inov-8 Roclite 290 Review


In a bit of a break from the norm I’ve entered the Yorkshire Three Peaks Fell Race this year. The race is described as the marathon with mountains and takes place on the 24mile route that takes in the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough along with some fairly long sections of flat trail in between.

The terrain couldn’t be any more varied, from steep boggy climbs to short road sections with pretty much all other types of terrain in-between it calls for a shoe that is a great allrounder. Able to grip well on the steep, rocky and fast descents but have a decent amount of cushioning to help with the distance and the flat road and trail sections between each of the peaks.

In my training runs I’ve been wearing the incredible inov-8 X-Talon 230s featuring the new stickygrip sole and on the steep sections they are brilliant but don’t really like the flat sections and I was looking for something with a little more cushioning for my delicate feet.

It came down to a choice between the inov-8 Roclite 290s or the 305s. After reading fell runner extraordinaire Ben Mounseys comparison of the 2 I settled on the 290’s although I have a feeling that I’ll be purchasing a pair of the 2305’s very soon.

According to the website, the inov-8 Roclite 290s is perfect for mountain rock, muddy grass and hard packed trails. Excellent they sound perfect. Let’s take them for a run!

Out of the box, they felt good. Nice and snug around the heel with some wiggle room in the toe box.

Where I’ve used this shoe

  • Keswick Mountain Festival 50k Route Recce
  • Yorkshire Three Peaks Fell Race

Details

Upper

Midsole

Outsole

Manufacturers Details

  • Meta Shanks – Our flexible shanks are positioned between the outsole and the midsole in shoe construction. They are designed to align with the foot’s metatarsals, allowing the foot to move naturally whilst providing underfoot impact protection.
  • PowerFlow – Run effortlessly over any terrain with our unique PowerFlow™ midsole technology. PowerFlow ™ delivers 10% better shock absorption and 15% better energy return than standard midsoles.
  • Footbed – The footbed is the inside part of the shoe that runs under the bottom of the foot. A footbed is also sometimes referred to as the insole, inner sole or innersole.
  • Drop – The differential height between the heel and the forefoot of the shoe
  • Tri-C – A mix of soft sticky, hard sticky and endurance rubber on the outsole.
  • Outsole – The outsole, also known as the sole, is the bottommost part of a shoe that comes in direct contact with the ground.
  • Midsole -a layer of material between the inner and outer soles of a shoe, for absorbing shock

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