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VJ Shoes ACE Review. The Top Shoe for Full on Winter Trail Running?
8K views
May 23, 2024
RTR Contributor Mike Postaski, a top ultra runner from the snows of Idaho goes deep on the VJ Shoes Ace ($180), a studded broader fitting, water proof shoe for winter running.with a non hardening eTPE midsole foam. Details, 06:30 Ride, Cons, Performance 10:06 Conclusions 11:00 Comparisons. Full Written Multi Tester Review: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2024/01/vj-shoes-ace-review-bring-on-ice-4.html Samples provided at no charge by VJ Shoes where the Ace is available here: https://vjshoesusa.com/collections/winter-running-shoes-with-spikes 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 RTR receives a commission for purchases made through these links which helps support our channel and site.
View Video Transcript
0:00
Is the VJ Ace the top winter trail running shoe on the market right now
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Hello, this is Mike P here from Road Trail Run and today I'll be bringing you a full
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video review of the VJ Ace. The VJ Ace features 17 star shaped carbon steel studs
0:23
It comes in at 38 in the heel, 30 under the forefoot for an 8mm drop
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Midsole foam is ETPE, nice and soft. The Ace is listed on VJ's website at 9.7 ounces, that's 275 grams
0:38
My size US 10.0 comes in at 11.5 ounces, now that's 326 grams
0:45
As far as fit, VJ recommends that you don't size up as much as you may typically have
0:52
with VJ models of the past. Now typically my true to size is a US 9.5 but in VJ I've been wearing a US 10.5 which
1:02
is a full size higher than my typical true to size. Now I'll vary between a US 9.5 and a US 10 depending on the distance of the shoe, the
1:11
fit of the shoe, that kind of thing. But VJ is the only brand that I've worn a 10.5 in
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I followed their advice so I only went up a half size which is somewhat normal for me
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not a big issue, and this fits me perfectly. So I do have to say I'm a half size down compared to some of their other models
1:30
I find that these fit my foot really, really well. The toe box is just perfect, the width across is perfect
1:39
As you can see here, this looks totally different. If you've run in the VJ Ultra, you'll know the tapered toe box, you don't have this rounding
1:47
along the edge over here. So you have a nice comfortable toe box
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We're not talking ultra wide here, but there's enough space and I find that in cold conditions
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I don't know if this was the reason why they went with this, but in colder conditions
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you generally want a little more space for the toes. It tends to keep your feet warmer
2:06
You also could be wearing thicker socks. And generally, when there's issues with traction, we're talking about running in snow, obviously
2:14
running in hard packed snow, running on sections of ice, possibly sheer ice
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The more space you have up front, the better kind of feel you have under that forefoot
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The lacing is quite reminiscent of a shoe I have just over my shoulder here, the Hoka
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Tekton X. As you can see, the lacing extends quite far down, similar to the Tekton X1
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Also, if you take a look at this shoe, it does look quite similar to the Tekton X1
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It almost seems as if they copied the general design from the lacing to the two-tone design
2:48
of the midsole and even a little bit of a swallowtail. The VJ Ace features a waterproof upper
2:55
Now it's not an official Gore-Tex upper, but it is waterproof. I have tested it in snow and slush
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It definitely gives you as much, if not more, protection and warmth as a Gore-Tex upper does
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They don't have a particular snazzy name for it. The label here just says waterproof, so it is
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The upper is a quite thick, engineered mesh. Like I said, you have that waterproof outer, and you also have a gusseted tongue with an
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inner bootie liner, similar to most Gore-Tex designs. All in all, it ends up being a little bit on the thicker side, and that probably contributes
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to some of that 11-plus ounces of weight. But, again, you do have the waterproof aspect
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Gore-Tex shoes typically tend to be a little bit on the heavier side, so no real issues there
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The heel is quite a protective toe bumper. You won't have any issues bumping chunks of ice, rocks, anything around on the trail there
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It should be quite protective. Moving on to the rear, heel counter, not overly rigid, not overly soft, somewhere in the middle
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I'd say. One thing to know is the ankle collar is quite soft, quite comfortable around
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You don't have any hard edge here. I didn't have any issues. I will say, this heel area is very soft
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If you see here, there's not much rigidity at all to the collar around the heel and Achilles area
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I found the upper to be quite warm on the run. I tested this in temperatures down into the 20s, probably in the upper teens
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My feet felt extremely warm, comfortable, not too clammy in those very cold conditions
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Speaking of cold temperatures, this ETPE midsole is quite insulating from the ground, and that's
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something I found in some of my colder test runs. It doesn't harden as a traditional EVA foam does in cold temperatures
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You know, sometimes when you go out running, it's very cold. They can tend to firm up
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The foam is not as responsive when the temperature gets colder. This shoe maintains its softness even in the coldest of temperatures
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I tested this in extremely cold temperatures, and it felt soft underfoot the entire time
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It does seem to be insulating. Like I said, with the EVA foams, they tend to almost feel a little bit cold, like as
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if they're transmitting cold ground to the bottom of your feet. This kind of feels totally different
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The softness tends to really insulate the foot. I mean, in conjunction with the waterproof upper, my foot felt totally warm, even in
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the coldest... The outsole is, of course, VJ's top of class, 100% butyl rubber
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In all of VJ's models, the Ultra, the Spark, Extreme 2 that I've tested, hands down the
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best traction and grip that you will get in any trail shoe on the market
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This features the same rubber here, but again, you add those 17 star shape..
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Found the ride of the VJ Ace to be excellent. Lots of flexibility in this shoe, and I really love a flexible ride in a shoe, especially
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in technical terrain. Sometimes, a little bit of stiffness is okay if it's really rocky, but generally, I prefer
6:49
to have just enough protection to allow flexibility in the ride, and this really fits the bill
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Give a little flex here. You can see the flex up front
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You can see I'm able to twist this shoe. So what this means is when you're in that kind of uneven terrain, maybe chunks of ice
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chunks of hard snow, you have that wide toe box, you have that flexibility in the shoe
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to contour over the ground underneath, and along with the star studded spikes in the
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bottom of the shoe, it's just great for winter running. Moving on to some potential cons with this shoe, I mentioned in the beginning talking
7:31
about the upper, this soft heel. That's something I also did notice on the run
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Again, you could see, you could pretty much just push this down right here
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My heel feels a little bit disconnected as it's kind of not coming along for the ride
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as the shoe flexes, so to speak. I think they could use a little bit of bolstering around the inner edge here
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I didn't have any slippage, so that was not an issue, but it just felt a little bit soft
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I would like to feel it a little bit more locked in. Another issue that I did notice, I at times got some pressure when I was running, particularly
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in descents, and I noticed that where the gusset-ish tongue is attached to the inner
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waterproof liner, there's a seam right there, and right on this corner, there's some pretty
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thick stitching in there. So when I really lace this down, it seemed to put a little pressure on the top of my feet
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Other than that, as far as cons, the only thing I would say, maybe the weight
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I mean, we're looking at 11 1⁄2 ounces here in my US 10
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That's a little bit on the heavy side. Typically for me, I'm 138 pounds, 5'10"
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Typically when I get to the 11 ounce range is when I tend to notice sheer weight of a shoe
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So 11 1⁄2 is a little on the heavy side, but again, this is a winter shoe made for
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pretty extreme conditions. So you do have those studs in there. If you were running in any other type of Gore-Tex shoe, there's going to be added weight
9:04
If you were using any other type of traction devices, say micro spikes, or if you had screwed
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your own sheet metal screws in there, that's going to add weight. If you're using Yak Tracks, something like that, that's going to add way more weight
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So again, relatively speaking, compared to some other shoes, I would say it's actually
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Probably I would say on the lighter side, but generally speaking, compared to a regular
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running shoe, say if you were going out and you didn't need the spike traction, it's going to..
9:52
...market right now
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And in my opinion, the answer is yes, absolutely. The past two weeks, we've had a couple of storms roll through
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We had a solid two week period where we were in the twenties, snow cover trails, everything
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If I didn't have to test other shoes, I would have picked the VJ Ace for every single one
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of those runs. The traction on the snow, especially early morning, frozen conditions, impeccable
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Now, of course, this is a winter trail running shoe. You have spikes on your feet
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Some of those runs, I actually had to drive to the trailhead, typically, not trying to
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brag here, but I could run about a half mile from my house and I'm at the closest trailhead
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Again, not trying to brag, but with the spikes, I made that little drive a couple of times
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because I didn't want to mess up the spikes on the sidewalks. This is a specialized tool for winter
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You're not going to run these all year long. Even within winter, you're going to use these only in specialized scenarios, but that also
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means they're going to last longer. So typically, if you get a winter shoe like this, it's going to last you several seasons
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And I would say, if you at all go out on the trails and run in those types of conditions
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having a studded shoe with integrated studs and not just screwing your own sheet metal
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screws into your shoes, I would say it's a must-have. When you get to those periods where it's two weeks, the trails are snowbound, or even longer
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depending on where you live. It's just great to have a shoe like this. Now, I'll just go through a couple of comps, some shoes that I've tested recently
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I'll talk about maybe some different scenarios that you might want to choose one shoe or
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the other. If you're running in any type of slick conditions, mixed conditions, any potential for ice, VJACE
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hands down number one pick. But I'll just go through some of the other options
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Here I have an old Sense Ride 4 GTX. This is a bit firmer underfoot
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I typically use this just for cold weather, casual use. I have used it hiking, running
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The midsole's a bit firmer. The drop feels a little bit more apparent in this shoe
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I typically don't run in it too much, but it's great for casual use. It has a nice look
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Another option, the Merrell Agility Peak 5 GORE-TEX. This of course doesn't have the traction on the bottom, but it does have GORE-TEX
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Very breathable GORE-TEX. As you can see, this shoe is very clean because I actually did run it in very snowy conditions
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If it's just snowy and maybe there's no issues with traction, sometimes you get that couple
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inches of snow and you don't need a spike or anything like that
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A regular GORE-TEX shoe or even a regular trail running shoe is just fine
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The GORE-TEX is great if your feet are cold. Moving on, here I have a Merrell Zero
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Now this is another shoe we tested on the channel. Again, nice and clean
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I've been using this out in snowy conditions. This is a great shoe for winter activities
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Snow shoeing, hiking, deep snow. If you have this gaiter and maybe a long pant that comes over this, your feet will
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not be wet at all. Great shoe, but this is definitely on the heavier side compared to the VJ-ACE
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It's less runnable. It feels a little bit almost clunky on the run
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Nice and soft underfoot, but you get better ground hold with the VJ-ACE. If you want to run and it's slippery, I would go with the VJ-ACE, but this is a great shoe
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for other winter activities. Finally, I have an old Salomon Ultra Pro here
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I don't know if you can see here. I have some screw holes in here. What I did before is I would typically use my micro spikes here
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They give you a little tool and you could screw in your micro spikes or sheet metal
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screws wherever you want. The advantage of doing something like that is if you have a shoe that you're really comfortable
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in, the upper, the feel of the midsole, something that you just like that shoe and you just
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maybe need a little bit of extra traction, you can put them in yourself. But again, you'll have that kind of cleat-like feel
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They won't feel as smooth as the VJ-ACE's spikes. Those star studded spikes are really very tiny in comparison to doing a sheet metal
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screw or a product such as the micro spikes. Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this video review of the VJ-ACE
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Again, for me, the top winter trail running shoe on the market right now
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If you need that traction on ice, this is a top pick. If you'd like to see more of these types of video reviews, leave us a comment
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Anything you feel like asking, fire away. Thank you for watching
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