Montrail Men's Bajada

Backcountry doesn't carry women's version, but my review for chick's version applies to men's as well, so here it goes. These shoes are overall pretty awesome. They fit well - toe box is roomy but doesn't feel overly so, and they've got a narrow heel to lock feet in. They are pretty light, enough that I can feel the difference between these and my Salomons. These make me feel like I'm flying on the trails. The ride feels cushy, and outsole is really grippy on steep and slippery downhills. A few things they need to improve. 1) they really need to attach the tongue to the shoe. The tongue right now is not attached at all - the whole thing shifts to the side and let in lots of dirt and small rocks, a lot more compared to any other trail shoes I own (Salomons, Brooks). And 2), the lace can really be better - I need to retie mine every few miles which is very annoying. Lastly, there are some semi-transparent "tendon" glued to the sides, and it feels that they would rip through the side mesh at some point. But I've only put 50 miles or so on those, so can't tell yet.
One more thing, while the outsole is super grippy, the lugs are placed very closely together. Compare these to Salomon SpeedCross which has more widely spaced lugs. The result is that the Bajadas tend to catch a lot more small rocks in between the lugs while that's not the case in the Salomons. I haven't taken these in mud, but I suspect it'll be very difficult to get the mud out.

Very light weight and almost like a minimalist shoe. The knobbie soles have excellent grip in loose soil conditions as well as over rocks. Gotta shake them out good before you get in the car though, oops, but hey I'm on the dirt, so so what. Comfortable protection over most big gravels and loose rocks. Roomy toe box - nice. Very breathable and dry out quickly. Ran a 22 mile training run on technical terrain and feel comfortable with the idea of runnining in them up to a 50K. Beyond that and I will either need more conditioning or a more supportive shoe with thicker padding in the sole, but this is an excellent tool for the box.

I have to say, I love the Bajada. I am on my third pair. Just ran a 50 mile PR in them and I always choose them for recovery runs and most long runs. However, my complaint is the endurance of the shoe. I haven't had issues with the mesh, but do see the tread and midsole cushioning wear down more quickly than my other shoes. Glad to see Montrail is improving mesh strength. I hope that Jon can weigh in on whether the tread and mid-sole cushioning are also addressed in the S'13 model.

I am a moderate trail runner. I run a lot of half marathons and a few marathons. Most of my weekly running consist of gratuitous hiking on rocky terrain and steep downhills. I had a pair of these for a year now and no complaints. Montrails fit my feet well and the durability has been good enough. I loved the rouge racer, the bajada feels really similar to me just slightly beefier.

Love the feel of the shoes. Hate that they don't last longer. Ripped through the mesh on both sides within about 300 miles. And I'm not sure that the midsole foam wasn't already cooked by that point anyway.

Smooth shoe that works well with an efficient neutral stride over varied terrain. Just enough cushion to help off-set the impact of longer runs while not feeling too clunky.