You’ve seen our staff favorites; you’ve seen the team’s picks.
Now the buying public gets their turn:
Women’s Top7 Trail Shoes of 2014
- Scott Kinabalu 2
- Pearl Izumi Trail M2
- Pearl Izumi Trail N2
- Montrail Fluid Feel 2.0
- Altra Lone Peak 2.0
- Salomon XR Mission
- Hoka Stinson Trail/ATR
If we would have combined the Lone Peak 1.5 and Lone Peak 2.0, the Lone Peak franchise would have finished 2nd overall. The 7th place shoe was only 14 pairs behind number 1. A very close spread! The only shoe that wasn’t sold all year long, was the Lone Peak 2.0 which came out in July. Our Top7 lists only do not reflect clearance/sale items.
Men’s Top7 Trail Shoes of 2014
- Pearl Izumi Trail N2
- Scott Kinabalu 2
- Pearl Izumi Trail M2
- Altra Lone Peak 2.0
- Altra Olympus
- Altra Lone Peak 1.5
- Hoka Rapa Nui Trail
In the men’s case, the combined Altra Lone Peak franchise would have crushed the competition! The Lone Peaks combined would have been a solid 22 pairs up on the Pearl Izumi Trail N2. As it stands here, the 7th place Rapa Nui was only 18 pairs behind the Trail N2.
Women’s Top7 Road shoes of 2014
- Saucony Triumph
- Pearl Izumi Road M3
- Hoka Clifton
- Pearl Izumi Road N2
- Saucony Ride
- New Balance 980 Fresh Foam
- Saucony Mirage
Men’s Top7 Road shoes of 2014
- Altra Torin
- Pearl Izumi Road N2
- Hoka Clifton
- Altra Paradigm
- Altra Instinct
- Pearl Izumi Road M3
- Saucony Ride
Even though we are Seattle’s only trail running specialty store, it’s still fun to see what road shoes sell the best!
Here comes the fun part: Predictions For 2015!
Last year, we predicted for women, in this order: Pearl Izumi Trail N2, Scott Kinabalu, Salomon X-scream, Hoka Kailua Trail, Pearl Izumi Trail M2, North Face Ultra Trail, and Merrell All-Out Rush.
We only had 3 of the actual Top7 for 2014!
Here’s what happened:
I thought the X-scream would replace the Mission…but the X-scream was a bust; we sent them all back 30 days after receiving them. The Hoka Kailua (the women’s equivalent to the Rapa Nui) was not far from the Top7. The North Face Ultra Trail was a big bust. After Western States was won by both a Male and Female North Face Athlete sans a TNF shoe, we put all of our stock on sale and got rid of them cheap–never to return. The Merrell All-out Rush was just not enough cushion to sell a lot of pairs in today’s marketplace!
For men, we predicted better: Kinabalu, Trail N2, Rapa Nui, Olympus, Trail M2, Salomon Sense Pro, Scott Trail Rocket.
The first 5 we picked made it to the Top7. The last two did not. The Sense Pro was not too far off–it was a solid seller. The Scott Trail Rocket we returned after not selling many pairs. It had durability issues on the outsole.
Predictions for 2015:
Women’s Top7 Trail shoes of 2015
- Pearl Izumi Trail M2 – Both the M2 and N2 change slightly in July. The improved traction should boost sales!
- Pearl Izumi Trail N2 –
- Salomon Sense Mantra 3 – This version is much softer and has a much better upper than the previous 2 Mantras
- Scott Kinabalu 3 –
- Hoka Challenger ATR – (February) the Clifton is a hit; the Challenger feels pretty similar to the Clifton.
- Altra Lone Peak 2.5 – (July)
- Merrell All-out Peak – (February) I’m taking one more chance with Merrell; this shoe will surprise you!!
Men’s Top7 Trail shoes of 2015
- Altra Lone Peak 2.5 (July)
- Pearl Izumi Trail N2
- Hoka Challenger ATR (February)
- Pearl Izumi Trail M2
- Altra Lone Peak 2.0 (now)
- Topo Runventure (February)
- Altra Superior 2.0
Honorable Mentions:
These shoes will do very well in 2015 and 1 or 2 may break into the Top7 when it’s all said and done:
Merrell All-out Charge (February)
Topo MT (now)
Hoka Speedgoat (July)
Hoka Mafate 4 (July)
Hoka Huaka (now)
Pearl Izumi Trail N1 (now)
Montrail Bajada 2 (February)
Montrail Fluid Flex ST (February)
It’s really hard for a shoe that launches in July to compete with shoes that come out early in the year. Altra models and Hoka models have enough buzz to do it, though!
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