Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc@hotmail.com
City, State, Country: Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.

Backpacking Background:
I have been camping and backpacking for about 16 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the BSA and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I currently live near Washington D.C. and have made the mid-Atlantic mountains my playground. My shelter type varies by season; in the summer, I use a hammock or stay in lean-to type shelters, and as it gets colder I carry a lightweight two-person tent that I generally use just for me. The rest of my gear is lightweight, but I will carry most anything as long as I have a use for it. In addition to backpacking, I am also an avid trail runner and train and run ultra distance trail races.

Product Information:
Manufacturer: Saucony
Model: Grid Xterra (not currently made, but can be found at online stores) Closest model is the Saucony Grid Chebacco.
Size: Men's 9 US/42.5 EUR
Year of Manufacture: 2003 is the year that I bought them
URL:www.saucony.com
Measured weight:
R shoe: 11 oz (298 g)
L shoe: 10.5 oz (312 g)
Total: 21.5 oz (610 g)
MSRP: unknown

Product Description:
The Saucony Grid Xterra is a light weight trail running shoe. The upper is a mixture of cloth and leather with a small rubber toe protector. The rubber tread is a mixture of aggressive triangles that grip the running surface and shock absorbing circles.

Summary:
These were one of my favorite pairs of shoes. I have used them for numerous hiking, trail running and road running excursions. They are nice and roomy and breathed well. My main complaint is the durability of the shoes; they developed holes on the inside and outside edges where the toes bend that eventually made them unusable.

Field Information:
The shoes were worn over the past two years in all types of conditions: rain, snow, sunshine, muddy; whatever the condition was the shoes experienced it. I wore these shoes on pavement, the typical forest trails found in Cedarville State Forest in Southern Maryland (forest duff, gravel, tree roots and mud), and on the rocky, rough trails of Shenandoah National Park, and the Appalachian Trail in Northern and Central Virginia. Temperatures experienced ranged from 90+ F (32 C) to 20 F (-7 C). The shoes were worn during the 2004 Richmond Marathon (26.2 miles/ 42 km) as well as other smaller races. My backpacking weight is generally about 35 pounds (15.8 kg) for a week long trip and my trail running weight is generally less than 5 pounds (2.27 kg). I was able put 200 miles (322 km) on the shoes before they were unusable.

Review:
A couple of years ago, I was bit by the lightweight backpacking and trail running bug. One of the main themes to both was wearing lightweight trail running shoes instead of boots. My wife claims that I am attracted to ugly footwear. When I saw these I was in love!

The main thing that I look for when buying shoes is fit. If they don't feel perfect when I put them on, I won't buy them. These shoes were perfect right out of the box. There was plenty of room for my toes in the toe box, and the arch support hit in the perfect spot. Additionally, I found that I could tie the shoes tightly and not cause pain on the top of my foot as happens when I tie other shoes tight.

The shoes look and feel like normal running shoes. They are light and flexible, and required no break in time. The thickness of the sole on the shoes doesn't appear any different than other running shoes. The only difference that I can see is the aggressiveness of the tread compared to typical running shoes. The flexibility and thinness of the tread is not always a blessing though. When I have hiked in some really rocky places, I could definitely feel the sharp edges and points of the rocks through the soles of the shoes. In my opinion, a small price to pay for not having to wear boots though.

Since this shoe is made of cloth and leather it offers no resistance to water. They are quickly soaked when walking in rain, dewy grass or in steam crossings. The opposite to a lack of waterproofness though is great breatheability. My feet stayed comfortable during the spring, summer, and fall. Winter is the only time that my feet weren't super comfortable because the cold penetrated the cloth and leather upper of the shoes. I usually compensated for this by wearing a liner sock.

Since this is a typical trail shoe it is low cut around the ankle and trail debris can easily get in. I countered this by wearing a pair of low cut gaiters that easily fit on the shoe and kept out the debris.

I found that the shoe tread performed well on the trail. I did not have any concerns about running/hiking in muddy or wet conditions. As always I took a little extra care when on slick rocks and such, but never fell because of a lack of tread on the shoes. The tread was still in good shape after 200 miles (322 km) but I couldn't keep using them because…

They began developing small pinholes on the outside and inside edge of the toe bend around 100 miles (161 km). The holes just continued to grow over the next 100 miles (161 km) until they were about the size of a quarter. At this point I decided the extra ventilation was too much and had to part with the shoes.

PRO's
Great fit - roomy toebox, good arch fit
Bright Yellow Color
Durable tread

CON's
Non Durable upper
Can feel jagged rock edges and points through the sole

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Read more gear reviews by Jason Boyle

Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Saucony Grid Xterra Trail running shoes > Owner Review by Jason Boyle