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Pros
Cons
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Price $70 to $95 |
Pros
- Light Weight
- Durable Construction
- Good Traction
The Mindbender GTX is a new trail running shoe from Vasque. Right now there is limited availability and most vendors are not carrying it not even the mighty REI. But we found it for you. There are no user reviews at this time for the Mens edition of this shoe. In fact right now you can’t find the womens Mindbender GTX either.
However, one of Vasque’s very own athletes, Krissy Moehl, tested out this trail running shoe last summer at the Western States Endurance challenge. This is what she had to say about the Vasque Mindbender GTX:
“When Vasque product manager Brian Hall first sent me a pair of the Mindbenders, I was pretty excited to be wear-testing a new shoe,” Moehl says. “And once I slipped them on my feet and went for an 18-mile road-trail run (right out of the box), I knew they were the shoes I would be wearing for the Western States Endurance Race. In looking for a shoe to wear for a 100-miler, my goal is to feel confident that I can put the shoe on at the start of the race and not think about it or my feet for the entire event. The Mindbender was perfect and totally fit the bill.” ~ Krissy Moehl
Krissy ran for 100 miles through some of the most extreme terrain in the Western United States including rocky terrain, stream crossings and snow fields even through 100 degree temperatures. A lesser trail running shoe would have melted right off her feet.
Here is another cool quote from her, “With my quads being completely shot after the event, it was nice to not have to tend to my feet.”
The shoe is built on Vasque’s Perpetuum last which will fit a wide variety of foot shapes and sizes. A new feature Vasque adopted for this trail running shoe is the Gore-Tex conformable technology, an “inner bootie” made of Goretex fabric that conforms directly to your foot shape, adding water protection to the shoe.
The toe box was made extra wide on this trail running shoe to accommodate an expanding foot throughout the miles. There are even more features packed into the shoe to include a synthetic nubuck and airmesh nylon upper, removable dual density EVA insole and a nylon half shank.
Even with all these great features and the seamless durable construction this trail running shoe weighs in at only 11.5 ounces in a mens size 9 and just 9.9 ounces in a women’s size 7. This is a great trail running shoe for the lightweight or long distance hiker and day hikers.
It is sure to be a very popular running shoe and be hard to find for some time to come. If you are gearing up for the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail or Appalachian Trail get this perfect trail running shoe for hiking today.
