Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > LOWA Lynnox Lowcut Trail Shoes > Test Report by Kathleen Waters

LOWA LENOX TRAIL SHOES
TEST SERIES BY KATHLEEN WATERS
LONG-TERM REPORT

INITIAL REPORT - June 09, 2019
FIELD REPORT - August 24, 2019
LONG TERM REPORT - October 29, 2019

TESTER INFORMATION

Living in Colorado and being self-employed, I have ample opportunities to backpack. There are over 700,000 acres/280,000 hectares of public land bordering my 71-acre/29-hectare "backyard" in addition to all the other gorgeous locations which abound in Colorado. Over the past 15 years, my husband John and I have also had the good fortune to hike/snowshoe glaciers, rain forests, mountains and deserts in exotic locations, including New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Slovenia and Death Valley. My hiking style is comfortable, aiming for lightweight. I use a tent (rainfly if needed). Current pack averages 25 lb (11 kg) excluding food and water.

INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: LOWA Boots, LLC, division of Tecnica Group, S.p.A. Year of Manufacture: 2019 Manufacturer's Website: http://www.lowaboots.com MSRP: $195.00 Listed Weight: 1.3 lb (600 g) Measured Weight: 1 lb 6 oz (624 g) pair of women's US 8 Sizes Available: 5.5 - 11 Women's US (women's EU) Size Tested: 8 women's US (6 women's UK & 39.5 women's EU) Colors Available: Blue/Rose, Black/Nude, WineRed/Mandarine Color Tested: Blue/Rose Other details: * Upper Material: Seamless Synthetic * Lining: GORE-TEX * Insole: ATC Climate Control Footbed * Midsole: Double Injection DynaPU with shock absorbing zones * Sole: LOWA Trail Trac * LOWA boots are warranted to be free from defects in workmanship and materials for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. * Made in Slovakia

Picture Copywrite LOWA

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

LOWA Lynnox' Tops and Bottoms

The LOWA Lynnox GTX shoes are an attractive pair of trail shoes! Initially, I thought they looked more like a "life-style" pair of cross-trainer type of shoe than a "real" trail shoe. The blue/gray upper sports a rather jazzy print with traditional lacing featuring fabric loops and a thin set of laces. The uppers are seamless and of a synthetic material.

The sole of the Lynnox is WHITE! (Let's see how long that lasts!) and at first glance, appears to be almost a zero-drop construction. The heel drop is actually 10 mm/0.39 in. (Heel drop is the difference between how high the shoe is in the forefoot vs. the heel.) The lugs are shallow and fairly widely spaced. The sole construction uses a proprietary material LOWA calls "Trail Trac".

Double Injection DynaPU with shock absorbing zones

LOWA uses a double injected PU (a special polyurethane (PU) foam material) midsole under the arch and under the heel of the Lynnox along with LOWA's trademarked MONOWRAP Stability Frame, a three-dimensional design of the midsole, for support. The frame, like the rest of the sole, is made of polyurethane.

The lining of the Lynnox trail shoes is GORE-TEX for waterproofing and has an ATC Climate Control Footbed.

LOWA Lynnox from Heel to Toe

A generous toe rand covers the front of the shoes for those inevitable "trips" and the heel is topped with a pull-loop that is an extension of a reflective fabric stripe.

I found no material defects in the Lynnox trail shoes. No loose threads, scuffs or blemish. They appear to be of high quality and they look good, good!

I'm very excited to be a part of this field evaluation!

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

According to a small booklet included with the Lynnox shoes, the usual caveats apply.

Keep the shoes as dry as possible; airing them out by opening up the laces and removing the insoles after wearing. Do not put the shoes on a radiator to dry or too near an oven. Don't leave the shoes on the back window shelf of a car or truck or in the trunk/boot of the car or truck.

Clean very dirty shoes with a brush and warm water.

Lastly, while the shoes do not need any initial treatment, it is advisable to "refresh the impregnation" periodically. I'm not sure what that means, but I will find out!

TRYING IT OUT

Putting the Lynnox shoes on for the first time, I immediately thought "these feel more like slippers than trail shoes!" I had just come back home from a 2-mile (3.2 km) walk down my very rutted, hard-packed, twisty-turny, up-and-down road. While my feet weren't hurting at all, the trail shoes I was wearing are rather stiff compared to the Lynnox and my feet definitely appreciated the initial flexibility.

Actually, the Lynnox felt so flexible that I was worried they might be too big for me and perhaps I needed a smaller size. However, once I tightened the laces (a lot), stood up and walked around my office, I concluded the Lynnox fit just fine - there is enough room in the toe box but not too much room and with the laces adjusted tightly, my heels are snugly secure.

The left shoe feels a little bit "odd" at the ball of my foot, like it's a bit higher than it should be. That may be just a quirk of my foot as I had a "dancing" mishap with a horse a while back and broke a toe or two. It remains to be seen if this becomes an issue.

For now, all is good and I can't wait to get outside in my new LOWA Lynnox trail shoes!

SUMMARY

I love shoes. Cowboy boots. Hiking boots. Trail shoes. Dress shoes. Flips. Slippers. You name it! So whenever I get a chance to try out a new pair of hiking boots or trail shoes, I get very excited. I also walk and hike a lot so I wear out "outdoor" shoes rather quickly.

I have never had a pair of LOWA brand shoes but my husband has and he is a fan! So, I have high hopes for the LOWA Lynnox GTX Lo Ws Trail Shoes. Bring on Summer!

FIELD REPORT

FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

It has been stinking hot this summer! Since I am a cold-weather-preferred sort of backpacker, I didn't do any long backpacking trips at all. I did daily (very early morning) hikes over our rutted dirt road which were about 4 miles (6.4 km) in length.

Otherwise, over the last two months, my one and only weeklong camping trip was a Fourth of July holiday base camp for fishing at Lake Pueblo State Park in Pueblo (El Paso County), Colorado.

Temperatures ranged from 54 F (12 C) at night to a high of 97 F (36 C) during the daytime. It was mostly sunny in the mornings with super strong winds and clouds in the afternoons and early evenings. We had a couple of rain showers in the afternoon and one very spectacular lightning storm one night!

Since we were in an established campground, the terrain was groomed but the fields were covered in prickly pear cactus and sharp yucca plants. The shore line of Lake Pueblo was very rocky at our campsite.

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

I have found the Lynnox shoes to be very comfortable to wear. They are lightweight and breathe well. They are quite a change from most of my other hiking footwear. That's good and not-so-good.

On the good side, the Lynnox add very little weight to my feet which makes for way less leg fatigue at the end of the day. I hardly know I'm wearing shoes at all - they feel like slippers. This is really nice when going longer distances. With some of my more bulky boots, I can feel each ounce as I plod along!

Along with the lightness of the Lynnox is the breathability of the uppers. This has been a great asset this summer as it's been super hot and the slightest bit of exertion has had me sweating. I really appreciate that the Lynnox have kept my feet cooler than other footwear I hike in. I have never taken off the Lynnox and found my socks (usually merino wool) soaked in perspiration. And the insoles dry out quickly when I remove them from the shoes at night.

I found the fit of the Lynnox to have stayed true throughout these past two months. There hasn't been any over-stretching and while they hug my feet nicely, I think they do allow for that bit of late-afternoon swelling I sometimes get in the forefoot area. And I'm not desperate to get them off at the end of the day.

The only negative aspect of the Lynnox - for me - is that they don't provide enough stability on "iffy" terrain. I am on the clumsy side and I really need extra help from my footwear to not trip over every little rock, tree root, my own two feet! The Lynnox are a bit too flexible for badly-maintained trails, bushwhacking and heavy backpacks that inherently make me wobbly. I stumbled and flirted with twisted ankles a couple times before I reluctantly deemed the Lynnox "day-hikers/casual wear" shoes.

SUMMARY

While I've decided the Lynnox shoes are not my favorites for long-overnight backpacking, I am pretty happy with them for day-to-day wear and for day hikes. I will be taking them (they are already packed!) on my trip next week to Alaska and they will be my primary footwear for the 10 days that I will be in Alaska. I will only change-up if I have to for some unknown reason.

LONG-TERM REPORT

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

Over the last couple of months since my last report, I have continued to wear the LOWA Lynnox Trail Shoes pretty much every other day. When I am not constricted by storage limitations, I always trade off my footwear each day. So, I've worn the Lynnox approximately 30 -40 days putting on an average of 4 miles (6.4 km) daily.

While at home in south central Colorado, I hike rutted dirt roads, semi-groomed bike/hike trails, a nicely-groomed Riverwalk and in the course of daily errands and life, concrete sidewalks and blacktop roads.

Elevations range from 5k feet (1500 m) to 7k feet (2100 m) and the weather has been exceptional hot all through September and October. Highs have been over 100 F (38 C) on several day hikes. Low temperatures were generally 20-30 F degrees (11-17 C) lower.

I did wear the Lynnox on two different out-of-town locations: a 10-day trip to Alaska where we did sightseeing and hiked several long dayhikes, and a weeklong visit to Breckenridge, Colorado, where we dayhiked 4 days of the 7.

In Alaska, we hiked established - not necessarily groomed (!) trails at altitudes between sea level to a couple thousand feet (610 m). There were a couple of boulder climbs and glacier-trekking as well.

The weather was drizzly to rainy a lot of the time with temperatures from a lovely 50-ish F (10-ish C) to 40-ish F (4.4 C).

In Breckenridge, CO, most of my hiking was on old mining roads which are now trails, so while the paths were wide, they are not overly-maintained - very rough and steep. Breckenridge downtown is situated at 9600 feet (2900 m), so all hikes started at least that high and our highest summit was Bald Mountain (Mt. Baldy) at 13,690 feet (4170 m).
We had great weather, including the 6 inches (15 cm) of snow one day! Temperatures during the day never topped 45 F (7 C).

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

The LOWA Lynnox Trail Shoes continue to be super comfortable shoes. They are lightweight and breathable. I've never had a blister or hot spot from rubbing around my toes or ankle.

But, for me, they are just not my kind of shoe for hard or long hikes or overnight backpack loads.

I have had a lot of trouble with my feet twisting and slipping on iffy terrain. For me, there is not enough stiffness in the mid-foot uppers. And if I tie the laces more tightly to compensate, I get soreness on the top of my foot.

I found that I had to be even more careful than usual (and I am usually very careful!) when hiking on un-groomed trails, rocks and boulders. Several times, I had sore ankles at the end of the day.

However, these shoes are stellar on groomed trails and for casual wear! AND, with their Gore-Tex lining, they are perfect for keeping my feet dry in lousy weather and in puddles and stream crossings. Not once did I ever have wet feet and when in Alaska, I crossed lots of shallow streams and walked in boggy water as well. Love that!

Scrambling up to Worthington Glacier - Alaska

Boggy Trail in St. Elias-Wrangell NP

The outsoles, while not heavily-treaded, never slipped, even on the snow-covered sidewalks in downtown Breckenridge.

After many, many miles, the Lynnox Trail Shoes are still in pretty good condition. There are no visible seam separations, worn spots, frayed shoelaces, overly-worn soles, etc. The original factory insoles have not broken down.

Throughout the test period, I've worn the Lynnox Trails Shoes with both lightweight and heavyweight wool socks.

The only care I've given them is an every other day rest period and I do remove the insoles after each wearing so they can "air out".

STARRING ATTRACTIONS

1,) Super lightweight and comfortable to wear.
2.) Great at keeping my feet dry in wet conditions.
3,) Attractive design and styling so they can be worn casually as well as on the trail.

(MINOR) DISTRACTIONS

1.) For me, they are not supportive enough through the mid-foot on rocky trails or with heavy (overnights) backpack loads.
2.) Laces slip a bit while hiking and need tightening at times on the trail. I prefer flat laces to round.

SUMMARY

I will definitely continue to wear the LOWA Lynnox Trail Shoes often when I am walking casually, hiking on groomed to semi-groomed trails and participating in other outdoor activities. I like that I don't have to worry about wet weather, too and I love the cute graphics on the uppers. For now though, I have them cleaned up and stored for the winter. We just got 5 inches (13 cm) of snow yesterday with 5 (13 cm) on the way! Time for my mid-height boots! Thank you to and LOWA for the chance to try these snazzy shoes out. Kathleen (Kathy) Waters Co-Owner and Contributing Writer BackpackGearTest.org

Walking on - er - through water in Alaska

Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > LOWA Lynnox Lowcut Trail Shoes > Test Report by Kathleen Waters