Inov8 Trailroc v More Mile Cheviot Pace

This is a review of 2 halves - my new(ish) daps from the extremes of the market: Inov8 at the top, and More Mile Cheviot Pace at the bottom. Both trainers are supposed to serve the same function of hard packed trails, the tread on the lugs for both is intermediate.

Inov8 Trailroc 285

A good friend of mine has had to give-up running on the advice of his quack after having his knee rebuilt - unfortunately for him he had recently bought a pair of Inov8 Trailrocs and they now sat there with only about 50 miles on them mugging him off in his hallway, so he wanted shot of them and asked what size I was… Fortunately for me, the same as him!

Being a tight-arse I never tend to go above £30 for a pair of trainers, with the most I’ve ever spaffed on a pair being £45, so Inov8 have never really been an option for me with their retail mark being £50 if you’re very lucky in the sales up to around £120, with this pair sitting at £70-£130 in the market place depending on where you shop.

I’ve been out and about in them for a few months now over various distances from 5 miles to 50k and have found them to be very comfortable and absolutely ideal for hard-packed trails. With the reinforced toe-box they seem to be the perfect shoe for those hard-packed mountainous lake-district trails… Just a shame to think I won’t be able to get up there to try them out.

They compare quite well to my Scarpa Neutron 2’s which are designed for the same purpose, however I find the Scarpas to be a bit more comfortable and the grip to be better all round.

While effusing over their ability on hard packed trails, the first time I took them out for a spin it was for the last of the Southern Cross Country League races where we had a mix of trails - on the hard packed and mettled sections they were great, but when the slightest bit of mud came into play, dear god they were shite! I was all over the place like Bambi on ice. The shallow lugs offered 4/5 of fuck all in traction at the merest hint of mud, to the point running was impossible and even walking in anything slightly muddy was sketchy in the extreme!

I’m up to 225 miles in them now and to be truthful they are showing wear and tear on the upper of the right foot - though strangely not on the left! Also on the soles, the lugs are now rapidly scrubbing down to nothing on the outstep of the heels, a product of the way I run and the trails being like concrete at present with us having had fuck-all rain since I’ve had them! Looking at how the upper will eventually fail, hopefully it will not be a structural issue and allow for more wear and hopefully get me up to around the 350 miles marker - as a comparison I’m over 400 miles into the Scarpas and the only wear and damage on those are from falls.

More Mile Cheviot Pace

Around the same time I had my stroke of luck with the Trailrocs, I had decided to take a punt on a pair of More Mile ‘Cheviot Pace’. The original Cheviot trainers have been my go-to for winter running where grip has been needed and at £30 a pair the fact they only go for 200 to 300 miles on average has not really been an issue as they have seen me through each winter season and the £/mile ratio has been superior to what other people get out of premium brands in the same conditions.

When I saw that More Mile had brought out an intermediate tread trail trainer which was essentially the same as their Cheviot but with far less of a lug to them I had been intrigued. Normally I run in Karrimor trainers for intermediate trails, which have till now been priced around the £30 mark, however they seem to have upped their starting price to £40 and coupled with the fact they are made by Sports Direct, the ethically problematic retailer with how it treats its staff, the time to give the Cheviot Pace a try had arrived.

Most of my recent running has been in the Trailrocs, however I have managed to rack-up to 80 miles in them so enough to give them a review - and as you’d expect they are not showing damage at present.

Grip-wise these are like chalk & cheese to the Trailrocs, behaving as you would hope in the mud, providing enough traction but nowhere near as much as their bigger brothers’ do - which is completely understandable. Fit wise they are roomy for me, even with my flippers for feet, however they do fall-down in one regard: comfort.

As with the other Cheviots, they are a bit spartan in the cushioning department. That has never been too much of an issue when out on the soft winter trails as the terrain itself offers some cushioning, however with the very dry spell we’ve had for the last few months, I’ve found the Cheviot Pace’s to give the soles of my feet a bit of a battering with the lack of cushioning, to the point I’m considering putting insoles in them for going out on the harder trails, or just forget about them until the trails are a bit softer and rely on my Asics in the meantime.

I suppose the question is would I buy another pair of either of them? Once I’ve trashed this pair of  Trailrocs… You know what, probably not - I would be more likely to give a go to the Scarpa Spin RS8’s which are the replacement for the Neutrons (once I’ve gone through those as well), which come in at slightly cheaper than the Inov8’s however at £68 they would be the most expensive pair of trainers I’ve bought, although at in excess of 400 miles before the Neutron’s failed I think that is decent enough value for money.

On the Cheviot Pace front - I’ve already bought a second pair in anticipation of the demise of the first - mostly because the price point of them is what I would hope to pay for a pair of trainers, and so long as I can manage the discomfort factor of concrete hard trails, which is not really what they are for running on, I’ll be fine!

Eat pies.

Drink beer.

Run far.

30th August: Time for a change.

There comes a time of darkness and sorrow that befalls all of our lives. A time for reflection, a time to remember, a time to mourn.

Yes, it's time to do an 'Old Yeller' on a much loved and faithful servant of a pair of trainers.

I've had my pair of Asics Gel Trail Lahar's since before I embarked on this trail marathon odyssey and like the aforementioned hound, they have served me well but now need to be put out of their misery... Unlike the dog, at least my footwear isn't rabid, even if it does smell like it might be on occasion.

The trainers have been warm, comfortable and the fact they are Gore-Tex has been a curse and a blessing: When you run through mud and a tiny bit of water then you know you will stay dry, but if you go through a depth where the water comes over the top of the shoe, the water comes in and just stays in the shoe without draining, held there by the Gore-Tex that is so effective at holding it out.

The fabric on the tongue is now fraying and the grips are wearing down to be similar to road shoes, so they're no longer much kop on the trails (not that the grips were good enough for hardcore muddy slippery trail running in the first place, as I found to my cost on my first organised marathon), as I can now feel every stone under the balls of my feet, leading to a sharp intake of breath and a wince every now and again when I tread on a pointy pebble.

I've been so happy with them as my 'light' trail shoes that I've decided to replace them with a newer pair of Asics, the 'Gel Trail Tambora 4', so aside from dispensing with the Gore-Tex they are essentially a like-for-like replacement.

The new trainers :)

Fingers crossed for many happy miles to come in these bad-boys... Once I've been out and about in them a few times then I'll be posting a review as to how they fare... I will not be canning the Lahar's just yet though, I'll be keeping them for any pavement pounding to be done when it's raining or there's puddles on the ground.

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

26th January: Cheviot

A couple of years back after the chastening experience of running my first official trail marathon with footwear that turned-out to be somewhat less than ideal, a subscriber offer came-up on a magazine that I was looking to subscribe to and I became the owner of a pair of More Mile Cheviot trail running shoes.

I eagerly began running the winter trails in these and they soon became a firm favourite of mine… They are by no means the ‘perfect’ trainer, as they are somewhat lacking in the cushioning department so I require an insole to be fitted, but for free they were fantastic… So much so that when they died I bought another pair, even though they have been superseded by the ‘Cheviot 2’.

This second par has now bitten the dust and when I spotted a deal on at the More Mile stockists Start Fitness, I ordered pairs number 3&4!

Since using Strava to record my runs in detail I am able to track the mileage on my trainers quite accurately and the Cheviot's are good for 200 miles before dying. These miles though as a rule are trail marathon miles through the winter when the need for the very aggressive lugs on the soles are required… So in effect they are good for me to get around 7-10 trail marathons in the most tricky of conditions.

So below is my long term review of the More Mile Cheviot having tested 2 pairs to destruction!

Introducing the Cheviot…

Named after the range of hills found on the eastern border of England and Scotland, the trainer’s monicker is a giveaway to their nature: one that is at its happiest in the rugged wilds of hills, fells and the harsher of the trails.

In the box.

In case you have never heard of them, the Cheviot’s manufacturer More Mile are a British maker of sporting goods, both clothing and footwear, primarily aimed at those who run, cycle or partake in triathlon and the company has built up a deserved reputation for value for money over more established ‘premium’ brands in the marketplace. They are also the kit suppliers to the English School’s Athletic Association.

For me, the colour of a trainer is not a really important consideration, as this does not impact performance in any way, shape or form - unlike with cars where everybody knows that red cars go faster!.. With the Cheviot’s at present you have 3 options available to you in lime green, grey with yellow flashing and grey with blue flashing. I opted for the former!

No danger of not being seen from a distance!

Their construction seems to have been based on an almost indestructible sole and worked upwards from there. The lugs on the sole are the deepest I have seen out there on the market, affording tractor-levels of grip that would happily allow you to play rugby in them and still remain poised on both feet. The problem you could face with very deep lugs is the aggregation of mud between them, building up to a level that the grip is reduced over a long-run to almost zero. With the wide spacing of the Cheviot’s lugs the chance of mud building up is minimised to the point that you would have to be in a really sticky clay-based mire for a significant loss of grip to occur and with the flex of the trainer’s sole, once out the other side, the claggy chunks of mud are soon kicked clear through the normal action of running and any lost grip is restored.

Get a load of them lugs!

The toe-box has a heavy-duty rubber toe guard around it to protect against stubbing on rocks and tree-roots, with the rest of the upper being made from synthetic mesh-like fabric that allows for easy and rapid draining when you do have the misfortune of immersing your foot entirely whilst fording a stream or ploughing through deep puddles. This also ensures your feet do not overheat through these uppers being naturally breathable.

Turning your attention to the inside, the padding is quite minimal. Outside of the heel padding which is high and holds you quite snug and guards agains the ingress of small rocks, the only other noticeable area of padding is the underside of the tongue - whilst having minimal padding inside the trainer does denying you the sensation of having your feet cradled by warm purring kittens, it does mean there is a lot less in there to soak-up water and add weight through absorption rather than draining away.

I have found that I personally need to add a layer of cushioning to the insole, as it is very spartan, with the addition of sorbothane shock-absorbers to increase the comfort and reduce any jarring my body may experience… But that is something personal to me.

Taking them out on a run, you can tell these are definitely at their most happy in the more extreme conditions. The wide spacing between the deep lugs when on tarmac or other hard flat surfaces gives you the impression of your feet rolling around over a series of points on their underside so is not the most comfortable of experience - but as soon as you hit dirt they come in to their own, affording a good even grip over the entire sole and keeping you firmly on your feet able to carry on running where other trainers would have you on your backside… The only times these trainers are not 100% happy off-road is over the 2 types of ground that all trainers do not like or manage a perfect grip on: wet rocks and ice!

When testing them to destruction, the weak-point that develops is the just behind the toe-box, where through the creasing action on the material through the foot flexing in the shoe, the uppers seem to give-way at roughly the same time on the corresponding location on both shoes, and on both sides of each shoe.

The value for money on these shoes is phenomenal. You can pick them up for around £20-£25 a pair - which is 3-4 times cheaper than the nearest equivalent soled Salomon or Inov8’s. When you extrapolate out the mileage and pound costs, you could go through 3-4 pairs of Cheviot’s before you have reached the cost of the Salomon/ Inov8’s, but would these two brands have survived the combined ‘hard’ mileage of 600-800 miles of the Cheviot’s?.. Especially when you are recommended to replace your trainers between 300-500 miles, and let’s face it, trail running is particularly tough on trainers!

I would recommend these trainers to anyone who is hard on theirs when trail running over the winter months when grip is at a premium. They are comfortable and capable enough to be running marathons and ultras in them over the sternest of courses… And for those out there who are worried about damage/ wearing to their premium brand of trainers, you can’t go wrong by getting a pair of these to do your winter training miles in and save the more expensive pair for race day, although I bet you would soon be converted to using the Cheviot as your race shoe by the time that day comes.

Price £20-£30
Longevity 3/5
Comfort 3/5 (with an additional insole) 4/5
Value for Money 5/5

Overall 4/5


Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

16th February: Cheerio Cheviots

Used, abused and completely worn-out.

One thing that did not survive last week's CTS South Devon marathon were my trainers… My first proper pair of hardcore trail shoes have finally bitten the dust after getting on for a dozen marathons, a few Brutal10’s and countless other jaunts. The soles are still as great for grip as on their first day of wearing, however the uppers have now well and truly split apart where the rubber stone protector meets the mesh fabric on both sides on both shoes - letting small stones inside and the sole is now separating from the upper on the left trainer… They’ve been great servants, lasting just over a year through some pretty gnarly terrain and never once let me down. RiP More Mile Cheviots!
 
When I realised that they were not much longer for this planet, I had a good look at the trainers available out there - some XC bloggers recently were sent a free pair of Salomon trainers to ‘review’ from Cotswold Outdoor - unfortunately I was not one of them, so the whittling down of the options commenced.

I have a ‘light’ and ‘intermediate’ pair of trail trainers in the form of my Asics Gel Lahar II's and Karrimor Excel Dual's so I am after a heavy-duty pair - The tread on the Cheviots was very ‘aggressive’ and certainly kept me upright where others would certainly have let me down in the harsh winter trail runs, so this was the main criteria for selection.

Looking around at the shoes that others wear, the more serious and competitive in the marathon fields seem to be sporting Inov-8 and Salomon shoes, so I had a good scope-out of the trainers offered from these two and the usual suspects, with my shortlist of shoes being whittled down to 4.

Inov-8 Mudclaw

Salomon Fellraiser

Cheviot 2

And by no-means least, the trainers I had just worn-out:

Cheviot

The Salomon and the Inov-8 seem to be the best the ‘big boys’ have to offer for what I am after, the Cheviot 2 is the newer version of the Cheviot - it has the same sole, just a redesigned upper, and the older Cheviot.

Reading-up on what fellow runners have found on the various blogs out there, the consensus seems to be that they all cope very well in the harsh conditions I am intending to wear them, however the rubber on the soles of the Salomon and the Inov-8 seems to be softer and susceptible to rapid wearing when used on asphalt, or any surface that is not very soft and pliable - and with my races covering a mix of trail and tarmac, it seems they will be in for a fair hammering on some races.

Looking deeper in to the reviews, the consensus is that a pair of hard-worn and fairly well used and abused pair of trail shoes will only last a year at most before destruction - be it the sole or the upper that gives-out… And I managed to get that out of the Cheviots.
 
For comparison on the wear & tear front, it seems that you will get the same use out of a pair of trail shoes no matter how well you look after them, therefore on a budgetary basis a £150 pair of trainers is no different to a £25 pair (so long as the build quality is of an equivalent standard) - so price seems to not be a too relevant factor in representing longevity.

Back-tracking here the tread is king in this comparison and the Cheviot 1&2 still seem to be offering the deepest most aggressive lugs of all. All 4 of the shoes have mesh uppers so drain water very well - so the deciding factor in this choice really is based on: appearance, snobbery and cost.

The styling of the Inov-8 and Salomon shoes look far better than the chunkier less sleek Cheviots, with the Cheviot 1’s looking better than the 2’s in my eyes, but I’m looking for performance in the mud rather than speedy styling as I’m realistic that my pace is certainly not one for hitting the front of a field!

Seeing as I don’t really view my running as a fashion parade and I love my functionality over flashiness with my kit, I decided to shed any pretensions I might have of being a ‘front runner’ in the field and running the risk of looking like one of those types who 'has all the gear and no idea’ as I plod along towards the rear of the field being a fat bloke and I opted for another pair of the Cheviot’s.

Duly ordered, they arrived and I set about breaking them in… Unfortunately this pair did not prove as hardy as the last and the mesh on the upper by the toe began to fray after just walking around the house in them :(

One extreme to the other!

Start Fitness, the suppliers were great about this and told me to send them back so they can get me a replacement pair, some excellent customer service here and I look forward to receiving the replacements. Hopefully I will have them as an option for the next marathon, the Steyning Stinger, in a couple of weekends, but if not they'll certainly be broken-in ready for the CTS Sussex marathon.

At the price of roughly 1/3 the Salomons and Inov-8's I think the maths in purchasing these make terrific sense... Probably the Scot in me coming out there!.. You could go through 3 pairs of these in a year and not be out of pocket over buying the more expensive brands, plus you would not have the worry over the tread wearing down by replacing them more often. The tread on them has certainly kept me upright when those in more expensive footwear have been slipping and sliding over. I would thoroughly recommend these trainers to anyone looking at running trail races, especially if you're reluctant to spend stupid money when dipping your toe in the world of trail running and unsure if it is for you... As an aside I put inside of them a cushioned sorbothane insole and change the laces for elasticated ones to make the comfort level perfect for me.