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Brooks Catamount AGIL - Review, Test Runs, Comparisons!
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May 23, 2024
00:00 Mike P takes you on two test runs around Boise, Idaho - sharing his on-the-run thoughts on the new Brooks Catamount Agil. Lots of weather, mixed terrain, snow, and ice! 06:33 How does the Agil perform? 0720 Foam and Trail Feel Stay tuned until the end 12:44 for an in-depth comparison against rival speedsters - Merrell Skyfire 2 and Long Sky 2, VJ Lightspeed and MAXx2, Salomon Pulsar, and of course the big brother Catamount 3. $180. Available now. Full Multi Tester Written Review: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2024/03/brooks-catamount-agil-multi-tester.html The sample was provided at no charge by Brooks for this review 100's of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, this is Mike P. here from Road Trail Run, and today I'm going to be taking you
0:03
out for an on-the-run trail review of the Brooks Catamount Agile. Now we had about 9 inches of snow up at Bogus last night, a lot of rain down in the valley
0:12
so I kind of drove myself up, find a little bit of a mid-elevation trail here
0:16
It's a little bit too muddy, we'll have to turn around and go a little higher up. We should have a good mix of terrain, a little bit of steep climb, some descents, a lot of
0:24
technical stuff. Should be a good test for the Catamount Agile
0:50
Had to turn around over there, a little bit too muddy. Back to the road, next trail up, let's see how this one is
1:05
Really liking the feel on technical terrain, a lot of ground feel
1:10
Close to the ground in these, the upper feels super dialed in
1:14
Plate is also good, SkyVault plate, it's protecting. I feel like I'm moving pretty quick on the uphill, similar to the Catamount 3
1:23
Get a little bit of uphill impulse, which is nice
1:34
Found some better trails there, much better than the first one. No mud over here
1:37
The first one I had to run through a few sections of mud in the beginning, got a little bit
1:41
too muddy, had to turn around. Rooks handled that pretty good, wasn't slipping around too much, wasn't a ton of mud
1:46
A little bit in the front, you can see I didn't really get too deep in there. But it has pretty good traction
1:51
Back there on some of those rocky sections, the plate felt really nice underfoot
1:55
Felt like it was really dispersing a lot of the sharp impacts from the rocks underfoot
2:00
It feels low to the ground, it's firm, definitely not as much cushion as the Catamount 3
2:05
Other shoes with a little bit more foam underfoot, you're close to the ground
2:08
The upper's dialed in, it kind of has the feel of a Matrix upper. I was thinking about loosening it up, but I think on the run, this is my first run
2:15
it just kind of loosened up naturally a little bit and it felt pretty good
2:19
So I don't have to really lock down the upper so much, similar to a Matrix upper
2:23
You tension it just right with a little bit of give and the upper doesn't really have
2:27
that stretch back and forth where you feel like you're losing security
2:30
Feels really good on the run, solid underfoot. Feels like it's completely attached to the bottom of my foot as I'm going
2:36
So I've been running uphill so far. I'm going to head up this way, wind around a little bit more, a little bit of a rocky
2:42
descent there. On the way back, I'll be going a little bit faster
2:47
Probably be better testing on the stability, the security, how the impact feels underfoot
2:51
Alright, so here we go, next section. Head out along this way, then we're probably going to wind along up on that ridge over there
3:01
First tracks after yesterday's snow. Got a little funky back there
4:01
See how the video turns out. Hope you'll appreciate testing conditions as opposed to the actual video quality
4:08
We'll see. So I'll come back at you. Want to take them out a few more times
4:12
Really dial in my thoughts on the shoe. Probably go a little bit more in depth on the run, on the ride
4:18
I really want to focus on some comps on this one. So I've got the Salomon Pulsar, Merrill Long Sky 2 Matrix, the Merrill Skyfire 2 Matrix
4:28
also VJ Lightspeed and VJ Max 2. Those are the closest comps that I have in mind
4:34
If you have any others that you can think of, let me know. Alright, just doing a quick check
4:41
See how that knit collar worked out. Pristine. Alright, another test run today
4:54
A little bit more snow on the ground this time. Pretty cold too
4:57
A lot of crunchy bits. Should be good testing. A lot of times frozen ground, crunchy ice is really a good stand in for technical terrain
5:07
Aside from the slipping factor. But traction is pretty good and agile, so should be good testing
6:18
Alright, so I kind of bopped around back there on the entrance to this trail. A little bit more crusty back there
6:23
A little harder on the ground. Getting into some softer snow as I move up now
6:28
I just want to talk about the fit of this shoe real quick. It's just awesome
6:32
Totally, 100% secure. I don't feel any disconnect between the bottom of my foot, the bottom of the shoe, and the ground
6:41
Just feels excellent. Also I want to point out, they didn't narrow it too much under the midfoot
6:48
Some light and fast shoes make this really super narrow under the arch area
6:53
They went ahead and kept that a bit wider here. And I think that really helps with stability
7:00
I didn't feel like I was teetering a little bit. Sometimes with a narrow shoe, you have to be really up on your toes, be really agile
7:08
I felt like I could really get a solid plant on here and not worry about that being too
7:13
tall and having that little bit of wobble. DNA Flash Foam, really energetic
7:18
I mean of course I'm on snow here, so it's not going to feel too firm. But I did have some dry sections on my last run, hard packed sections of ice back there
7:27
It doesn't feel harsh, but it also doesn't feel soft or even bouncy
7:34
It just feels like you have that layer right there, and it doesn't want to interfere with
7:40
your feel of the trail by giving you an extra bounce or really transmitting harshness into
7:46
your foot. I really like it a lot. I feel like I could use this as an everyday shoe
7:51
If you don't want a ton of cushion underfoot, it definitely could be an everyday shoe
7:57
So I'm going to head a little bit higher up that way. Snow should get a little bit softer
8:01
I'm kind of in a taper period now, so I don't want to get too crazy in deep snow
8:06
I'll probably turn around if it gets a little bit too deep, but I'll take it easy, maybe
8:10
hike a little bit, get a little working. Just a gorgeous day out today
8:23
I'm just hiking up this side ridge here just for fun. Nobody's been here in the fresh snow, so why not
8:50
All right, so that about wraps it up for the review. I'm going to head back, get you some specs, I'm going to look into those comps, and give
8:56
some final thoughts on the review. All right, so now the fun part
9:00
Just trudged up this trail right here in the snow, get to run back down, have some fun
9:06
there, and then the trail I came in on comes down that way through the creek back down
9:14
There's some other connecting trails over that way heading all the way on up, but that's
9:22
for another day. So I'm back in the lab
9:43
I got the Agile here. I got a bunch of shoes lined up
9:47
I'm going to really focus on comps here, but first I'm going to go through some of the
9:51
things that I loved about this shoe. The ride is just great
9:55
DNA Flash Nitrogen Infused Midsole. It's not a ton of stack. Feels responsive and fast
10:03
Speed Vault Plate in the bottom. Flex it here. You can see the flex point
10:09
It's kind of similar to the Sky Vault Plate in the Catamount 3 that I love so much
10:14
It has that flex kind of forward of the toes, so when you're climbing it really feels quick
10:21
on the uphills and also quick on the run. It gives you a kind of propulsion, a kind of efficiency on the run that just sneaks
10:30
up on you. It doesn't feel super fast all the time, but like some other commenters have posted, and
10:36
I've noticed myself, you check your watch, you say, whoa, I'm moving pretty quick for this shoe, and I didn't really expect it
10:42
The plate has a similar feel on the Agile. Again, that flex is kind of forward of the toes, so climbing it feels great
10:50
If you take a look here, you can see it kind of splits here. I didn't notice any instability from having a flat plate underfoot
10:57
It seemed to have good flex. If I'm flexing it laterally, you can see it does flex pretty well, so it's not stiff laterally
11:08
I felt it actually was quite Agile and didn't really throw my foot
11:14
Looking down at the lugs, the lugs are great. I think they had them at some strange decimal of 4.7
11:21
They're definitely higher than in the Catamount 3, and I believe they're the highest out of
11:28
some of the test pairs that I have here. Definitely great on traction
11:32
The upper fits like a glove. It's similar to a Matrix upper, similar to a shoe I have here, the Pulsar
11:41
It just wraps well. You don't really have to tension down the laces
11:46
It holds the foot perfectly. The heel is just great. Something I talked about in my first impressions review, there's this big huge bolster around
11:56
the back of the heel. It goes above your heel bone, and you're totally locked in
12:01
Feels great. Knit collar, again, something I'll point out. On the run, completely wraps the foot
12:10
No dirt in there. I ran in snow, muddy conditions, have some mud still on the bottom
12:15
Nothing got into my foot. Not a pebble, not anything. Just perfect
12:19
So if you want a fast shoe, a race day shoe, something that feels like it's just attached
12:26
to the bottom of your foot, wraps around your ankle, nothing's getting in there, just feels
12:33
like an extension of your body when you're running, this is a great shoe
12:37
Great pick. One of my favorite shoes of the year so far. I got on my table here the shoes that I feel are most similar in comparison to the Agile
12:47
I've tried them on one by one to kind of refresh my memory
12:51
I've run in all these shoes pretty recently. Some of them extremely recently with the exception of the Pulse Arm
12:58
So I'm just going to go through them one by one. I'm going to throw a little spec sheet up on the screen
13:03
I'm not going to talk about specs or anything like that. You could pause it, screenshot that, whatever you want to do
13:09
All these shoes are US size 9.5 with the exception of the Maxx X2, which is strangely
13:18
a US 9. Strangely for VJ because VJ typically runs very small
13:23
This one runs large. So this one's a 9 and I have my Catamount 3
13:27
That's not a similar shoe. I'll talk a little bit of comparison in regards to the Agile version, but I have that one
13:34
in a size 10. That's my ultra sizing. I like to be a little bit more comfortable
13:38
If I'm thinking of running these for longer distances. So again, I'm just going to go through these, kind of talk about which ones I feel are the
13:44
most similar. Maybe look at some of the features here and there. I haven't prepared anything
13:49
So this is going to be completely off the cuff. Looking at these two new shoes from Merrell, the Skyfire 2 and the Long Sky 2, I feel like
13:57
the Brooks is a mashup of these two shoes. The Skyfire 2 is very thin underfoot
14:04
The profile of the midsole is similar to the Brooks, but the Float Pro Foam is not as responsive
14:12
as the Brooks Nitrogen DNA. Upper, very similar in fit. The Matrix gives you a great fit
14:19
The Merrell's a little bit squeezier, a little bit narrower. This does have a plate in it, but on the run, this shoe feels very firm underfoot
14:29
This is a little bit more forgiving, a little bit more versatile
14:34
If you look at this one, very narrow under the midfoot and also through the heel
14:39
That's something that I like about the Agile. They maintain this kind of width under the midfoot, which gives it some stability compared
14:49
to some of these extreme narrow platform type of shoes. And now that's something that carried over from the regular Catamount
14:58
They maintain that width through the midfoot, which does give it a lot of stability, a lot
15:04
of smoothness, and they carry that over to the Agile. So it doesn't quite..
15:09
It's narrow, of course, but it doesn't quite taper in as far as some of these other shoes
15:14
So you do feel that stability under the midfoot, which I really like
15:19
So I say it's in between these two shoes because this one has a little bit more stack, feels
15:24
a little more forgiving underfoot. The Agile's not as forgiving as this one, but not as hard, full power to the ground
15:33
as the Skyfire 2. Long Sky 2 doesn't have a plate. This is more flexible
15:40
I love this shoe just for everyday running, cruising around. It's kind of a throwback shoe
15:46
Really love it. Skyfire 2 does have a plate. So this has some stiffness similar to the Brooks Agile
15:54
So you see where I'm going here. Cushioning is kind of in between, but the Brooks has the plate of this
16:01
The upper is not quite as narrow as the Skyfire 2. The upper is more similar to the Long Sky 2
16:08
One thing to point out, this knit collar so much better than these new Merrells
16:13
Merrell really kind of messed up here. The edging on both of these collars is just floppy
16:20
It's worse than a regular collar. They wanted to make it very lightweight and I guess kind of skimp on materials around here
16:27
but it lets the bring in. It's not great. So moving on, we have the new VJ Lightspeed
16:35
Look how narrow this gets. This is similar to the Pulsar and also more similar to the Long Sky 2
16:43
This is probably even the narrowest one. Compared to the Brooks Agile, you could tell the difference under the midfoot
16:50
This shoe is way more stable here. You have a lot more foam underfoot here
16:55
This VJ Super Foamance, nitrogen infused I believe. That's quite similar to the DNA Flash midsole foam here
17:04
In terms of all these shoes right here, in terms of the foams, the Brooks is similar to both of these VJ models
17:11
The VJ models have more foam underfoot though. So they're going to be softer, more cushioned
17:16
This has a plate in it. You could see this is a very fast shoe with a very soft stack
17:24
with a very narrow platform. The review on this shoe just dropped today
17:28
I like this shoe. I love this shoe. But in technical terrain, it's very narrow, very soft, and very high
17:35
You have to be on your toes. You have to be ready to handle this kind of platform
17:40
the more technical the terrain gets. But on moderate ground, easier terrain, this shoe flies
17:47
The softness feels great. The plate gives you a great impulse. Super fast shoe
17:53
Whereas in comparison, the Agile feels a little bit harsher on harder ground
17:58
because you don't have that soft cushion. Still feels fast, but you're going to have more ground feel
18:03
I'll just skip over here to the Maxx X2. Compared to the Lightspeed, you see more coverage through the midsole here
18:12
More of a wider platform under the midsole. This is a more stable shoe
18:16
A more versatile shoe. Stack height, I believe, is one or two millimeters higher in the Maxx 2 here
18:23
But same exact foam. So same soft feel, but you get a wider forefoot base
18:29
Definitely wider under the midfoot and also wider in the rear. So you kind of get some of the properties of Lightspeed
18:36
but in a more stable package. This is really great shoe. Love this shoe
18:42
In terms of handling technical terrain, I'd say the Agile does handle it better
18:47
You are closer to the ground. You have more feel. It's similar in platform
18:53
Slightly narrower, I would say. But this foam gives a little bit more between you and the ground
18:59
A little bit more stack. A little bit more softness. Here you feel the ground more
19:04
You have more control. I think it's a better, faster technical shoe
19:08
But for longer distances, this is a great pick. A more comfortable shoe
19:12
The upper has probably a little bit more width here. Crazy to say for a VJ shoe, but it is
19:18
You're more locked in for technical terrain in the Agile. Moving on to the original Pulsar
19:25
I don't have the soft ground version. So this one has some shallow lugs
19:29
Around here in the Boise foothills, it's great. But it's limiting in technical terrain
19:34
The lugs on this one are just, it's not even a question here
19:38
The Pulsar is narrower through the midfoot. Similar to the Skyfire 2, VJ Lightspeed
19:44
And it's also taller, similar to the Lightspeed. These two shoes are very similar
19:50
But this shoe is extremely light. That's the main difference here. This shoe, by the look standing next to them
19:56
looks a full size smaller than all of these shoes. But it's the same 9.5
20:00
You have a really snug fit in this Pulsar. I know the SG version
20:05
I think they relaxed the upper a little bit. Especially up front. I haven't tried that version
20:10
But this one is probably the most dialed upper fit of them all
20:14
I have no issues with the forefoot fit in this one. Because there is decent width across the forefoot
20:21
It does narrow a little bit by the toes. But I find I could relax this
20:25
And with the Matrix upper, it's not an issue here. Compared to the Agile, this shoe is a little bit higher
20:30
You have to pay a little bit more attention in technical terrain
20:34
Just because you're that much higher. And it's a little bit narrower
20:38
They're very comparable. The Brooks feels more stable. Probably with this plate, it's more propulsive oriented than the Pulsar's plate
20:46
Which is kind of a flexible protective plate. So this shoe may feel faster
20:51
But this shoe, I think the extreme lightness makes up for the disadvantage
20:57
Possibly with this plate feeling a little bit quicker. Looking at these two knit collars, they're very similar
21:04
Brooks almost copied them. It works just as well. One thing, I'm slightly concerned about this stitching in the Agile
21:12
They have some open stitching here. And Salomon really thought about this
21:17
They covered up that stitching on the inside. I haven't had any issues with the Agile here
21:23
But that's something that I definitely noticed. That this stitching is kind of on the back of my heel
21:28
I'm not sure if I would take these for an ultra tight distance
21:33
So I don't think that would come into play. It's a little something that they overlooked that Salomon paid attention to
21:41
I hope you enjoyed coming along for a couple of my test runs in the Agile
21:46
Scenery in the area. The weather conditions in the area. The comps
21:50
Again, let me know down below if you have any specific questions
21:54
I'm not going to pick a favorite amongst all of these shoes
21:58
But if you ask me for a particular scenario down in the comments
22:02
I'll let you know which shoe I would pick for that scenario
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I assure you the Catamount Agile would surely be in the running for most of those cases
22:12
Thank you for watching
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