SHOES

Inov-8 X-Talon 212 - Multi-purpose

According to Inov-8, the X-Talon 212 is a super lightweight off road running shoe with low profile midsole. High levels of comfort, stability and performance with an aggressive sticky rubber outsole make this shoe ideal for cross country, short trail and X-Mountain racers. I think this seriously undersells what is a great multi-purpose training shoe. The shoe is very light and comfortable. It seems to grip to any surface (dry, wet or ice) and and the build quality seems to be good. I have used it for many cross-country, fell, trail and road races, and I even saw a competor running a 3000m track race in a pair the other day. What are the problems? None really, but the shoe can be a victim of its own success i.e. the shoe is so good to run, in that I tend to over use it. The soft rubber lugs, which provide superb grip, do wear down on the hard stuff like road and rock (as you would expect). Possible the best training shoe I have ever purchased, and I look forward to a new pair some time soon. by Simon 26/6/2011

New Used

Brooks Green Silence - Racing Flat

Make an eco-statement with the Green Silence racing flat. Each and every part in this fast, groundbreaking shoe has a sustainable element, including soy-based inks and recycled materials. And in this case, "green" goes hand-in-hand with the great performance you expect from Brooks. The Green Silence helps you take responsibility, and first place, with good karma to spare. Green features include the world's first-ever biodegradable midsole for running shoes and 75% of the shoe’s materials are post-consumer recycled. They are also really light at of only 196 grams and will not break the bank at RRP £55. My reason for purchase was wanting a light-weight, neutral, cushioned racing flat at a reasonable price. My initial impressions are very favourable, with the shoes being some of the most comfortable I have ever run in. The shoes fit like a glove, and have a unique lacing mechanism to ensure the show feels part of your foot. The shoes are asymetrically coloured, and are quite brightly coloured in a fetching green and blue (or orange and yellow). by Simon 17/4/2011

ACCESSORIES

Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS - £99 from Sweatshop

The GPS unit, whilst looking bulky, is very light and is barely noticeable when worn. Its use is very simple, whilst offering many useful features. These include pace, distance, stopwatch, direction, gradient, current time and elevation in metric or imperial measures. GPS tracking seems to be pretty good, even in woods. The device is charged from a USB cable connection to PC or mains, and seems to last many runs from a single charge. Runs can easily be downloaded on to a PC and mapped in Google Maps. A history of runs is kept on the device and the PC. The device has also a bike mode (not used yet). I find the device very useful in keeping tempo in training runs and checking actual distance covered. by Simon 20/4/2011

If you would like to publish your won kit review, please send it top me at cac@youspoon.com.