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  1. #1
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    Default Salomon Speedcross Which?

    Heya, I'm planning a thru either 2017 or 2018 depending on school. I love Salomon shoes and have decided on the Speedcross, but can't decide whether or not to get Gore-tex. There's also the option of the CS. What would you choose?

    TL;DR Gore-tex or nah?

  2. #2
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Default

    Gore-Tex. Not. I bought Ultra Raptors because they were available without Gore-Tex.
    If you're not hiking until 2017 or 2018 new models will be on the market. If you buy shoes now and like them, stock up. They may not be around when you start hiking.
    Wayne


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  3. #3
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    Default

    I would initialy say no to the Goretex. I hike in the X-Ultra Goretx, but only when I'm out for 2-3 days or so.

    A note about the Speedcross- the toe box is really small compared to Salomon's other hiking shoes. I could wear mine for only a couple of hours until my toes started going numb. Sold them and got a different model.
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
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  4. #4
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    No goretex- those seem to stay wet on the inside for longer.

  5. #5

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    I can tell you my experience with speed crosses. I have worn out 3 pair of the 3's. I originally went to them as I was transferring out of boots. I got them because they were light and looks cool! First pair, worked pretty well. Second, started getting foot issues and the 3rd I could only wear about 30 miles before they absolutely wore my feet out. I started wearing my crocs for the remainder of trips and have now worn my crocs on the AT for about 120 miles. After posting on here of how much I loved backpacking in my crocs it was decided that although in good conditions the crocs were fine, in poor conditions they would not be. Thus I have gone to Altra lone peaks and I am completely happy with them. Awesome shoes that fit my toes.

    Background on speed crosses...I spoke with a shoe specialist down in Georgia that sees hundreds of thru hikers a year come in after 50 miles on the trail and their shoes have destroyed their feet. He said that the most common shoe he sees, and the most ill fitted shoe is the speedcross. "This shoe was designed to fit a little ultra marathon runner down in south America that is a really popular in the running world. Salomon took the design and marketed it to the public and people love its look." is what he told me. "If 100 people walk into my store during their thru hike wearing speedcross, about 5-7 walk out still wearing them, solving their foot issues in another way. The shoe comes down to a point like high heels, and our feet are not shaped like that, they will wear your little toe, and the ball of the big toe OUT!" - - And I started recalling back to the evenings of pulling my speed crosses off and absolutely hating them.

    After providing this information, and long story, here are my suggestions

    1- Don't get Gortex
    2-Dont get speedcrosses (or really Salomons in general as I experienced very poor customer service)
    3-If you must get speed crosses, get them at least a size larger, if not 1.5 larger. They run very tight to the foot, almost like a sock and for the short time of running this may be fine but for backpacking, your feet will swell and thus causing foot issues.

    While on the subject of feet. I match my Altra Lone Peaks with Smartwool; PHD socks. With the addition of some lueki tape (An old hiking buddy turned me onto), I never have issues.

    I have been curious as to how human skin/ feet would react to mushers secret. I used it on my dogs blisters last weekend and he was like a brand new dog. Sorry for deriving.
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  6. #6

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    I personally love my Salomon Speedcross TR for backpacking but I also have very slender feet and they are the only ones I have found comfortable enough after multiple days and haven't caused me blisters. I understand they are not for most people, but they work best for my feet when compared with other TR out there

  7. #7
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    Default

    big no on gore-tex. You will have many wet days where you want your shoes to dry out as fast as possible (you will still get wet even if they're waterproof) and goretex wont allow that. Also probably not a good idea to stock up on one kind of shoes if you've never done long distance hiking day after day. Your feet change, and you may find that the shoes actually suck and hurt your feet after hiking 20 miles every day. If that happens, you will have a bunch of shoes you dont wanna wear, and lots of wasted money.

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