My wife wants to get a pair of Trail Shoes. She won't wear them a lot, a few XC races and some off road running. With this in mind I'm looking for inexpensive shoes and have seen adverts for Go Outdoors where they seem to have quite a few around from ??20 upwards. I noticed that they have Walsh men's PB elites for ??30 where they seem to be advertised for ??50 elsewhere. Are their shoes cheaper than elsewhere or do they just have the odd bargain ? Has anyone any experience of, or advise on shoes from here, particularly at the cheaper end ? Cheers.
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/running/footwear/trail-shoes/sort/2
Comments
their walsh's are on sale, ive never seen them (new) for less, they ave very limited sizes though, im not sure walsh's are the best choice for just trails though, unless she likes to go in the slippy wet and muddy stuff. sole is a bit "peggy" for harder dirt trails.
i saw some cheap asics trail shoes in sportsdirect yesterday and some NB's too for around £30-£40. worth a look.
bargain
http://www.sportsdirect.com/asics-gel-trabuco-14-ladies-trail-running-shoes-216042
I've found Go to be unsatisfactory. Staff not having much of a clue.(on a par with sportsdirect). And, as you say, limited range. You might be lucky, but is it worth the hassle?
Typical story last week in JD Sports.
Me: "Excuse me, do you have any girls' tennis shoes?"
Assistant "Do you mean running trainers?"
Sigh.
Wife: could you tell me what the difference is between these two please
YTS guy : I don't do running, all I can tell you is that one is pink and the other is purple.
I have a feeling that with that level of knowledge that he could be store manager by next weekend.
i saw a guy in sports direct say this once whilst holding a pair of ALL leather nike air max
"these are the best running shoes you can buy, ive ran 20 marathons in mine, and being all laeather i just wipe em clean and they are good to go again"
I use Adidas Kanadias for trail running, they were about £55 in sweatshop but they'll be cheaper at other places I'm sure!
What Marc says about 'Go Outdoors' is correct (my local is the Wakefield store)
For the general climbing/walking/outdoors stuff they're great, but I doubt the staff have the detailed knowledge for running shoes, & they're cheap because they don't carry a lot of stock (ie; sizes)
As for 'SportsShoes', they have a superb range, but again, some are limited sizes
There are some damned good bargains though...
For example
I reently bought a pair of Inov-8 OROC 340 from there (for snowy/icy conditions), & because Inov-8 have a new version coming out, these were available at a good discount (worked great at a recent fell-race that had snow & ice too!!!)
http://www.sportsshoes.com/product/INO204/inov~8-oroc-340-running-shoes/
Try also http://www.faster-feet.com/index.html
But again, limited stock/sizes
And Pete Bland (big Fell/trail supplier) who do excellent mail-order services, & have a mobile shop at races - I'll see them at Ilkley Moor Fell-Race on Sunday)
http://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/