Top 7 Trail Shoes of 2021

The year is almost over!! 2021 was a good year for us overall. We added Dynafit for the first time and brought back On Running. We had a very hard time getting anything from Salomon, and we gave up on Nike altogether.

2022 will see more shoes from Dynafit, Scarpa, and Saucony. Two big carbon trail shoe launches that should both surpass the launch of this year’s Flight Vectiv carbon trail shoe.

Here are the best selling trail running shoes at the shop for the outgoing year.

1. Altra Lone Peak 5 – It was a close battle all year between these and the Hoka Speedgoat 4. If you factor in the Special Edition version, the Lone Peak franchise has a more comfortable lead at the top. Lone Peak 6 is due out in early January….could it possibly happen?! Those are one of the only shoes we’re eagerly awaiting that are tracking on time.
2. Hoka Speedgoat 4 – If you combine Evo Goat sales with SG4 sales, then the Speedgoat family would be on top. Never fear Evo fans, the Speedgoat 5 should appeal to you!! Or the Tecton X. Supply of the SG4 (in most sizes) should last until SG5 comes out in March and April—but buy yours now and don’t be picky about color.
3. Hoka Torrent 2 – The total sales could have been higher if the supply, particularly of women’s sizes, would have been better all year. Women will still have a hard time finding their size until June when new colors finally come out. Torrent 3 got pushed to 2023 or maybe November 2022. Don’t hesitate: if you see your size of these, get them now!
4. Altra Olympus 4 – It’s the Speedgoat for wide feet! And it really doesn’t feel zero drop to me!! Olympus 5 won’t be out for awhile…but the Altra Mount Blanc coming sooner could become known as the SpeedOlympus.
5. Topo Ultraventure Pro – The Top 5 shoes were all available to buy the whole year giving them a big advantage over some shoes. But if you want a dependably grippy, wide toe boxed shoe that isn’t zero drop, it’s hard to do much better than the UV pro!!
6. Topo Ulraventure 2 – These were only available for about half the year–or they could have made the top 4. New colors for both men and women just arrived at the shop and this model should last all of 2022.
7. The North Face Vectiv Enduris – The Ginger Runner’s Favorite Trail Shoe of 2021, the Enduris definitely didn’t move as well as we hoped. Being top 7 in a shop with close to 40 trail styles is a big achievement for a first year shoe, though! The Enduris 2 is slated for February so look out for sale prices of the Enduris 1.

The battle for the Top 7 was good this year with several notable contenders that almost made the list:

• Brooks Catamount – Unfortunately Catamount fans, this model may be hard to come by in 2022…we heard a rumor that these will be a “sponsored athlete” only shoe for 2022. Not sure what that actually means but it doesn’t sound good. I was told the Catamount 2 would be available for all in 2023 some time.
• Topo MTN Racer 2 – This model could easily compete for shoe of the year for 2022. It almost made the Top 7 and it was barely available due to low supply. We are totally stocked up on them now!! Get them while you can.
• Hoka Evo Speedgoat – This model is notable because it could easily have made the Top 7 if we had more to sell. We literallly sold every single pair we had. Sorry fans, there will be no more Evo, but SG5 and Tecton X will easily make you forget the Evos.
• Altra Timp 3 – A bit of a bust for us this year. The LP5 was just so nice that it took sales away from the Timp 3. The Timp 4 is completely different and in my opinion, better. Those are slated for March.