But they are not Brooks

For at least the past 5 or 6 years I've worn nothing but Brooks. I've been known as that Brooks guy. For 2 years I was in their sponsored runner program. I am still part of one of their new corporate programs.

But for some reason I am really being drawn towards a non-Brooks shoe. I have not bought them yet because I am afraid of our local Brooks Guru (Brooks tech rep). She is small, but vicious.

I'm thinking of the NM Minimus Trail.

Should I buy the shoes and risk the wrath?

If I can bring myself to buy a pair of Brooks, you can branch out as well.

There's a whole new world of shoes to discover.

I went from Nike, to brooks, to Saucony, to Asics to Mizuno. I would say Nike was my least favorite brand. I have asics speedstars 3 (No longer available) and the Mizuno Ronin 2's to be the best of the bunch. Also did like the Saucony Sinisters.

So free your mind!

Jim Lentz wrote:There's a whole new world of shoes to discover.

Good stuff, Jim!

Jim Lentz wrote:There's a whole new world of shoes to discover.

I tried a bunch of different brands when I started running. Really didn't care for Nike and some others felt too narrow. I landed on Brooks back then and stuck with them for supporting the Hansons team. When I moved out to Denver, the Brooks Rep really took care of me. Brooks has treated me well over the years, which is awesome since I just an old, fat, slow guy.

Some new shoes look interesting. I'd like to try out the Kinvara 2s too.

But it really comes down to being afraid of my local Brooks tech rep.

(That being said, I'll run out at lunch and buy the Minimus Trail)

I will say that I am very excited about the new line of running shoes coming in October from Brooks. The Pure Project is going to rock.

Wow Tim in something else other then Brooks!

I know how you feel though I love racing in my now T7's great shoe!

Wait... so Tim strongly advocates the Cascadia from Brooks, then goes out and buys a Minimus Trail?

Mark B wrote:Wait... so Tim strongly advocates the Cascadia from Brooks, then goes out and buys a Minimus Trail?

That's Tim for you, always keeping us on our toes!

Mark B wrote:Wait... so Tim strongly advocates the Cascadia from Brooks, then goes out and buys a Minimus Trail?

For rocky terrain, nothing beats the Brooks Cascadia 6 (at least until the Cascadia 7 is released).

But a lot of trails around here are pretty smooth, so a more minimal approach is warranted. I would just buy the Brooks PureGrit shoe, but it is not out until October - and there is a lot of running time between.

Ok, I went and picked up the NB Minimus Trail shoes at lunch. I will do my best to hide them from the Brooks Guru.

Let us know how you like the trail Minimus! I'm trying to decide now between a pair of those, and Inov-8 Bare Grips

Neil Ruggiero wrote:Let us know how you like the trail Minimus! I'm trying to decide now between a pair of those, and Inov-8 Bare Grips

Wow, the lugs on those Inov-8's looks like it would hurt to run on.

Ya those lugs are pretty aggressive . My main question about them though is how grippy the rubber is. There's a few sections of trail that I'll be running on regularly that are primarily rock. Dunno how those are gonna hold up to something like that, but we'll see.

Tony Krupicka helped design the Minimus Trail and he is a stud out here. The Inov-8 team does not look like much. So, just on that, I'd go with Tony's NB shoe.

Ya Anton is amazing, that's whats drawing my towards these. If he can run the way he does in them, I'm sure they'll be able to handle any surface I come across.

Only thing holding my back is that I can get the Inov-8's for really cheap.

speaking of Brooks shoes, Tim - you can tell your rep that I love, love, love the Launch. Not sure what it is about the shoe, but I find that I put more mileage on it than my Defyances. Not sure if i just lift my feet better with the lighter shoe, but they are truly great to me.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:speaking of Brooks shoes, Tim - you can tell your rep that I love, love, love the Launch. Not sure what it is about the shoe, but I find that I put more mileage on it than my Defyances. Not sure if i just lift my feet better with the lighter shoe, but they are truly great to me.

The Launch is my favorite ever shoe and I am most definitely NOT a Brooks person. But I do love running regularly in that particular shoe more than any I've ever worn.

I say go for it...It never hurts to try something new. Plus, you can always go back to Brooks if you do not like them.