Recently, ultrastud Mike Mason commented enthusiastically about the La Sportiva Raceblade in response to my review of the Montrail Streak. Mike said,
Phenom shoe. Flat, fast, just enough protection, elastic tongue keeps the rocks out, and a nice wide toebox. This is by far the best trail shoe I’ve run in.
Well, such words from the likes of Monsieur Mason are enough to get me asking questions, especially since I can’t find any decent reviews of the Raceblades online. So, anyone run in the Raceblades? If so, what do you think? Anyone at La Sportiva wanna shoot me a pair to review? ;-) Also, since I can’t find any La Sportiva shoes in a conveniently located store, how does La Sportiva’s sizing compare to other brands?
Men’s La Sportiva Raceblade in, get this, yellow/red– way to keep the color names simple La Sportiva!
A running store in Asheville, NC, told me that the La Sportiva Fireblade is very similar to the Raceblade. Anyone tried the Fireblade? How is it? If you’ve also run in the Fireblade how do the two compare in size as well as performance. I’ll try a pair of the Fireblades on wheile I’m down in Asheville for the Mount Mitchel Challenge this weekend, and would love to know if the Fireblades are a reasonable fit proxy for the Raceblades. The only “decent” information I could find on the Fireblades was a thread on the Runners World forum.
Please share any info you have on either the La Sportiva Fireblade or Raceblade!
[Updated 2/21/08 12:29 p.m.]
As always, lots of good info in the comments. Including:
- The President of La Sportiva North America describing the relative sizing and performance of the Raceblades and Fireblades.
- La Sportiva Mountain Running Team member, Derrick Spafford sharing his and Sara Montgomery’s (also on the LSMR team) thoughts on both the Raceblades and Fireblades (Sara loves the Fireblades, while the RAceblades are D’s fav)
- Spaff also directed me to a review of the Fireblades that he and Sara wrote for Snowshoe Magazine (Who trail runs to get in shape for the snowshoe racing season, Derrick? ;-) )
- Now Sara’s weighed in, too!
More Trail Running Shoe Options
To find more options for trail running shoes, check out our Best Trail Running Shoes article.
