Craft Nordlite Tempo Review: Tempo and Much More! 7 Comparisons

Article by Sam Winebaum

Craft Nordlite Tempo ($160)

Introduction

Craft Sportswear of Sweden, long known for great nordic ski apparel worn by many national teams, in recent years has plunged into running shoes.  They were one of the earliest brands focused on “gravel” and thus with more outsole depth and grip than typically seen in road shoes. Their shoes tended to have great midsole foams and awkward, baggy fits with their gravel outsoles not always worth their extra weight and impact on smooth surfaces performance. 

In 2025, all of their shoes including the Tempo here will be on a new last (fit). Craft is also now more clearly distinguishing its road, gravel, and trail offerings with two “pure” road models the Kype Pro (RTR Review), a state of the art marathon racer and reviewed here the Nordlite Tempo. Tempo has two foam compounds (15% PEBA plus another unnamed foam) in a supercritical processed blend. 

It is a strong tempo shoe. I have concluded that it is also a great all around daily trainer due to its substantial (but not excessive) 40mm heel, 34mm forefoot stack height and stable and smooth rocker based plateless ride.

Rabbit Marathon Majors Race Kits Review

Article by Sally Reiley

Rabbit Marathon Majors Race Kits

Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City—some of the largest and most prestigious races on the planet. One dream unites them all.

Rabbit has created a collection of race day kits for each of the six majors.  Inspired by each iconic race and crafted for ultimate speed, their highest performing apparel eliminates distractions and maximizes comfort. Each style combines ultra lightweight, quick-drying, and moisture-wicking fabric with sleek design and innovative tech.

Review: Camelbak Octane 22 Hydration Hiking Pack met Fusion 2L Reservoir Eén rugzak, eindeloze mogelijkheden (Nederlands/Dutch)

Artikel geschreven door Kurt Biesemans

Camelbak Octane 22 met Fusion reservoir (€160, $150)

🎒 Ontdek de Camelbak Octane-lijn – slimme veelzijdigheid voor elke buitenliefhebber.

De Octane-serie combineert het beste van drie werelden: het draagcomfort van een lichte rugzak, de opbergruimte van een grotere pack en de stabiliteit van een loopvest. Of je nu gaat hardlopen, hiken of een snelle bergtocht plant – er is een Octane voor jou.

Alle drie de modellen zijn uitgerust met het innovatieve Fusion-reservoir, gelanceerd in 2022 en meteen bekroond met de ISPO Design Award. Daarnaast geniet elk model van het ergonomische Command Center™-harnas voor slimme opbergoplossingen binnen handbereik.

Testbericht: Altra Running Mont Blanc Speed (German)

Artikel von Markus Zinkl

Altra Mont Blanc Speed (190,00 €)

Einleitung

Na, neugierig auf den neuesten Streich von Altra für die Trails? Ich war es definitiv! Der Name "Mont Blanc Speed" weckt ja schon gewisse Erwartungen. Nachdem der Mont Blanc Carbon mit seiner Platte für Furore gesorgt hat, kommt hier also die "Speed"-Version – quasi der kleine Bruder ohne Carbon, aber mit dem Versprechen, trotzdem flott unterwegs zu sein. Ich hab den Schuh für euch unter die Füße genommen und verrate euch, ob er seinem Namen gerecht wird und was er sonst noch so kann.

Rabbit Women's Winter Spring 2025 Apparel Round Up Reviews

 Article by Renee Krusemark and Sally Reiley

Run In Rabbit Winter 2025 Apparel

Renee: Many of The Run in Rabbit winter items are on sale as spring apparel moves into season. The items featured in our review, for me, are more useful during cool temps than during frigid winter one . If you’re looking for on sale items for cool to cold early spring runs, many of the items featured below can be purchased on sale. 

Inov-8 Roclite Pro Mid GTX Review

Article by Matt Kolat

Roclite Pro Mid GTX ($230/£200)

Introduction

Inov8 is a brand I am familiar with ever since I began running. They are one of the ‘forefather’ brands of ‘minimalism’ and for that matter trail run specific shoes which were the ‘it’ running conversation subjects about 15 years ago. 

Since then the brand has grown, becoming a global force in trail running, functional fitness, and road running. Last year I had the pleasure of testing the RoadFly, which turned out to be one of my shoes of the year. 

Needless to say that being a huge hiking enthusiast I got pretty excited to find out that Ino8 were releasing a Gore-Tex hiking boot - the Rocklite Pro Mid GTX. Let’s have a look at what Rocklite has got for us under the bonnet (hood if you’re American). 

Topo Athletic MTN Racer 4 Review

Article by Dominique Winebaum

Topo Athletic MTN Racer 4 ($150)

Introduction

The MTN Racer is positioned as Topo Athletic's high performance longer and faster trail run shoe. While not at a towering stack height or plated, past editions have proven a reliable versatile option for any kind of trail run and hiking.

For this 4th edition, the fit is snugger along with upgrades in the shoelace system and heel counter while retaining Topo’s signature anatomical broad but secure and comfortable toe box and overall fit.  There is  touch more rebound with the inclusion of a new TPU beads FKT insole- which is also water resistant. The stout Vibram Megagrip outsole remains unchanged.

Kane Revive Recovery Shoe Review

Article by Mike Postaski

Kane Recovery Footwear - Revive ($80)

Mike P: I have a few pairs of “Recover” footwear from OOFOS - flip-flops and sandals, but this was my first time trying the Kane brand.  I think the recovery aspect of these products can be a bit oversold, but I don’t see any issue with having a soft and super comfy something to put on your feet after a long workout or run.  

Arc’Teryx Norvan LD 4 GTX Review

Article by Jen Schmidt

Arc’Teryx Norvan LD 4 GTX ($200) 

Introduction

The Norvan LD 4 is Arc’teryx’ long-distance trail shoe, “designed to inspire confidence for mountain training and adventures.” A moderate 29 mm full stack height, moderate-to-firm ride, and adventure-ready Vibram outsole with 4mm lugs deliver on that promise with a shoe that’s most at home on technical terrain. The Gore-Tex version is fully water-resistant and ready for wet, muddy mountain trails this spring.

Altra Mont Blanc Speed Review: 6 Comparisons

Article by Dom Layfield

Altra Mont Blanc Speed ($185)

Introduction

When I reviewed the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon, I noted that it had been many years – almost a decade – since Altra had released a shoe that I wanted to race in.  The excellent Mont Blanc Carbon upended that, and I wore the MBC in several races, including a couple of hundred milers in notably challenging conditions.  From a functional perspective, the MBC has few weak points, but the one big issue is price.  The $260 MSRP is a big chunk of change, and hard to justify since the expensive carbon plate doesn’t provide any discernible propulsive benefit. 

Altra have just released the Mont Blanc Speed, which is almost the same shoe, but with a TPU layer replacing the carbon plate.  The new shoe, at $185, is much more reasonably priced and is actually very slightly lighter than the MBC (267 g vs 273 g in size US M10), although the 2% difference is too slight to be noticeable in practice.  Spoiler alert: When comparing the two shoes, I didn’t notice any loss of performance from the removal of the carbon plate.  

CEP Run Compression Calf Sleeves 4.0 and Women's Compression Run Shorts 4.0 Reviews

Article by Renee Krusemark

CEP Run Compression Calf Sleeves 4.0 and Compression Run Shorts 4.0

Diadora Atomo Star Review: Max Cushion Done Right, Italian Style! 6 Comparisons

Article by Sam Winebaum

Diadora Atomo Star ($240)

Introduction

Made in Italy, the Diadora Atomo Star is a supercritical foam powered more maximal daily trainer. Plush all over. and then some, unlike many in its category, it does not compromise performance or for that matter come in heavy to deliver its comfortable, very energetic ride and versatility. I think of it as a fast, top of the line Italian sports sedan! Let’s get into the details!

Skratch Labs Super High-Carb, Everyday, and Hydration Sport Drink Mixes Reviews

 Article by Mike Postaski

Skratch Hydration Sport Drink Mix

2.91 LB bag - 60 servings (20g per serving) $54.95

The “Hydration” mix slots in as your standard sports drink mix - basically for any type of activity.  You can pretty much tell because they didn’t give it any kind of fancy name.  Out of the three formulations I have been testing, this one has become my go-to on a day-to-day training basis.  I’ve even purchased a couple of extra 3 LB bags to keep me going. 

adidas Adizero Adios 9 Review: 6 Comparisons

Article by Nils Scharff

adidas Adizero Adios 9 (140€)

Introduction

In recent years, trends in the running shoe market have focused heavily on carbon fiber plates and maximum cushioning. Today, there is hardly a shoe for fast running that does not utilize the propulsive power of carbon and approaches or even exceeds the magical 40 mm stack height limit . The adidas Adizero Adios 9 therefore almost seems like a relic from another era. Given its low profile silhouette and relatively low cushioning, the question arises as to whether it still deserves a place in adidas' current product portfolio. Why choose the Adios when you could have the Adios Pro or Takumi Sen?

adidas still seems to believe in the Adios and has given it a major overhaul this year: The midsole has become minimally lower again, the drop has been reduced from 8 to 7mm. But above all, it now consists exclusively of Lightstrike Pro performance foam - both the harder, stabilizing Lightstrike material and the plastic torsion element have disappeared. The upper material was borrowed from the Adios Pro 4 and features its Lightlock technology. The same applies to the outsole, which now largely consists of adidas Lighttraxion material, which was also introduced with the Adios Pro 4. The Adios therefore shares a lot of technology with the €110 more expensive high-end model. In the course of this test report, I will try to find out whether it can perform just as well and where the possible limitations lie.

Testbericht: adidas Adizero Adios 9 - Ich bin (fast) sprachlos! 6 Vergleiche (German)

Article by Nils Scharff

adidas Adizero Adios 9 (140€)

Einleitung

In den letzten Jahren haben sich die Trends im Laufschuhmarkt stark auf Karbonfaserplatten und maximale Dämpfung konzentriert. Heute gibt es kaum noch einen Schuh für schnelles Laufen, der nicht die Vortriebskraft von Karbon nutzt und sich der magischen Grenze von 40 mm Stapelhöhe nähert oder diese sogar überschreitet. Der adidas Adizero Adios 9 wirkt daher fast wie ein Überbleibsel aus einer anderen Ära. Vor dem Hintergrund seiner flachen Silhouette und relativ geringen Dämpfung stellt sich die Frage, ob er nach wie vor einen Platz im aktuellen Produktportfolio von adidas verdient. Warum sollte man sich für den Adios entscheiden, wenn man auch den Adios Pro oder Takumi Sen haben könnte?

adidas scheint nach wie vor an den Adios zu glauben und hat ihn in diesem Jahr stark überarbeitet: Die Mittelsohle ist nochmal minimal flacher geworden, die Sprengung wurde von 8 auf 7mm reduziert. Doch vor allem besteht sie jetzt ausschließlich aus dem Performance-Schaum Lightstrike Pro - sowohl das härtere, stabilisierende Lightstrike Material, als auch das Torsionselement aus Plastik sind verschwunden. Das Obermaterial wurde dem Adios Pro 4 entliehen und verfügt über dessen Lightlock Technologie. Gleiches gilt für die Außensohle, die jetzt zu größten Teilen aus adidas Lighttraxion Material besteht, das ebenfalls mit dem Adios Pro 4 eingeführt wurde. Der Adios teilt sich also einiges an Technologie mit dem 110€ teureren Highend-Modell. Ob er auch genauso gut performen kann und wo die ggfs. vorhandenen Einschränkungen liegen, versuche ich im Laufe dieses Testberichts herauszuarbeiten.