Article by Matt Kolat
Roclite Pro Mid GTX ($230/£200)
Introduction
Inov8 is a brand I am familiar with ever since I began running. They are one of the ‘forefather’ brands of ‘minimalism’ and for that matter trail run specific shoes which were the ‘it’ running conversation subjects about 15 years ago.
Since then the brand has grown, becoming a global force in trail running, functional fitness, and road running. Last year I had the pleasure of testing the RoadFly, which turned out to be one of my shoes of the year.
Needless to say that being a huge hiking enthusiast I got pretty excited to find out that Ino8 were releasing a Gore-Tex hiking boot - the Rocklite Pro Mid GTX. Let’s have a look at what Rocklite has got for us under the bonnet (hood if you’re American).
Pros:
Lightweight
Fun boot - not constrictive
Great grip on wet surfaces
Cons:
Materials too soft for scrambling or for abrasion negotiating a boulder fields
Stats
Spec Weight: men's 9US/8UK 17.1oz / 485g
Sample Weight: men’s 11 UK / 12 US / 45.5 EU 24.5oz / 695g US
Stack Height: men’s 26mm heel / 20mm forefoot (6mm drop spec)
Platform Width: 90mm heel / 68mm midfoot / 122mm forefoot
First Impressions, Fit and Upper
When I first got the boots I thought that they looked very modern and sleek. The black and white colour combination is not very common in the world of hiking and I always salute a bold colour choice.
When it comes to the fit this boot fits TTS as far as the brand Inov8 is concerned. My usual 11 UK fits me, leaving a ‘thumb’s worth space’ in front.
That said however I regret not ordering a half size larger. My reason being that whenever I hike, I typically do over 10 miles and my feet do swell quite a bit, combined with the fact that I almost always wear two pairs of socks (a liner and a proper hiking sock) as a form of blister prevention.
On the hikes all of the above begged for a half size up. Unless your feet don’t magically swell on long hikes, don’t make my mistake and order up.
The upper of Roclite is one of its strongest points. The midfoot and forefoot are very accommodating, especially the mid foot for my slightly above average wide feet.
The tongue is attached on both sides, which is what you would definitely expect from a waterproof boot. Which brings me to the membrane itself - it really does work. I only tested the boot on dry days but had to cross many rivers on the test hikes. It never let water through once, in fact one time I was replenishing water in my water bottles from a stream I just forded and did not notice that as water was pouring into my bottles, one of my feet was in the stream for a good minute. The boot did not let the water through at all, good job Inov8!
Another interesting feature is the plastic shank. It runs all the way from the back of the heel counter (forming a heel - counter like device) down to the midsole forming a shank, please notice it in the photo below - it’s off white plastic material above the back part of the midsole.
The black rubber reinforcements on both sides of the shoe extend to the toe, helping provide a more secure fit and support, apart from of course looking cool.
That brings me to my only gripe with the upper. The shoelaces are relatively thin and rope-like. Unfortunately what that does is make them slightly prone to loosening.
This will not affect you as a hiker on shorter adventures but on walks around 20 miles I had to re-tie my boots twice to achieve the tight, secure fit I enjoy as I was not feeling the security I needed, especially on steep descents. But all in all the upper is very well designed and I really enjoyed it.
Midsole & Platform
The midsole is relatively low stacked. The foam used is an EVA compound called Powerflow Max with 20mm in the heel and 14mm in the forefoot combined with a 6mm Boomerang TPU beads footbed (low moisture absorbing and rebounding) giving only, only being relative, 26mm of stack in the heel. The midsole feel is soft as far as hiking boots are concerned but very stable.
I would say it reminded me more of running shoes than of hiking boots which tend to be on the very firm end, especially 3 season boots not to mention winter, crampon friendly boots.
The midsole is very comfortable and definitely lends itself to long walks. The longest hike I’ve done in the Roclites was an 18 miler and felt like I still had plenty in the tank. That softness and comfort however comes at price. The outer midsole area is quite susceptible to abrasion, which is a cosmetic issue it should be mentioned rather than functional. The photo below depicts damage caused by light scramble and negotiation of multiple boulderfields.
Finally with regards to the midsole, I would like to mention the Meta Plate. I have mentioned this before in the upper section of the review but it bears repeating. The Meta Plate is the plastic shank running from the back of the heel into the midsole on both sides of the shoe. It protects the hiker from sharp rocks, gives great stability and confidence in more tricky scenarios.
Outsole
The outsole of Inov8 shoes is often the pièce de résistance of their shoes. You really have had to have lived under a rock for the past 20 years if you never heard of Inov8 legendary models like the MudClaw for instance, famous in the trail running community for its unparalleled grip. Rocklite Pro Mid GTX is no different. The lugs are massive (6mm), quite soft (as in you can bend the lug with your fingers) and very sticky - that’s most likely to do with graphene used as a part of the outsole rubber blend.
This will be a significantly different experience to those of us used to a more traditional hiking boot outsole, where the lugs are shallower but much more firm. The grip is excellent but due to the softness of the lugs more intended for hiking than true scrambling or mountaineering. That said however no boot on the market is simultaneously good for all of those activities. All in all an exceptional outsole.
Ride, Conclusions and Recommendations
How does all of the above work together, in short - very well.
First of all, the inner materials are exceptional. It normally takes weeks before my feet get used to a hiking boot enough so that I don’t get blisters (especially on my heels). The Rocklites did not give me any blisters, even on the first walk - big thumbs up. Secondly the stability, the boot is quite wide and together with the Meta Shank you feel confident even doing scrambles in exposed terrain. Is this the top of the market shoe for scrambling? No. Does it do it better than most hiking shoes? Absolutely.
The ankle hold is fantastic, no wobble at all. The outsole grip is genius, on one of the hikes I tested Roclites on I had to descend on a pathless slope with around a 60 degree angle, not comfortable at all, and these boots kept me grounded and grippy.
The only improvements I would suggest would be two small matters. First would be replacing the thin, ropey laces with thicker, more traditional ones which will hold the knots in place better. Secondly, and I am not sure if this is technically possible, some form of coating on the midsole to make it more abrasion proof and thus making this boot more applicable for more technical adventures.
With regards to application I would say it’s very broad. Due to the comfort levels and Gore-Tex membrane this boot is very friendly to newcomers. Some boots are just too advanced, heavy and technical to be recommended to newbies. Roklite Pro Mid GTX can certainly be your first pair of ‘proper’ hiking boots. That said however, as an experienced hiker, I could not say I felt like the boots were lacking anything for my needs. With regards to distances these boots could cover - there are no restrictions, definitely comfortable enough for long, multi day adventurous and light enough for shorter stints.
Two thumbs up from me!
The Roclite Pro Mid GTX is available now
Inov-8 SHOP HERE
Amazon SHOP HERE
Index to all RTR reviews: HERE
Tester Profile
Maciej 'Matt' Kolat- 39 years old, hailing from Poland but running and hiking Scottish pavements and trails since 2007. Mainly runs shorter distances on pavement 5-10 km and reserves longer runs and hikes for the beautiful Scottish Glens. Matt’s opinion sometimes may differ from other RTR testers as he is the slowest of the bunch (5k at 25:38). Matt also uses running as a way to stay healthy having shed 100 lbs so far (and counting).
Samples were provided at no charge for review purposes. RoadTrail Run has affiliate partnerships and may earn commission on products purchased via shopping links in this article. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content. The opinions herein are entirely the author's.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading Road Trail Run! We also welcome comments in French. See our page with links to all shoe and gear reviews HERE. You can also follow RoadTrailRun on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram where we publish interesting run related content more frequently as well as links to our latest reviews. Shopping through links on articles help support RoadTrail Run and is much appreciated