Inov-8 OROC 280 Demo

Earlier this week Greg, Erik, Peter and I ventured out for an early morning run on the BoSho trail. The previous day had been sunny and warm, and the overnight temperature had barely dropped below freezing resulting in conditions that were downright treacherous. Anticipating a slip and slide run we all showed up with what we thought would be the ideal footwear; I in my Hardrocks with sheet metal screws, Erik in YakTrax, Greg in a pair of Altra Lone Peaks, and Peter in the new Inov-8 OROC 280s

We all watched in amazement as Peter negotiated the ice and snow better than all of us. Attributing his grace, briskness and ability to remain upright solely to his shoes – I asked if I could borrow the OROCs…

Today I gave the shoes a demo. I first started out with several ½ mile loops around the snow-packed and glazed road in my subdivision. The carbide steel spikes provided just the right amount of traction to both climb without slipping and run downhill with confidence.

Then it was off to the Solitude Nordic Center snowshoe trail where the deep lugs performed admirably in the soft snow. The OROC 280s are an amazing snow shoe. Better on snow and ice than anything I have run in before. Curious as to how they would perform on asphalt I decided to try running a bit on the road. As I might have expected, they felt like the footwear equivalent of driving on the freeway at 75 mph with studded snow tires – sloppy, washy and noisy. Hey, but these are designed for snow and ice – not asphalt.

I found the uppers comfortable, I liked the material choice for the laces (more of a cord than a lace so they don’t freeze up), and found the 6mm drop to be just right for me. And, they are a cool looking shoe! Run in the snow a lot? Consider a pair of the OROC-280s for your shoe quiver - I am....