Good winter shoe
I'll preface this by saying I wasn't looking for a trail shoe. I was looking for a wind and water resistant winter shoe that would provide a little more traction on paved surfaces in snowy and icy conditions. I will also add that I worked in run specialty retail for 5 years. I'm primarily a power walker and a sometimes runner. I do a January challenge every year and my average milage for these kind of challenges is 225+ for the 31 days.For context my standard road shoes are the Brooks Ghost, Saucony Ride, and occasionally, when doing high miles, I throw the Brooks Adrenaline into the mix. For many years my winter shoe was the Brooks Ghost GTX (goretext) but the current version is $169 and I can't find the last version in my size on sale. That price tag stung just a bit. So I bought a pair of the Saucony Ride Trail GTX, and a pair of the Asics Cumulus GTX and tried them both on at home. The Asics was more of a gamble because my foot has never felt right in Asics. I definitely have a Brooks or Saucony shaped foot. Ultimately that's why I sent it back. (If you are a die hard Asics fan, read the rest of my review and just buy the Cumulus GTX with the exception of the outer sole traction.)Virtually ALL of the reviews for goretex shoes say they run small. But that's not true-they don't run small. My foot measures to a 7.5 and I wear an 8.5 in a running shoe. This gives me a thumbs width between my longest toe and the front of the shoe. I have that same thumbs width in 8.5 gortex shoes including my previous Brooks Ghost GTX, the Asics Culmulus GTX, and these Saucony TR GTX. So why does everyone say they run small? The mesh upper on goretext shoes does NOT STRETCH. That's why they feel snugger. That also means that the upper doesn't flex as much with the movement of your foot. Any goretex shoe will feel different than the same exact shoe with a standard engineered mesh upper. If you are running in a goretex shoe it will always feel a smidge clunkier. That said, my toes feel like icicles in the winter and when you're doing a lot of mileage in January, you want a bit more protection from wind, snow, and water. I am primarily a pavement walker/runner, so I wasn't interested in a gortex *trail* shoe. This shoe is a Saucony Ride, with a slightly more aggressive outer sole. Would I want this on a very technical trail? No. I don't do much trail running, but when I do, I have the Saucony Peregrine for that. I have used this for the last 3 days, most of which were dry, but cold and windy. Today we had snow, slush and some ice on the ground. I didn't want to wear snow boots. These served exactly the purpose I wanted. Do I move a little slower in these? Today in slush and ice my pace was a little slower. I'm fine with that because face planting is to be avoided. It was still lightly snowing and freezing rain while I was out for my 4 miles today. My rain pants and jacket were covered in a thin layer of ice when I got home. My toes were mildly cold, but my feet were DRY, and I didn't face plant on the icy sidewalk.