Tested on Tour: X-Talon™ 240

Earlier this year I went on a hike with a few colleagues. My sturdy Meindl Vakuum did well but I felt the shoes where totally overkill for the tour and I started looking for lighter hiking boots. I had two requirements: lighter (<< 1kg for the pair) and not as warm (I sweat a lot).

Soon I stumbled over the X-Talon™ 240, according to Inov-8 the lightest hiking boots on the market.

I couldnt’t find a store close to Munich that had them in stock but thanks to outdoorseiten.net I got the phone number of the distributor for Germany. The service was just plain awesome. Because the X-Talon are pretty specialized boots most stores don’t stock them. But the distributor offered to ship me two different sizes to see if they fit.

I wore them for roughly 100km (tested in the Palatinate forest, a 2-day trip in the Black Forest, Brazil and the Alps) which should be enough to get to know the shoes.

Inov8 describes them as “Extreme lightweight boot. High levels of comfort and performance with an aggressive sticky rubber outsole make this shoe ideal for short trail, ultra light walking and mountain running with ankle protection.”

This is absolutely true. The shoes weight 255g (size 42) according to my scales which is roughly 1/3 of my “proper” leather hiking boots. Even while scrambling over loose gravel or polished limestone going up Kampenwand I felt save and in control. They are light years ahead of any running shoes which weight roughly the same. When talking to the distributor he warned me that the soft rubber outsole would wear out quickly, but this is something I can’t confirm yet. After roughly 100km the soles still look like they new give or take a few scratches.

As you can see from the picture, there are many spikes coming out of the sole. These spikes combined with the soft sole feel like an acupuncture when walking on flat ground and it takes some time to get used to the different feel. Unlike the solid soles I was used to from my Meindl boots, this gives you a lot of feedback about the ground and my feet like it.

Enough praise, there is still one little thing I would like to change: the hideous color!

Summary: Highly recommended!

Update 2011:

After using the shoes for roughly 18 months, hiking at least 700 kilometers in them, wearing them for hiking on grass, rock, mud, snow and ice I’m still absolutely happy with the shoes. I even got used to the color, so my verdict hasn’t changed.

By now the spikes coming out of the soles have lost a lot of material and the top has a few holes in it. But they are by far the most comfortable boot I have ever used and I have bought a second pair to replace the first one.

Summary: Still highly recommended!