When you live in a place where it's snowy and icy through the winter, traction is one of the prime concerns when you run outside. Between fresh new snow, packed snow, glare ice, and frozen slush, there are lots of way to slip and fall. Depending on the conditions you encounter, there are quite a few different options for staying upright. If you're running on packed snow, such as roads that have just been plowed, or on packed snowmobile tracks, then trail shoes do just fine. If you run in very icy conditions, then somehting like the Kahtoola NANOspikes (https://kahtoola.com/product/nanospikes/), True North Traction Aids (which I reviewed here- http://dadontherun.weebly.com/blog/inexpensive-traction-for-winter-running-due-north-all-purpose-traction-aid), or putting sheet metal screws into the soles or your shoes (which I posted something about here- http://dadontherun.weebly.com/blog/making-winter-running-way-easier-and-safer-for-3) are all good options.
However, if you're running on trails where the snow is a bit deeper, and you need to dig deep for more traction, you won't be able to find a better option than the Kahtoola MICROspikes (https://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/). The nice folks at Kahtoola sent me a pair a few months ago to test, but since we haven't had much snow so far this winter, up until the past week I hadn't been able to use them. Finally, we got a bit of snow, so last weekend I headed up to my favourite local trail loop to try them out. Conditions for testing were perfect- we'd had a couple of inches of snow, which had been trampled down, then it warmed up enough to make the trails wet and slushy, and then got really cold, so the trampled snow was frozen solid, and then some more fresh snow on top of that, so it was very slippery. Regular trail shoes definitely weren't enough to dig through and give the traction I needed, so the MICROspikes got pulled out. The first trial run was with my daughter, so it was a nice easy pace around the loop, just to get a sense of how much traction I could get. I felt very secure- no slipping at all, so I decided to come back again the next morning by myself to try for the Strava Course Record on that loop. Normally, if you're going for a course record, you pick a day when the trails are dry, not mushy and slippery, but I figured what better way to put these things through their paces than to go as hard as I could. The loop has a couple of good climbs- one of them fairly long, with a couple of short, steep sections (18% grade), and with the MICROspikes I had no problem clawing my way up those bits. It also has a couple of steep downhills, with sharp corners in the middle of the descents, which can really test your traction. If you're going downhill fast, try to turn, and lose your traction, you end up in the rhubarb (as they say here in Canada) pretty darn quick. I was able let gravity do its thing, and go as fast as my legs would turn over, and all was good- no issues at all with traction. I ended up taking about 15 seconds off the course record, which I'd set several weeks earlier when the trails were bone dry. I figure that if I could take the CR in those conditions, then that says a lot for this product.
The MICROspikes have a silicon boot sort of thing that slides on over your shoes, and provided you get the correct size, works really well. The ones I have don't feel sloppy, or too tight- you don't really feel them at all.
However, if you're running on trails where the snow is a bit deeper, and you need to dig deep for more traction, you won't be able to find a better option than the Kahtoola MICROspikes (https://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/). The nice folks at Kahtoola sent me a pair a few months ago to test, but since we haven't had much snow so far this winter, up until the past week I hadn't been able to use them. Finally, we got a bit of snow, so last weekend I headed up to my favourite local trail loop to try them out. Conditions for testing were perfect- we'd had a couple of inches of snow, which had been trampled down, then it warmed up enough to make the trails wet and slushy, and then got really cold, so the trampled snow was frozen solid, and then some more fresh snow on top of that, so it was very slippery. Regular trail shoes definitely weren't enough to dig through and give the traction I needed, so the MICROspikes got pulled out. The first trial run was with my daughter, so it was a nice easy pace around the loop, just to get a sense of how much traction I could get. I felt very secure- no slipping at all, so I decided to come back again the next morning by myself to try for the Strava Course Record on that loop. Normally, if you're going for a course record, you pick a day when the trails are dry, not mushy and slippery, but I figured what better way to put these things through their paces than to go as hard as I could. The loop has a couple of good climbs- one of them fairly long, with a couple of short, steep sections (18% grade), and with the MICROspikes I had no problem clawing my way up those bits. It also has a couple of steep downhills, with sharp corners in the middle of the descents, which can really test your traction. If you're going downhill fast, try to turn, and lose your traction, you end up in the rhubarb (as they say here in Canada) pretty darn quick. I was able let gravity do its thing, and go as fast as my legs would turn over, and all was good- no issues at all with traction. I ended up taking about 15 seconds off the course record, which I'd set several weeks earlier when the trails were bone dry. I figure that if I could take the CR in those conditions, then that says a lot for this product.
The MICROspikes have a silicon boot sort of thing that slides on over your shoes, and provided you get the correct size, works really well. The ones I have don't feel sloppy, or too tight- you don't really feel them at all.
The traction is provided by a series of interconnected chains and spikes. Each spike has a depth of 19 mm (.75") and the weight is 180g (6.3 ozs) each.
One thing to note about these- you'd really want to use them in conditions where there is a fair amount of snow or slop under foot. Because of the size of the spikes, they don't really feel great if you hit bare pavement or glare ice, and I've heard of some people experiencing broken spikes if they come to a section of road and run across it at regular pace. I want mine to last, so I'll be careful with that.
In summary, if you need mega traction in your arsenal of winter running gear, then Kahtoola MICROspikes are the way to go.
In summary, if you need mega traction in your arsenal of winter running gear, then Kahtoola MICROspikes are the way to go.