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A combination of gift cards, REI dividends and coupons gave me $207 to spend, so I went for the $220 adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra. I would never have paid full price! But I've been curious about trail super shoes, so I gave these a try after reading many, many reviews on a variety of trail super shoes.
I wore them three times (not on trails):
Immediately, what I loved was the natural toe-off that the rocker provides. They are cushioned, responsive and stiff, perfect for strides and speed work. However, the deal breaker was the very hard, plastic-feeling heel collar that dug into my outer ankle bones. I prefer a soft, comfortable, barely noticeable heel collar like the Topo Mountain Racer.
Furthermore, when I raced the Summit in them, my mind was on the shoe the entire time. I was unsure whether I had purchased the correct size, but the race proved I had not. My normal size of 7.5 was too big in the midfoot. I was slipping around in them and couldn't take my mind off the shoes. I knew it was a risk to wear something like this on a paved surface race, but I knew it would help me make up my mind about whether or not to take them on trails or to return them.
Around the same time, I listened to the Hobby Jogger podcast episode with Casey, Jeremy and Rob reviewing this shoe and the Hoka Tecton X3. It convinced me to not take them on the technical trails (especially the LHHT!) in my area because of Rob and Casey's ankle rolling experiences. Jeremy did not have the same view as Rob and Casey and really likes the shoe. By this time, though, the heel collar was bothering me too much to consider keeping them.
All in all, it was fun giving something so different from my typical trail shoe rotation a try, but they are not for me. Luckily, I am able to return them easily!
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