Inov-8 X-Talon First Impressions

Inov-8 X-Talon Review

Yes, so I finally bought a pair of these shoes out of absolute frustration with the Mizunos. The Shoe Goo was OK but was peeling after a few runs and created blister bringing bumps in the shoe. I got the X-Talons for a number of reasons: Firstly, the full length rand from toe to heel to toe. Hopefully this suede like material in combination with the very thick mesh will hold up at least a year (should be about 800 miles for this particular shoe). Also, the minimalistic approach: the shoe has a 6mm drop and weighs only 212g (hence the name). While this is not as flat or light as you can go, you will be lucky to find a randed shoe with zero drop.

The shoe also hits a lot of sweet spots for me: I like shoes with mild responsiveness (somewhere between the Adidas Adios 2 and the Mizuno Evo Ferus) and this shoe is so far doing exactly that: the shoe gets stiffer as you travel backwards from toe to heel and has a nice spring; not deadening like the Evo Ferus but not overly stiff like the Adios 2. The cushioning is also in that nice area where it is not pillowy and not rock hard: it is nicely balanced.

The grip is also beyond any other shoe I have used. I was so confident in its grip that today I went for a Strava CR down Watlington in Oxfordshire (and up too) and despite being a slippy day, I set CR up and down. I was able to hurtle down the around 20% slope to get 1:28 over 450m which is pretty fast. The X-Talon outsole grabs dirt, gravel, rocks, slush and grass like an absolute boss. I'm glad I got the shoe fitted in store so I could get a close to foot feel which gives me absolute confidence which bombing down hills or up slippy mud.

So, I have really high hopes for this shoe and think I might use it for some of my more gravelly school cross country races over my spikes! Anyway, I will be recording the milage for this shoe and will get back to you when it breaks (my bet is 600 miles?).