I admit to being somewhat of a sunglasses "snob" preferring large frame photochromic shades from the likes of Julbo and Smith. Why large and photochromic? I often run in changing light conditions at day's end and.. I wear my shades over prescription eyeglasses.
The Sanctum XL sure fits the bill with its very large frame and fits perfectly over my eyeglasses with no slip or bounce but how would shades costing 6x less than my usual perform and hold up? The answer is very well!
Redshift Sports Shockstop Pro Suspension Seatpost and Stem, and Top Shelf Handlebar
Introduction:
Founded in 2013 by a team of mechanical engineers who are also avid cyclists, Redshift Sports aims to create new and innovative products that help to improve the ride comfort and versatility for all types of cycling, from road to gravel, mountain, tri, e-bike and urban. In the article I test the Redshift Sports Shockstop Pro Suspension Seatpost and Stem, and Top Shelf Low Flare Handlebar.
Na, bereit für den nächsten Trail? Wir haben uns den Topo Ultraventure 4 mal genauer angeschaut und auf Herz und Nieren – oder besser gesagt, auf Sohle und Mesh – geprüft. Hier kommt unser Eindruck!
PEBA foam layer. supercritical EVA outer carrier foam, forked carbon-fibre plate. Vibram MegaGrip, giant 49mm heel / 41mm forefoot stack height and broad platform, and Mafate lineage. These are all ingredients with great promise, but did Hoka get the recipe right?
Si Puma est parvenu à se faire une place parmi les meilleures chaussures de route, il lui manquait une gamme trail à l’avenant.
Et la marque attaque directement par le haut de gamme avec cette Deviate NITRO Elite Trail, une “supershoe” de trail avec la mousse supercritique Nitro Elite déjà appréciée sur route, une plaque carbone, une tige moderne et légère, le tout promettant de la performance sur les trails de moyenne à longue distance. Ajoutons à cela l’utilisation de la gomme PumaGrip ATR sur la semelle et des crampons polyvalents, et nous avons là une des trails les plus prometteuses de l’année.
Montbell is a legendary outdoor brand hailing from Japan, established in 1975. They are most famous, at least in my mind, because of their ultralight down products, which you will see later on in the review are as light as they possibly can get. Their design philosophy is ‘Light and Fast’ gear which can be used in unpredictable conditions which Japan is famous for. Coincidentally, I live in Scotland which is famous for being just as unpredictable - 4 seasons in one day are nothing out of the originary.
Please keep an eye on Montbell’s UK Instagram accounts @montbell_uk - they are just about to launch a UK based online store as well as in the near future open a brick and mortar store in Keswick! For those of us living outside the UK, Keswick is one of the main towns in the English Lake District, well worth a visit not just to scoop some excellent Montbell gear!
Please join me in the review of one of Montbell’s flagship down jackets - the Plasma 1000 which has been provided by our friends from Wisdom and Effort Distribution.
As runners, it goes without saying that we are constantly battling tight muscles and nagging issues that threaten to derail our training (just check my running log on any given day). When Brad & Bob sent me their Q2 Mini Pro massage gun to test, I was admittedly skeptical - I’ve tested a lot of massage guns, and usually, the size of the device dictates its effectiveness to a high degree.
This thing is, well, mini! Could something this compact really make a difference? After several weeks of use, despite never having heard of this brand, I'm genuinely impressed.
Today we're talking about a shoe that looks pretty impressive on paper: the fourth edition of the Asics Trabuco Max. Thick sole, maximum comfort - that's what Asics promises. My colleague Nils and I strapped the shoe to our feet to find out what's what. We will share our thoughts and experiences with you here. Here is my first detailed impression after a few kilometers on the trails at home.
Heute geht's um einen Schuh, der auf dem Papier schon mal ordentlich was hermacht: den Asics Trabuco Max in seiner vierten Auflage. Dicke Sohle, maximaler Komfort – das verspricht Asics. Mein Kollege Nils und ich haben uns den Schuh an die Füße geschnallt, um herauszufinden, was dran ist. Wir werden hier unsere gemeinsamen Gedanken und Erfahrungen mit euch teilen. Hier kommt mein erster ausführlicher Eindruck nach einigen Kilometern auf den heimischen Trails.
The Triumph is Saucony’s more easy going, plush and softer traditional geometry daily road trainer.
For its 23d edition, the most significant change is a big drop in weight of 1.32 oz / 38g in my US8.5 to 9.3 oz / 263g which puts it squarely at a weight I find suitable for a daily trainer.
The 37mm heel, 27mm forefoot and 10mm drop does not change; I think a good thing given the soft and energetic PWRRUN Pb foam that continues from the 22 and which is a blend of EVA and PEBA in supercritical expanded pellets form.
The outsole gets more strategic rubber coverage, most notably less mid foot coverage, also a good thing as the 23 is nicely flexible
The upper is a relatively simple, quite dense engineered mesh that provides very solid support throughout.
Light(er) weight, energetic ride, and solid upper lead to a fun bouncy yet at the same time supportive riding trainer. Let's get into the details!
The Vertex Speed is designed to blur the line between trail running shoe and climbing approach shoe, marrying the key features of each. It has a lightweight build, responsive and dynamic midsole, zoned sticky rubber outsole with well thought out lugs that stick on rock as well as loose technical terrain, a breathable upper with built in gaiter and precision fit with climbing shoe type lacing.
For a fast run in technical terrain, perhaps with a scramble in the mix, where lightweight, dynamic performance and optimum grip are paramount, the Vertex Speed fits the bill.
Pros: Lightweight, sticky rubber outsole with versatile grip, built in stretch mesh gaiter, durability, quality, responsive, secure fit, protection, breathable
Cons: laces come untied easily, upper could be dialed in a bit more
Mike P: It’s funny, the main feature about the Komperdell Erlkönig poles was one that I didn’t even know about before I received them for testing. I noticed the wrist strap (Fly Sport strap) which seemed somewhat similar to Leki poles - that was the intriguing factor for me. Being that I think the Leki system works so well, having a similarly designed competitor is definitely a good thing.
After receiving the Erlkönig poles, then I realized the self-deploying feature. I had never heard of anything like that in a trail running or hiking pole, so there was definite excitement to try them out.
In the 2 minute video below I demonstrate how they deploy and fold and their easy clip and clip out approach .They literally self-deploy - no joke! Now there are some nuances to how this operation works and what it entails for both deploying them and stowing them, which I’ll get to in a little bit.
Komperdell ERLKÖNIG Demonstration
Specs and Sizing
I’m 5’10” (178cm) and went with my regular 120cm pole size. Side note- I just checked their website now and they seem to have sizing guides for Classic, Touring, and Alpine ski poles, but I don’t see anything specifically named for trekking poles. Alpine seems to somewhat match - at least for my height - but I can’t confirm that across the entire size range. I knew my pole size beforehand so I didn’t reference their guide when choosing my size.
The pair of poles (2 poles, not including the wrist straps) weigh in at 320g. That’s a touch lighter than what I think are the comparable Leki model - the FX.One (non-Superlite). The poles are similar in thickness and are beefier than the more racing-oriented FX.One Superlite model from Leki.
The Komperdell poles are a bit longer than the Leki ones though, and I notice them sticking out a little bit more in the quivers that I tested (Instinct, UltrAspire, Salomon Custom Quiver).
[Both 120 cm poles]
This is due to the nature of the self deploying mechanism and that the sections of the pole cannot slide into each other. The length of each of the three sections is essentially fixed.
[The Leki pole design allows for smaller shaft segments]
Some other poles allow the upper shaft to slide into the handle area when the pole is collapsed, allowing all sections to be a bit shorter, and hence a shorter overall folded length.
How they work
The FXP poles are essentially under constant “opening” tension. This means that when they are collapsed, they will not stay folded unless you strap them together. The poles come with a velcro strap on the upper pole section which you can use to keep them together then they are “collapsed”.
This means that you do have to take some care when stowing them, as they’ll want to pop back open if you don’t keep a good hold of them. I tried holding them together and putting them in my quivers without the velcro and had no issue. You just need to remember that when you’re taking them out.
You can also restrap them with the velcro before stowing them in a quiver. Of course if you are using pole bungees somewhere on the exterior of a vest like along the front panels or along the low back - you definitely need to use those velcro straps to keep them closed before bungeeing them to your vest. This is of course an extra step, but of course that lost time is regained in the self-deployment stage.
As seen above - on the run, they work as advertised. They pop open almost instantaneously without having to fiddle around and align the three pole segments, nothing. They pop out, and you’re ready to strap in and go!
[The strap that runs between the thumb and index finger is adjustable]
Instead of a traditional wrist loop attached to the pole, the FXP uses a separate wrist strap which loops over an opening on the top of the pole. This is somewhat similar to the Leki system with a few differences. The Komperdell loops are much bigger making them easier to loop over and attach to the poles. Once set up, I get that same feeling of being able to pull more power through the pole stroke - as opposed to traditional wrist straps.
In general this is a much more efficient design in terms of pure power output, and I personally can’t think of any reason to go back to using traditional wrist straps.
Do they work? Other considerations..
Yes, absolutely! If you hate fiddling around setting up your poles, especially on the run - this really is the setup for you. I know, I know, this may strike some as completely unnecessary, but honestly, it is really cool and very fast how you can get them open and going.
Of course, you do have to be a bit careful with them, being that they are always under tension! Hitting someone (or yourself) with an auto-extending pole is definitely something that can happen. Or when you’re trying to fold them up and put them away, if you’re not paying attention, the bottom section can snap open if you don’t have a good grip. You’ll want to make sure nothing fragile is within range.
[The bottom segment of one of the poles popped open while I was busy collapsing the second pole]
Folding them up is one area that is more difficult due to the nature that they are always under tension. I already talked about how they generally need to be “strapped together” with that velcro strap. But another important difference is that there is an additional button release between the bottom two pole segments, not just the top two.
[There’s also a second button for releasing the lower segments, most poles only have single button below the handle segment]
Typically with collapsible poles there is one button at the top to release the tension - when pressed, all three pole segments are loose, and then you can easily fold them up. With the FXP design, there are two separate release buttons - so you need to press the first one to fold up two segments, then make sure you’re holding those two together, then press the second button to release the next segment and fold the three together.
[Komperdell release buttons are flush with the shaft, also a bit camouflaged in this model]
This process definitely takes more time than popping the single button on most collapsible poles, and is definitely a tradeoff for the convenience of having them snap themselves together then you take them out. One thing to note with Komperdell’s setup here is that the release buttons are flush with the outer pole.
This makes them at times hard to locate - most other buttons stick out and you can feel for them without looking. With these being flush - sometimes they are hard to locate on the run (especially if you would have gloves on), and you do have to look for them. The Erlkönig camo design also doesn’t help with this - but perhaps with other colors, those buttons are easier to locate by sight.
Conclusion
Let’s start the conclusion of with something very important and I believe unique from any pole manufacturer -
Komperdell offers a 3 year no questions asked repair service for pole repairs here. This is HUGE, and definitely a big factor in determining whether to purchase them. At $299 for the Erlkönig version or $240 for the regular Carbon FXP version (I think they are functionally the same poles), the price is definitely high. But honestly, if you are guaranteed to have them for at least 3 years/seasons of trail running at that price - that eliminates a big worry.
We’ve all broken poles, which is always a sinking feeling given the cost factor. Having a 3 year guarantee in your back pocket is an excellent product feature to have.
I think Komperdell offers a compelling product here with the FXP poles - definitely something unique, with a form and function factor comparable to Leki, which I believe is the leader in the market. They’re not quite there in terms of crazy light weight, but they are very close and even lighter than other carbon poles.
I think many runners may in fact value durability higher, and the 3 year guarantee should certainly be a factor in that regard. I’ll definitely be using these going forward through this season and beyond - for at least 3 years!
Mike Postaski currently focuses on long mountainous ultras - anywhere from 50K up to his favorite - 100M. 5'10", 138 lbs, midfoot/forefoot striker - he typically averages 70 mpw (mostly on trails), ramping up to 100+ mpw during race buildups. A recent 2:39 road marathoner, his easy running pace ranges from 7:30 - 9:00/mi. From 2022-23 Mike has won the Standhope 100M, IMTUF 100M, and Scout Mountain 100M trail ultras, winning the Scout 50M in 2024. He also set a CR of 123.74M at the Pulse Endurance Runs 24H and completed the Boise Trails Challenge on foot in 3 days 13 hours, besting the previous record by 7 hours. Mike's shoe preferences lean towards firmer, dense cushioning, and shoes with narrower profiles. He prefers extra forefoot space, especially for long ultras, and he strongly dislikes pointy toe boxes.
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