Yesterday, we posted a short video of the new Reebok All Terrain sneakers, covering it’s features and selling points. LINK
Today, they got worn and tested for real.
All Terrain – the name suggests they can take anything right? Certainly at an OCR we hit everything from mountain trails, ski slopes, rocky roads and asphalt – and as OCR specific shoes, shouldn’t these be able to take on everything with grace?
Here in New England, the trails are mostly under inches of snow. The mountains and ski slopes have been taken over by lunatics on little plastic strips, hurtling down our prime running ground with no regard for sanity – so it’s tough to take these shoes out into the natural OCR terrain to test.
So lets test what we can – this morning I headed over to Crossfit 696 in Gardner MA and setup a station to run through the Civilian Military Combine pit – then planned a 5k road route that would take me out and back, using asphalt roads, icy sidewalks and slushy side streets.
I chose their new Charlie pit – which translates into a 5 min AMRAP of:
5 shoulder to overheads with a 75lb barbell
7 burpee box overs (burpee, clear a 20″ box)
9 American kettlebell swings (20kg)
(for the record, I scored 72)
The shoes did great – they were stable when I had the barbell up in the air, and felt solid on the box as I was stepping up and over it. While a pair of dedicated cross training shoes would have been more solid, I didn’t feel like I was standing on marshmallows, and the cleats were firmly planted.
Then I threw on some cold gear and hit the roads – again, I was impressed with the level of ground feel from these. They certainly feel more minimal than I was expecting them to – for a pair of shoes with cleats and rock plates, footing was responsive and firm, and I had a good feel for what was going on. Once I hit the slush and ice, things got slippy of course – these aren’t Icebugs – but the cleats dug in as much as they could.
The upper of the shoe felt really light – and the laces they provide are very thin – I could see them getting jammed up with mud and water very easily – this is definitely a shoe to wear warm socks with in winter (Darn Tuff for me this AM).
Overall, I’m impressed. They felt lighter and more minimal than the Salomon Fellraisers (which are also a good choice for people who like more structure).
I saw your review of the fellraiser and these. What is the lug length of the All Terrains? Can these be worn without socks?
I don’t have the specific measurements, but the lug length on these is roughly the same as the Fellraisers / Speedcross 3’s, and an x-talon. Pretty aggressive.
I don’t know I’d wear them without socks. They are pretty smooth internally, but they do have some seams.