I thought it may be worth just adding a short trail report of these shoes now that I’ve managed to wear them for a long weekend. There’s a report earlier in the diary following the walk I did up Bow Fell using them (see here), but this time I was using them for a fully kitted out backpacking weekend.
My pack weighed about 10Kg without water, so about 11.5Kg for most of the first day and a little less for the second day once I’d eaten most of the food I was carrying. The terrain was typical Lakeland; mostly good stony paths, but also plenty of grassy paths and boggy sections thrown in for good measure.
The first thing I have noticed is that the Roclites keep the water out a little better than the Terrocs did. They seem to have a slightly higher sole bed than the Terrocs and therefore when you’re walking across marshy ground you can get away with slightly damper conditions before the water comes in over the sole bed.
They are much more comfortable as well. I mentioned this in the last report, but I will say it again. The protection from stony surfaces is much better in these shoes. Even though I was carrying a heavy pack I never felt the stones and rocks through the soles. I never felt like I was unsupported and was always confident with them.
Aftr 12 miles and a long climb my feet felt brilliant, there wasn’t even the slightest hot-spot anywhere. I often get a hot-spot on the end of the second toe of each foot, especially after a descent, where the toe seems to have been rubbing on the front of the shoe or boot, but with these there was not even that discomfort. They are remarkably comfortable.
The only slight issue I had with them was when the sole of the shoe is wet, they tend to lose traction a little more than I would expect them to. I found myself slipping on rocks I wouldn’t normally expect to be slipping on. This meant that I had to slow down over wet rocks and be careful about where I was placing my feet – maybe this was due to the unusual weight of the pack I was carrying, but I will need to keep an eye on this.
I am very excited about these shoes as you can tell. I’ll be sorry to retire them in the next few weeks as winter approaches and I return to my boots. I only hope they last a little better than my Terrocs did.
2 thoughts on “Roclite 315 – Trail report”
My Terrocs went into the bin because of a peeling sole on the left heel; they were 14 months old. I hope the Roclites last a bit longer than that; I certainly can’t justify a new pair of shoes at £60 a pop every year or so.
I’m glad you like the Roclite 315s. I’ve been walking in them both here and in France/Spain/Corsica for 2-3 years now, and although I have Terrocs they’ve never struck me as nearly as comfy as the Roclites for backpacking, particularly on hard ground.
My current pair has developed the dreaded peeling sole, though, and I must remember to send them back soon. Inov-8 said they’d solved that problem a couple of years ago, but clearly they haven’t (unless they sent old stock to the retailer from whom I ordered them about 6 weeks ago).