Selecting trail shoes

[Deleted User]

I'm assuming that as I now have orthotic insoles that I've been advised to use in every shoe I run in, even trail shoes, that picking shoes will now be a slightly easier task as the insoles will always make the shoes feel much the same. This assumption may of course be totally wrong!

I'm not interested in either minimalist or Hoka and from painful past experience I don't find any of the Inov8s very comfy, so I'm wondering what else there is out there... On road I run in Asics Cumulus and Brooks Ghost but much prefer the feel of the Cumulus. Was advised that Brooks Cascadias should be very suitable for me but I'm not sure I want to try them as I'm not overly fond of the Ghosts. Can't find anywhere near me with them in stock so it would be mail order and take a chance.

Was wondering about Asics trail shoes but have been told by quite a few folk that they're nothing special. Need something with a wide toe box. Don't like the Salomon pull-lacing system. Am running a 50+ mile ultra in 5 weeks and need to get something broken in fast! Any suggestions?

MG1

Run with Brooks ghost 5 on Tarmac and find them super, bought some Cascadias for the recent hell runner in the middle race and found them to be good with plenty of grip and stability, bought them on line and took a chance that the fit would be okay .

Muttley

Have you considered the More Mile Cheviot? In my experience these are true to size, fairly snug in the toebox with the original insole but roomier with the orthotic instead.

Feel robust enough, aggressive sole. At the price, worth a pop?

Mine are the originals but I see they're on ver 2 now. My orthotics are Orthaheel Sports off-the-shelf ones from Boots.

[Deleted User]

Thanks MG1 and Muttley. I had a search about online and found Cascadia 5s for just £33 with free postage. That's compared with £100-110 for the new model so I've ordered a pair to try. At that price can't really go wrong. The Cheviots look good but I don't fancy just ordering them blind. Am going to have a look around to see if I can find them in stock anywhere local. Again at that price can't really go wrong. As well as ultras I also do 5K trail races and have already relegated a couple of not-so-comfy pairs of trail shoes to the short race kit pile.

Cheers!