inov-8 Trailfly Ultra G280 Shoe Review
I hope that they pay their shoe designers well over at inov-8 because it seems that almost every other month, they are releasing a new shoe or upgrading an old one. This is no bad thing for us, the consumer, but it must make for a very busy design house indeed. So, what of this latest offering? The Trailfly Ultra G280.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the naming system for inov-8s, allow me to educate you.
Typically, the number refers to the average weight per shoe across the size ranges; the “G” means that the sole has Graphene in it (more on that later) and the name is cunningly engineered to make you feel like this shoe is specifically for your chosen running genre. In this case, make you fly along the trails for ultra-distances. So, does it?
Well before drawing any conclusions let’s chat through the composite elements that make up the anatomy of this and any trail shoe. In no particular order. How about it’s looks? To be honest this is the least important aspect of any shoe for me, partly because I have no style whatsoever. If the aesthetics of a shoe are important to you then I think you may be underwhelmed by the Trailfly Ultra, with its sage green and orange or to give it the official colour names, “pine” and “nectar” none of the design features really stand out.
It does come in two other colour combos, red and a blue but these do little to add to its catwalk credentials. However, when they are covered in swamp mud does it really matter?
Not in the slightest and importantly while they may not look all Gucci, they also don’t offend either.
Next up, fit. As is normal with most shoes these days, straight out of the box these felt super comfy. I was a big fan of the inov-8 Terraultra G270’s and have struggled to find a shoe that matched it for fit and overall feel. These Trailfly Ultra’s were like being reunited with an old friend. A wide toe box, 5 on the inov-8 scale which is their widest, means that my pinkies had room to spread and there wasn’t any pinch on the little toe. I wear a size 9 and a 10.5 coped well with my preferred toe sock and waterproof sock combo.
There’s an 8 mm drop from a moderate stack height (22mm) at the rear, nothing outrageous here and all very manageable. A knitted upper gave plenty of flex and stretched in all the right places as my foot adapted to the undulations of the trail. I’m always sceptical about “toe bumpers” let’s face it if you kick a rock it’s going to hurt. However, the bumper does offer some protection for the fabric upper. I’ve only covered about 100 miles in these so time will tell as to whether the uppers can withstand a season or two of training and races.
According to the tech specs these shoes are the first to feature nitrogen infused foam in their midsole.
Feedback from the official inov-8 testers is that this foam makes the athletes feel like they are “flying” hence the Fly, in Trailfly. So, do they have magical powers? Do you really feel lighter than air? I need to be careful, but the honest answer is one you might expect from a politician. Yes and No. I shall explain.
In order for something to bounce or return energy it needs a solid surface to do it from. Think a bouncy ball, if your drop it in a quagmire it’ll go plop, if you drop it on a nice compact trail, it’ll bounce right back to you. So too the “fly speed foam” don’t get me wrong it’s very comfortable indeed noticeably lightweight, but in order to get the energy return benefit you need to leave the squelchy autumnal trails and find something a bit more compact.
Once you do, these shoes come into their own, more bounce per once and a genuine feeling of spring, think Zebedee.
inov-8 make no secret of the fact that this shoe is designed for these harder surfaces, but if you can’t afford to buy multiple shoes for multiple surfaces or you want to do your bit for the planet and have just one all-rounder shoe I wouldn’t write off the Trailfly G270 just yet. You may feel with all this talk of bounce that this makes these a summer shoe, but in fact that would be to deny the underfoot comfort that these offer over longer distances on a variety of terrains. Whilst I fully understand all the excitement about energy return with this being hugely beneficial on drier trails, it’s the wearability and comfort over the long distances that I think makes the nitrogen foam a game changer for Ultra runners.
As previous mentioned “G” is for Graphene which is infused into the rubber to make the sole 200 times stronger than steel, very handy indeed when you’re running over rocky, gnarly trails as it means your shoes shouldn’t shred. Graphene also means that the sole is more “sticky”, however, please don’t think you’ll get racing car grip from this rubber alone. That’s not what’s being claimed and of course nothing grips wet limestone anyway.
What you do get with this shoe are some cleverly engineered rubber dynamics which enhance the grip provided by the material.
We see the return of the “adapter flex” and “metaflex” grooves which help to compliment the natural movement of your foot whilst still providing a stable launch platform for your stride. What baffles me with this shoe is how a relatively small lug depth of 4mm can provide such amazing grip on a variety of surfaces; tacky mud, grass, tundra and snow, the Trailfly copes with it all.
Undoubtedly there’s some witchcraft at play. “It’s the graphene” I hear inov-8 say. Maybe it is, but my previous graphene shoes didn’t even come close so I’m assuming it’s the lug configuration that’s doing magical things here.
There is no doubt that the Trailfly Ultra G280 is a very good shoe.
It’s grippy, comfortable and fits really nicely. It’s hard to find fault with it, the looks are a bit bland but I actually like its understated nature. Price tag wise it’s up in the higher quartile but they are adaptable enough that you shouldn’t need another pair of trail shoes while you have these. Scott have released their Ultra Carbon RC which I’m currently reviewing so it’ll be interesting to see how the two compare.
Designed for: Trail running and ultramarathon running
Terrain designed for: Hard-packed trails
RRP: £165 | $185 | €190
Find out more at inov-8
