The truth is, I am not a really big fun of trail running shoes. I have simply always preferred that kind of “boring” surface and running on asphalt or concrete. Nevertheless, I sometimes make a change of the terrain and try also a more difficult terrain. Nike Air Zoom Wildhorse 4 is in my opinion an ideal shoe which you can combine for those trails that change from asphalt to forest or not maintained park roads.
Especially, it will make you to deal with some slippery muddy surface after an unexpected rain shower as the outsole is manufactured right for this purpose. I like the the waffle kind of studs put in the front and front-middle part of the shoe.
They are far enough from each other so that no stones and other pieces stick into it as it happened to me in some other shoes before. The material, that is used for those waffle studs, is a very sticky, abrasive rubber that I highly appreciated. Especially, when I went for running over the tree trunks and smooth, stony stairs in the forest and which kept me feeling pretty much safe and secure even when the surface changed more wildly than expected. 🙂
What might be here a struggle point for me is the pace the outsole gets wasted. I can´t say it is for my vision a long-distance every-day trail running shoe because after 300 kilometers, I started noticing that the outsole rubber gets already quite used and reduced. In my vision that is quite fast. On the other hand, as a long distance runner, I highly appreciated how the shoes are really wide and thus comfortable over the whole time of run. The wrap up feeling created by the upper material I find pretty supportive for the safety feeling. I think this especially after the sticky rubber outsole is very important. The shoe felt very steady, wide enough and thus in my case, I really trusted the shoe when being outside.
Especially if you need more space in the toe area as I usually do, you will find this model very suitable. What is also nice is the loop at the heel, which when I am lazy to bend to the toes, it helps fast to get inside. Thus, even the practicality hasn´t been in this case omitted :).
Nike Air Zoom Wildhorse 4
Pros
- Very light shoe in comparison to other models
- Well comfortable inside
- Great stability shoe
Cons
- Lower durability