TOPO Outdoor Oterro Shoes $100

topoathletic.com

The Good: The lightweight shoes have a clean but burly tread with room for the toes to spread out naturally.

The Bad: Lightweight materials don’t offer much protection on the upper and sides of shoe when really getting after that adventure.

The Impressive: The upper materials held up strong to a long round of abuse, with only a small tear near the toe after a particularly brutal outing.

It’s not often that a shoe can feel so at home in so many environments.  The Oterro shoe is designed as a lightweight supportive shoe with more than just running in mind. Want to venture off that trail? That’s no problem for the burly tread and secure fitting shoe. It’s a great fit for light hiking, trail runs, and general trekking. With both traditional and elastic speedlaces provided, users can choose the comfort level and performance based on the terrain and activities. The seamless upper is constructed with a printed support pattern over breathable mesh which limits bulk while providing excellent ventilation in the heat. With a wide toebox and zero drop sole the shoes encourage a natural gait for better balance, endurance, and a more efficient running form.

We tested out both men and women versions of these shoes road and trail running, light hiking in the Northern California Trinity Alps, and even took the women’s version along for the Spartan Beast mud run in Monterey.  In every environment they performed well. The shoes have a solid sole with durable tread that conformed to the terrain, but also provided decent protection from hazards on the trail. Due to the light upper materials, the foot is a bit vulnerable across the top where rocks or other debris may fall, and the shoe did develop a 1″ slice where the laces met the sole. But this shoe is not designed for heavy hiking or trail use, and was generally durable enough for it’s intended uses. During the light hikes, they fit like a glove and stayed comfortable all day long without hot spots or blisters. On the 13 mile mud run, the shoes performed exceptionally over a variety of terrain.  The shoes were wet for most of the run with plenty of hills and rocky surfaces, throughout the run traction was good and the runners finished with no blisters.  On the downhill section, the wide toebox made for a fair amount of movement and a bit of rubbing along the outer toes, but after so many miles no blisters is a good testimony to the comfort and performance of the shoe.  The fine mesh materials breathed well even when wet, with minimal dirt and mud migration but enough wicking power to prevent the annoying s”slosh” that is common with wet adventures.

Overall, the Oterro shoes are a great all-terrain shoe, with lightweight adventuring in mind. For a grippy and supportive zero-drop shoe, it’s hard to beat what these have to offer.