La Sportiva C-lite 2.0

I bought this shoe for trail running and as a possible hiker. I like the idea of the sheath over the laces, however when it comes to re-lacing, you may have troubles. I have narrow feet so I usually buy LaSportiva as they are a superb shoe maker. I initially bought this shoe a size over my normal, as I usually do, to account for swelling, and for a little extra room in the toe box. I loved them while on flat and uphill terrain however, on the downhill my toes would slide into the peak of the toe box and before long I would have to do a painful limp back to the car. I went back to exchange for another pair in my size, per the salesperson's recommendation, and it was worse still: my toes got killed on the downhill - much more painful than the first time.

I would say that if you try on these shoes and you don't even come close to a potential toe box banging on a down slope, then you found your shoe! Otherwise save yourself from a long painful limping to your car and steer clear! I would recommend to a friend ONLY if they meet the above criteria.

This is the 2nd pair of C-Lites I've bought. The last pair did an amazing job overall. I used them alot as a training shoe for trail races since they were more durable and more supportive than my minimal shoe (Vertical K's). It did mean they were slightly heavier, but they do well when on the fence of buying a hiking shoe and trail shoe. I also used them in adventure races and they have seen deep snow, deep mud, sand, bush whacking, rock, and even whitewater rapids. The lace cover works great while in sand, gravel, and brush to keep it out of your soles. Ultimately the toe area canvas wore out before the soles did due to extensive water submersion and rock nicks. I easily have 200+ miles on them and still will wear them as a street shoe. It's really nice just to tuck the laces and wear them as slippers when your lazy now :). They seem to wash well after getting dirty and do drain water after submersion. For a great cross between a tough trail running shoe and a mountain shoe, these take the cake.

I used these shoes last year for 1-4 day lightweight backpacking trips. They were very light, comfortable, sure-footed, and just supportive enough for me to knock out 20 mile days back to back. The last big trip of the summer was Section J of the PCT in WA, from Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass, with a 28lb pack on day 1. These shoes made it easy to keep on truckin!

My only complaints are that the uppers started to fray and tear halfway through the season. I should have washed them more frequently... they are torn through both outer layers where they wrinkle on either side of the ball of my foot.

On one trip where my pack was over 30lbs, I could have used more arch support, but these are trail running shoes, not heavyweight backpacking boots. Keep the pack light, and these shoes will make walking a breeze!

That said, I'm here on the site to buy another pair for this year. Looking forward to many more happy miles!

I used these shoes as an approach shoe for mountain climbing, hiking, trail running, trail races, and some road running. They have a great fit, are very durable, and are well made. I gave them 4 out of 5 because I believe trail shoes should have good traction on wet rock (being from westering Washington, this may be of more concern to me than most), and they are mediocre at best. I have had better luck with traction from many different montrails and any shoe with vibram soles.

Lastly, La Sportiva is the only brand I trust, whether I have tried the shoe on before or not, to be true to size out of the box every time. Maybe I have just gotten lucky, but whether it's running shoes, trail shoes, hiking boots, or mountaineering boots, I can order a 41.5 and they fit perfect every time.

While I am not a trail runner, I purchased these shoes as a light weight shoe to wear around the camp on back pscking trips in place of my boots after a long hike. These shoes were so confertable, I have been wearing them as my shoe of choice on a dayly basis. I would highly recomend these shoes on or off the trail.

I highly recommended to anyone that's a serious runner! So far I done 5k's, numerous armed forces tests and I torture my pair with non-stop running! so far so good! I highly recommend to use them only for running ...take them off when finish ...so last longer. As combat arms ...frontline soldier, I train w/these shoes!

Purchased these shoes for Tough Mudder and they were awesome!

Great traction throughout the whole course. I thought I would be buying another pair after the run but after a good washing they look almost new.

Performed very well on loose scree and rough trails up Mt. McCloughlin. The grip is unmatched in comparison to any trail running shoe I've ever owned.