Walsh Spirit Peak Trail Shoes
August 31st, 2010 by Andy NicollDuring my extended period of ‘rest’ while trying to recover from Plantar Fasciitis, all my dog walking, jogging and occasional running has been done in my Walsh Spirit Peak shoes. I’ve had them now for around 3 months and used them on a wide variety of surfaces from road to moorland to alpine trails, so here’s my review.
Walsh, until the ‘Spirits’ came along, were known purely for their fell running shoes and over the past few decades the PB trainers and racers have been undisputed market leaders. There have been a few other contenders who’ve tried their hand at making fell shoes but none really came close to Walsh until the guys from Inov8 took a look over the fence into Walsh’s garden and decided to mix things up a bit.
A quick check of the feet of competitors at any fell race just five years ago would have left you thinking that there was only one shoe to use – Walsh - but now the scene is very different. The increase in popularity of off road running has understandably not gone unnoticed by shoe manufacturers and there are now quite a number of excellent shoes from different manufacturers aimed squarely at fell runners.
Another recent trend in recent years has been the use of trail shoes rather than pure fell shoes in many UK races – particularly those over extended distances where competitors care more about comfort and cushioning than outright grip. Here the guys at Inov8 were cleaning up as they had some very capable trail shoes to compliment their out and out fell racing shoes.
Had Walsh continued to stick solely with fell shoes, they would have risked becoming extinct, they needed to react to their competitors and the changing needs of their customers – and that’s exactly what they’ve done with the excellent Spirit Peak and Spirit Lite trail shoes.
Mine are the Peaks which are almost identical in design to the Lite albeit a little heavier (no surpise there I guess) due to the addition of a little more cushioning and a heel counter to prevent over-pronation (fairly unusual in an off-road shoe).
The first thing I noticed when I got them out of the box were the words ‘made in China’ on the size label – a shame I thought as Walsh have always marketed themselves as not only a British company but a ‘made in Bolton’ company. However, having thought about it, shoes are no different to any other mass produced product, if you want the best and most efficient manufacturing technologies, I’m afraid you simply won’t find them in England – you must look to the East.
On closer inspection, the quality of manufacture is excellent – there’s not a stitch out of place, no glue where it shouldn’t be and all the pieces are exactly the same size and perfectly aligned – I’m sure Norman Walsh and his needle and thread could not have done better!!
The fit of the shoes is excellent and the closure via some fairly standard looking laces and eyelets is solid and instils confidence. Walsh have added a double last eyelet that gives the option of doing some fancy knot work to prevent laces coming loose but personally I think all this is a bit of marketing hype and have never had a problem with good old conventional lacing and a double tied bow.
The mid-sole, at least visually, appears to feature a fairly significant amount of cushioning but thankfully when in use they do not feel too soft and spongy which can make a shoe and its wearer feel totally disconnected to the ground.
The ‘pyragrip’ outer sole has a very simple looking tread pattern featuring large chopped off pyramid shaped squares across the whole of the underside. These are just deep enough to give good grip off road whilst remaining stable enough to be used on hard surfaces. The rubber compound is soft enough to give reasonable traction on most surfaces including wet rock but would not be what I would class as ‘sticky rubber’ so hopefully premature wear shouldn’t be an issue.
The upper on the Spirits is what I would class as a fairly ‘closed’ design with very few access points for water, mud, grit or small stones. This is great for keeping the feet dry in damp / moderate weather but personally I prefer a more ‘open’ design that allows more circulation of air and moisture.
The mild heel counter, which is there to prevent over pronation, appears to work well as the shoes offer a very smooth and stable ride without feeling like you have two blocks of wood nailed to the insides of your feet. As a neutral shoe wearer I was quite concerned about this feature but now I’ve used them I genuinely think it’s a positive feature not a negative.
Overall I think Walsh have done a great job with their first attempt at a modern day trail shoe. For me the styling could be better (they need to take some inspiration from the guys at Salomon) and I would prefer a lighter more breathable material for the upper. Having said that, they pass the ultimate test as you don’t think about them when you’re wearing them. A good shoe just does its job well without being noticed.
I think they’d be very happy in a race like Ben Nevis, long Lakeland runs such as Borrowdale, Langdale or Wasdale where comfy ‘rock capable’ shoes are needed or pounding out the miles in the Hobble or the Fellsman but for short, fast and steep races I’d leave them at home and dig out some Walsh PBs.
