SportsShoes Blog

Click here to view the Inov-8 330 Mudclaw

Anyone whose read my earlier posts will know that I’m an Inov-8 convert.

I’ve been using their trail shoes for a number of years and recently tried and liked their lightest race shoe the 212 X-Talon.

As the trails have recently become a tad on the slippy side I needed to find something with a little more grip than my Adidas Kanadia trail shoes. The X-Talon’s have fantastic grip but they offer very little support so whilst they’re great for racing they’re not that good for churning out the miles in training.

I’ve never been a big fan of Inov-8’s fell shoe styling (212 excepted) but recent changes to their colourways and some subtle changes to the uppers have, in my opinion, improved the range considerably. We all know that what a fell shoe looks like shouldn’t matter a hoot but we also all know that it does and how things look can have a big effect, even if it is all in the mind.

When looking for a grippy trail shoe the 330 caught my eye and whilst I know it’s designed to be a fell racer the upper does look more like a trail shoe.

The shoes do feel slightly larger than the same sized 212 but I guess that’s to be expected as the 212 is supposed to be a tight fitting stripped down racer.

Following the obligatory walk around the house for a day, my first run in the 330s was a 90 minute trot around Baildon Moor and the first thing you notice is the massive amounts of traction that the heavily studded sole supplies. The shoes really inspire confidence in muddy conditions and certainly live up to their name.

The shoes are extremely comfy and although nice and low as a good off-road shoe should be, they offer descent cushioning from the midsole and also a noticable amount of welcome ‘bounce’ from the studs on hard surfaces.

The heel is very low, a feature of Inov-8 shoes which I still don’t fully understand, and initially I could feel a little movement when climbing steep ground. This has all but disappeared now the shoes have been wet and dried a few times and started to mould to my feet but I would prefer a higher heel to make sure the movement is not there in the first place.

The other issue is the shoe’s ability to handle wet rock - put simply, they don’t! Once you know this it is possible to use them very effectively but the first few times you try them on a wet, hard, cambered surface the results can be very un-nerving. What I know about shoe design / manufacture you could write on the back of a small stamp but I would like to have seen two lines of studs running along the length of the sole unit that were made from super soft sticky rubber.

If you have a reasonably efficient style and keep light on your feet these shoes can be used for just about anything from hard packed trails to the high fells but I think they will really come into their own on long distance fell races where comfort, support and grip are needed.

I’ve now done around 15 hours in the shoes and overall I like them very much and would gladly recommend them. If  you try before you buy to make sure you get the right size and be aware of their dislike of wet rock, you’ll not go far wrong.

Click here to view the Inov-8 330 Mudclaw