Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Asolo Fulcrum Hiking Shoe > Owner Review by Edwin L. Morse

Owner Review

I started backpacking in 1979, with two weeks in northern Michigan. My gear was cheap and sometimes painfully heavy. Starting pack weight was just over 70 lb (32 kg), with food but no water. Since the first trip I have backpacked in Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. After about 12 years I started slowly reducing my pack weight. The last trip in New Hampshire my pack, including food and water, was 35 lb (16 kg) for a week. Amazing what a change of attitude can do. Slowly obtaining lighter gear. I only know what works by trial and error.

Product Information 

 
Picture copied from the Asolo website.

I’m not sure what all this means. The upper is a combination of suede leather over manmade material. The leather material would seem to give better protection from rocks in the trail than trail runners. The soles are Vibram. While these soles are stiffer than trail runners, they are much more flexible than my heavy hiking boots. These are nearly as flexible the way the foot should bend as trail runners I use. On the other hand, they are much more difficult to twist. That is if I hold the shoe by the front in one hand and the heel in the other hand and twist in opposite directions they are much more stiff than trail runners.  According to the outfitter where I bought them hiking shoes have an extra stiffening layer which is not used in trail runners.

I've been wearing trail runner shoes for about 9 years, after many years of full grain leather hiking boots. I decided to try light weight hiking shoes after a meeting of our local hiking club where the owner of the local backpacking store reviewed his gear with emphasis on shoes. I went back a week later planning to buy shoes. We spent nearly 2 hours trying on different models and brands. I can be hard to fit. The Asolo Fulcrums were the ones that fit, after he noticed that I had Superfeet insoles in my old trail runners, and put the same in the new ones I was trying. I bought the shoes a half size larger than the outfitter recommended. I like to wear heavy socks and when conditions get wet I will wear liner socks under Sealskins.

I've had these shoes about 3 months now. I am generally out 3 or 4 times a week doing day hikes, covering 8 miles (13 km) to 15 miles (24 km) each time. My hikes are both on and off trail, lately in the hilly and mostly sandy areas of NW Lower Michigan. I hike for exercise, sometimes going all day as fast as I can manage, or off trail, looking for mushrooms or wild flowers, or testing gear to see what works for me. I've tried to wear these shoes as hard as I can for this area and the weather we've had this spring. I have planned routes over as many hills as possible, both on trail and off. Partly this has been to see how the shoes work for me and partly to get my body in better hiking condition. I am looking for comparisons and differences with both my heavy hiking boots and my trail runners.

The Asolo Fulcrums have a stiffer sole than any trail runners I've used. They appear to be narrower than the Brooks trail runners. Actually the sole is 0.9 inch (2.29 cm) narrower when measured at the widest part. The Fulcrum at 459 g (16.2 oz) is slightly heavier than the Brooks trail runners at 448 g (15.8 oz). Just for comparison, on the other side of the spectrum, my full leather Goretex lined Zamberlan hiking boots each weigh 31.1 oz (882 gr).

I do feel more "in control" with the Fulcrums than with trail runners when hiking on side hill trails with too much out slope. The Vibram soles don't have the deep lugs that my heavy leather boots do, but they still provide good grip and good control on side hill trails.

Our local land conservancy is developing hiking/biking trails on land near Lake Michigan. This is very hilly area forested with oak, maple and beech. The trail is laid out as much as possible on sides of the hills. I recently hiked the 30 miles (48 km) in two day hikes. The first day I used the Fulcrum hiking shoes. These shoes did fine on the 3 miles of already built trail. I continued for about another 10 miles (16 km) following ribbons marking the proposed trail along side hills. Just as with trail runners, off trail hiking is OK and doable if I am careful where and how I put my feet down. My feet were tired when I got back home but no sores or blisters.

I don’t take any special care of the shoes. I just brush off the dirt and let them get dry. There is very little wear apparent. The low lugs might be slightly more rounded than when new. Most of my hiking this spring has been on sandy trails or off trail through oak leaf covered ground. 

Here is a picture of my Asolos after my last hike.

I have probably hiked over 300 miles (483 km) with the Fulcrums by now, on both wet and dry trails, and wet and dry oak leaf-covered hills off trails. My day pack has been intentionally heavy, about 25 lb (11.3 Kg). I have not hiked yet in rain wet green vegetation so I don’t know how quickly the leather will soak through.

Summary

1. Durable, stands up well to my hiking, with no visible signs of wear.
2. Comfortable for all day walking.
3. Good foot control - they stay where I put them.
 

Things I don't like:

1. On sandy trails I get sand inside. Low gaiters help with this problem.
2. Going down hills my toes are against the shoe if I forget to tighten the laces before starting down.
3. The tongue is not attached full length. If it were, I think very little sand and trail debris would get inside.

Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Asolo Fulcrum Hiking Shoe > Owner Review by Edwin L. Morse