hey everybody today we are gonna be talking about shoes specifically what is
the difference between road running shoes and trail running shoes
you may be wondering especially if you already have road shoes should you
really go for it and get trail running shoes for running out on the dirt
it depends we're going to talk about the differences
all right so let's look at the shoes from the ground up the first thing to
consider is the outsole so it's the bottom of the shoe with trail running
shoes you're gonna see a lot of these more gnarly features on here so we call
these points lugs those are to give you a lot of grip when you're going over
varied surfaces routes rocks mud you really want that traction when you're
out on the trail by comparison in your road shoes the road shoes are really
looking to give you a stable consistent surface for running over paved ground
one other difference to keep in mind is that some trail shoes have a stickier
outsole on the bottom so not quiet all the way to climbing shoes sticky but
that stickiness on the rubber on the bottom of the shoe is going to give you
more grip when you're out on trail there next up the midsole so when we look at
this section of the shoe right here trail shoes are going to be a little bit
stiffer all the way through they really want to give you that support when
you're out in the dirt so we can look at house if they are this way and how stiff
they are this way and one other thing to keep in mind is that some trail shoes
also have what's called a rock plate so that's a bit of extra material in the
midsole of the shoe here and in this shoe you can actually see it through the
outsole and these little cut throughs but a rock plate is basically going to
protect your feet from anything pointing you might happen to step on while you're
out on the trail they're Road shoes don't tend out Rock plates like that
so Road shoes in the middle are going to be made of different types of foam and
they can give you a little more control when you're running over that paved
surface in terms of keeping your foot from pronating a little whereas your
trail shoes are just going to be stiff all the way around if we go back to rock
plates for a moment since your road shoes don't have Rock plates in them if
you decide to take a run through the gravel on your road shoes you are gonna
feel those little rocks and bits on the ground right through the foam they're
just a difference to keep in mind the other section here that we can talk
about is the uppers so the entire top part of the shoe overall your trail
shoes are just gonna be a little burlier to protect the shoe and your foot from
everything that's out on the trail so on this shoe not all shoes have these but
on this shoe you're gonna see that stiff plastic on
the front some reinforcements here on the sides versus the road shoe that
doesn't have those features the plus side of road shoes not having all that
reinforcement is that they tend to be a little lighter than your trail shoes all
right those are some differences but there are still a lot of similarities
between these shoes you get to choose how much cushioning you have either a
lot or a little bit overall in the shoe you still get to think about how much
heel to toe drop you have anywhere from a lot of squish under the heel tapering
down to nothing under the toe or zero amount of difference between either
where the heel and the toe are at the same height and as always with any kind
of shoe fit is the most important part so if you're thinking about either road
shoes or trail shoes go see your local experts at REI and they'll help you get
fit all right that's all for today if you're curious for more check out our
other videos and until then we'll see you next time
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