High Sierra Topix

With many estimates of hiking shoe lifespan in the hundreds of miles, I want to make sure my expectations aren't unreasonable.

I bought a pair in April, it's now August and I've got about 100 miles on them. The insoles are done - flattened, and the soles are very warn - most of the lugs towards the front are worn off.

I'm not an extreme hiker, I hike almost every weekend in the 5-10 mile range, typical trails. I feel like the performance of these shoes has been less than stellar, but perhaps I'm not being reasonable.

Any opinions?

thanks,
-Matt

Yeah trail running shoes wear out fast, boots are more durable. But the terrain you hike & your weight matter as well.

I'm currently running in Solomon Sense Ride 1.0's, which you can get pretty cheaply now since they've come out with the 2.0 version. But they only last one season, I'm not sure I'd recommend them. My Addidas Terrex shoes are more durable, but the tougher & more durable rubber gives me blisters on runs >10 miles.

My pair of boots are 4 years old, and other than a shoe goo repair to re-stick the sole, they've been great.

I follow several PCT hiker vlogs. Most of them use after market insoles and replace shoes every 500-700 miles.

Insoles are a must.

You should be getting a lot more from your trail hikers than 100 miles, especially staying on trails and hiking low daily averages, at least 300-400 miles.
Most of newer performance trail runners, especially the ones geared for scrambling or high mileage hiking have harder rubber compound for there out- soles, the lugs shouldn't even be showing much wear from trail hiking 100 miles. Some companies also put decent insoles into their shoes (La Sportiva), others need to be swapped out for some better ones, according to your needs (arch support).
Average pair of shoes used during PCT thru-hikers was 4, so 100 miles ain't giving you your money's worth, try some different shoes, like La Sportiva, Altra, The North Face, Merrell, and Salomon for example, but there are many more good companies to choose from.

Be careful of using running shoes and certain brands that are primarily running focused. I've moved away from several brands (NB for instance) for that reason - they simply don't last. Go with Trail Runners. I'm repeatedly getting 500 mi or so from Saucony TR's.

I rarely get more than one season out of a pair of hiking shoes...and they wear exactly as you suggest. For me, one season is usually around 20+ miles, half of which is backpacking, the rest is day hiking. 100 miles seems low...

My trailrunners wear out fast too, but they get a lot more than just trail miles. They also get lots of urban wear on concrete which takes a toll on the soles as well. My issue with the worn soles is no traction on hardback with a gravelly top on the downhill. Just like trying to walking on ball bearings.

Thanks all for your input. These were hiking shoes, not trail runners, but I feel the mileage was low, and I'll have to look for another brand.

-Matt

The softer rubber on the sole, the faster they wear out. I suspect your shoe had what is called "sticky" rubber, which is great for technical climbing but not good for miles of backpacking. Pay attention to the brand name and model of the sole. You may be able to look it up on the internet and see if it is intended for long wear or is "sticky" rubber. I prefer "Vibram". Merell just changed to their own brand (cheaper)- have also really gone downhill since bought out by New Balance.

I usually replace the innersole with "Superfeet" so the original inner sole is not that important to me. My problem with shoes is that the stitching blows out due to lots of off-trail in talus and sharp rocks.