Tag Olympus 4

Olympus 4.0 Followup

I took my Olympus 4.0’s out on Carl yesterday and have a couple of follow up observations.

Carl is pure vertical and technical vertical at that.   It’s a ‘granny gear’ slope of typically 45 degrees or sharper with loose shale, slick rock and loose rock.

After 4 loops I came away less thrilled with the grip of the Olympus. Granted these were rough conditions.   But in general I found them to be slightly less sure footed as my Lone Peak 3.5’s.   Slightly more slippage on loose material and I partially slipped twice while descending on large rocks (boulders).

At the end of the day I came away feeling less sure on bad surfaces than I do in my Lone Peak’s.   This isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it makes me more aware of footing and balance and potentially avoids over confidence that my LP’s might put me in.

Part of the problem I think is the Vibram outer ring on the Olympus is harder material and while I’m sure really durable, it seems less secure on smooth hard surfaces at dramatic slopes that may not be as dry as they could be.

They’ve also had more stretch to them them I’m used to in a trail shoe and after lap 2 I had to retie them, starting at the base of the laces all the way up to get them to lock back in.   This ‘should’ be a problem that resolves itself over time as all the stretch is taken out but the increased volume this is causing in the midfoot has me pulling the eyelets closer and closer together.

I’m going to have to get a pair of the Lone Peak 4.0’s sooner than later so I know what I’m going to be training with from now till spring.

Altra Olympus 4.0’s

6.2 down, 293.8 to go.

[Follow up here]

Ran my Olympus 4.0 from Altra for the first time yesterday.  Just a short 10K on mostly single track dirt paths with a few moderate technical sections.

My prior trail shoes have been Leadville V3’s, Altra Lone Peak 2.5’s, Altra Lone Peak 3.0’s, Altra Lone Peak 3.5’s.   My current trail shoes are the Lone Peak 3.5’s that have distances up to a full marathon on them.

Sizing Note:  I wear anywhere from a 12.5 to a 14 in Altra shoes.  In Lone Peaks I’m a 14, Paradigms a 13, etc.

I initially ordered 14’s in these but they were just clown shoes so I swapped them for 13’s.  For trail shoes with descents the 13 is about right.   But in a 13 they’re noticeably longer than my size 13 Escalante 1.0’s when you put them next to each other.   One thing that is rather annoying about Altra’s is how flexible the ruler is they use to measure their shoes.  Because no one typically carries much above a 12.5 locally I almost always have to order shoes either though the local stores or online and just hope that a given model fits me in the size I ordered.  I’ve had to send back half the new to me Altra’s I’ve ordered because I guessed wrong on the sizing.

Initial impression was “Wow, soft and wow, I feel tall” after putting them on and walking on them.

Over the course of the 10K I was left with a fairly pleasantly neutral outlook on them.  While I didn’t walk away with a “OMG these are amazing.” I certainly didn’t walk away with a “These are going back.”

Honestly after the first couple of miles I kind of forgot about them and, again honestly, isn’t that a good thing?

By the end of the run they had loosened up a bit and if the run had been much longer, say a half+ I’d of likely stopped to tighten the laces but it wasn’t enough to be an issue.

Grip wise they handled everything, sand, dirt, mud, rock that I was on and I always felt like they were stuck to whatever the surface I was on.

The lugs I think are wide enough that they probably won’t cake up as badly as my Lone Peak’s do going through exceptionally thick clay type mud that we occasionally encounter, the type of material where you gain 2lbs, per shoe by the time you’ve gone 20 feet over it.

The laces, a bit of a pet peeve, weren’t too long nor too short.   I was able to double knot them without an issue and there wasn’t enough dangling to bother me.

The arch support was just about right for me, if you have flat feet these shoes may not be to your liking so try them before buying them or may sure you can take them back.

Overall, with only 10k on them, I think they’ll do to replace my 3.5’s when they wear out.   My current pair has about 150 miles on them and I have another pair LP 3.5’s NIB waiting their chance to come out and play but I’ll be rotating these Olympus 4’s in as well.

At this point barring any surprises in durability or fitment coming up I can see myself in a new (but broken in) pair of these for the at least half of Dead Horse 50K, if not the whole thing.   A race I was worried about as I still have 600 miles or so of training to do before them per our schedule and a pair and a half of Lone Peak 3.5’s isn’t going to get me there and leave enough to do 50K in.