Let's avoid slipping, traction on trail running
Traction, or grip, is a fundamental characteristic of trail running shoes.
It is very difficult to define if a shoe has good or bad traction.
- Let's avoid slipping, traction on trail running and products
Traction must be defined for a certain type of terrain : there are dry or wet terrain, there is hard and compact terrain or greasy terrain with stones, grass or loose sand.
It is practically impossible for a shoe to have good traction for all situations.
The traction of the shoe is determined by the sole, specifically by the material of the sole and the shape and arrangement of the studs on the sole (we will see later)
Shoe makers follow three strategies
The first strategy is to make a shoe with a traction that defends well on all terrains without standing out on any. This is the strategy that is followed in most of the ultra-trail shoes , because in a race of 80 or 100 km it is easy to go through so many different types of terrain and it is also possible that we will encounter variable weather conditions, so the shoe has to defend itself well in dry or wet conditions .
Another strategy is to focus on one type of terrain and conditions and completely ignore the rest. They are shoes that must be used in a very specific way, such as Vertical Kilometer shoes or shoes dedicated to mud or mud.
This is the sole of the Salomon Speedcross 5 ... designed specifically to run in mud, grass, snow ... if you take them out of there, they don't go so well
If you are looking for good running shoes on soft terrain such as snow, mud, grass, don't miss this comparison with some of the best mountain running shoes for running on greasy and broken terrain.
The third strategy is a mixture of the other two , that is, trying to have better traction on one type of route , without becoming the best of all, and still being acceptable on other types of routes.
There are soles with traction characteristics for all tastes.
I will write it again, what's more, I will write it in each point of this article, it depends on you .
It depends on what you want to do with these shoes . You have to understand what type of terrain you normally run on , it is a forest, a mountain with quarries, forest tracks, etc.
You also have to take into account the climate where you usually run , the same half of the times you go out for a run you find yourself in mud up to your knees.
If you have already decided what type of traction you need, let's go on to see what are the factors of the shoe that determine the famous grip.
The grip, the obsession of the perfect sole
Factors that determine the grip of the sole
As anticipated before, the traction of a shoe is determined by the sole, in particular by the outer part of the sole made of rubber .
There are several factors that determine traction, mainly the material of the sole and the shape and distribution of the studs.
The sole material
To give you some general indications about the material of the sole, I indicate that a softer material, generally provides greater traction , will be more sticky, so it will go very well for wet or soft terrain.
A hard compound , however, will be more suitable for more compact and hard terrain.
As with everything, there is a price to pay for high traction; a soft compound will last much less time than a hard compound, especially if we use the shoes outside their field of application.
If we have shoes with a sole suitable for soft and muddy terrain and we put them through a quarry, they will surely suffer a lot from wear and tear.
The shape and position of the studs
The shape and arrangement of tacos is a science dedicated to illustrious thinking minds.
Here you can see how the shape and arrangement of the studs of two different shoes such as the Saucony Peregrine 7 and La Sportiva Akasha change.
The Peregrine features a single material sole and 5mm hexagonal base geometry studs, distributed in shape and position to ensure exceptional traction and grip ... and it works.
The Akasha, have less studs, lower and it is a versatile sole that works well on any terrain. In fact, the Akasha are ultra trail shoes, so it is normal that they are good for a variety of conditions. A little less traction than the Peregrine ... but a lot more durability.
Another thing ... the Akasha are a real bomb ... if you are looking for good shoes for ultra, you have to seriously consider them ... wonderful. You can buy them at RunnerInn. Aui I leave you the link.
Higher, spaced studs bite into the ground better and give more traction on soft or broken ground but make the shoe clunky in simpler situations like a forest trail.
For muddy or soft terrain, at least 5 mm studs are needed with the appropriate shape and arrangement to evacuate the mud well and not to form the famous "clog"
Flatter and wider studs will give better performance on the slopes.
There are countless shapes of tacos.
We can find them the V-shape to bite the ground well in one direction, so we will find them with the tip forward to give traction forward or with the tip back to avoid slipping down.
We can find them in a square or hexagonal shape , so that the traction is multidirectional
We can find many different combinations.
