I purchased my second pair of Saloman Speedcross trail shoes after having used the first pair from 2015-2018 for Spartan Races. I eventually blew out the pinky-toe sidewall on my left shoe and had to retire those, but overall, a great OCR shoe.

The tread design is excellent for slick trails, slipwalls, and other traction-dependent obstacles. Another great feature is the reinforced toe guard at the front of the shoe. I have kicked a number of rocks, tree roots and other trail debris and it saved my toes, as compared to other shoe designs. I am also very pleased with the Ortholite insole even though it does hold a tiny bit more water than other harder more uncomfortable insoles.

Thoughts on the “quicklace” design…yes, they are easy when fresh and clean and I like the new tongue pocket for tucking away excess lace to eliminate flopping around and potentially snagging trail debris. However, in recent mud runs the quicklace design can get clogged and jammed making unlacing or lacing up a chore. I have to remember to really work the mechanism open and closed immediately after to ensure they are clean and the functionality is maintained.

I will do another review when this pair meets it’s end to discuss how long this pair lasted and how many races I was able to tackle with the 2023 version. Stay tuned!