking shoe is it?

But it runs great and is mellow enough looking that I shouldn't have any gangstahs trying to shoot me for my kicks.

It retails for 110 clams. Worth it, every penny.

Try them on, go to dealer. I had to size up by half. 

That was a pretty calm review huh? Thanks for reading.