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The North Face SUMMIT VECTIV PRO 2 - FULL REVIEW & RACE TEST
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Oct 7, 2024
Mike P tests and reviews The North Face SUMMIT Vectiv Pro 2 - the last of the trail super shoes that he hasn't tried. 00:00 First up (and Mike won) is a 27K race test in the Boise Foothills. Race along with with Mike - hear his thoughts during the race even as he pushes 180+ bpm! 07:46 Full analysis afterwards as well as comparisons to the top trail super shoes on the market. Stay tuned for the detailed Full Multi Wester Review on the RoadTrailRun website. Samples provided at no cost by The North Face for this review. Song: Sacrifice Music by: CreatorMix.com
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, this is Mike P from Road Trail Run and I have finally gotten my hands on a pair of the North Face Vective Pro 2
0:10
This is probably the last of the trail super shoes that I have not tried yet
0:14
This year, I've done an extensive review on the Tecton X3, also the Adidas Terrick Speed Ultra, which I've raced in a 50-miler
0:22
I've yet to race in the Tecton X3. Last weekend, I took these out for a test race
0:27
It was a 16 mile 27K trail race here in Boise Foothills
0:33
I did take quite a bit of race footage out on the course, which is pretty fun for me to do
0:37
I was huffing and puffing. It was a hard race upwards of 180 beats per minute at times during the race while I'm trying to do a little bit of commentary on the shoe
0:46
So that should be pretty interesting. But before I get into some of those clips, let's talk about the details of this shoe
0:52
The North Face Vective Pro 2 comes in at 32 millimeters under the heel, 26
0:57
millimeters under the four foot for a six millimeter drop three point five
1:01
millimeter lugs on the bottom I'm not sure if those are factored into the stack
1:05
height that spec feels a little bit low for what they are so I suspect maybe
1:09
they're not including the lugs or something or another it's probably a few
1:13
millimeters higher in total stack if you can see here there's quite a rocker
1:19
set up here especially at the toes also in the rear it's not quite as
1:25
rounded as some of the vectors that I've run in the The first version was extremely rounded
1:30
This one is less rounded, but it's definitely noticeable up front at the toes
1:35
Also, there's a full-length carbon fiber plate in here. It's forked at the front and also forked under the heel
1:43
And also you have these stability wings over here. There's some tiny ones up front, some along kind of the ball of foot
1:51
and some around the rear area. I know some people have had some issues with these front wings
1:57
wings in the past. I've gotten comments about it. We've had testers have issues with other winged
2:03
carbon fiber vective versions in the past. So I'm going to talk about that a little bit later in the
2:07
review. The weight of this shoe in my US 10.0 comes in at 296 grams, 10.4 ounces, which is a
2:15
solid weight, but it's, it is slightly heavier than the two super shoes I mentioned earlier
2:20
The Adidas Terax Speed Ultra and the Tecton X3. My Tecton X3 in the same size comes in at 276
2:27
9.7 ounces. The Speed Ultra, I believe, is around 9.5 ounces. So these are a little bit
2:35
heavier than those. I think that that comes from the midsoul being a little bit denser
2:40
and also you have a little bit more of a platform on the ground and there's a little bit more
2:46
solid upper here. So I'm going to take these out for another test run while I hit you with some
2:51
race footage and after that I'll come back with a more detailed ysis and my final thoughts on the Vectiv
2:56
Pro 2. Googie
3:06
Come on. Boring. Oh! Hello
3:22
One of the laminated arrows is down back there. some hikers to put it up
3:28
242. 243. All right, so I took a decent spill back there
4:00
Totally my fault I was feeling so good with the handling of this shoe Decided to make a sharp cut on some kind of bold rocks covered in sand
4:12
One foot completely slipped in the sand. I would never do something like that in a longer race
4:20
But it's 27K, so going for speed here, testing the shoes. So this is definitely best fitting
4:30
The most secure upper of any of the high stack, carbon-plated trail super shoes
4:41
Fit is great. Mid-foothold, excellent. Heel is great. I had some reservations about the rigidity of the heel cup
4:54
But I'm 10 miles in right now. Pretty hard running. and I don't feel anything so
4:59
I'll walk through that a little bit when I sit down and I'm not in the middle of a race
5:07
probably got about 10K to go here about 180 beats per minute
5:15
which is about 90% for me I lost my
5:27
and precision hydration 90 gram gel and that spill should be okay though
5:33
10K to go the ride of the shoe the plate impulse just phenomenal
5:42
I feel like you could just keep the legs turning over that plate just
5:50
smooths out everything really helps in the transition when you're kind of
5:57
cresting an incline, you feel that heaviness as it flattens out or you just start descending
6:05
This shoe really gets you going. It's great. Downtown Boisey in the distance, heading back
6:21
You know what I was mistaken? Just kind of gets shoved down in the bottom of my..
6:27
pocket. Alright so this is not too bad during a 27k but at the tail end of a 50-mileer
7:08
roof kind of in between one step and two first time you're tired oh oh there we go
7:27
All right, so I hope that was interesting, going out for a little race with me
7:39
So you saw me take a big crash down there, so I guess we'll start from the bottom up and take a look at the outside
7:45
We've got 3.5 millimeter lugs here. They're kind of on the shallow side, and they're also kind of spread out
7:51
You don't really have the deepest traction here, okay? My fall in that race was probably 90% my own fall
7:59
I was running super fast, put my foot at an angle, and as you could see with these lugs
8:03
if you push them to the extreme on kind of loose sandy stuff you probably going to have a little bit of slippage and that what happened to me So the outsole I think could be a little bit deeper lugs but in most terrain they should be
8:17
fine, I should say. This shoe's meant for speed. It's not meant for deep mud
8:21
It's not meant for, I don't know, really rough and deep, rocky terrain, I would say
8:26
It could probably handle its own at certain ultra-type speeds, but you don't want to be pushing
8:32
on the edge of this outsole. Now let's move on up to the upper. I talked about during the race, this is probably the most secure fitting shoe of any of the super stack trail shoes
8:44
I was really impressed. I feel super locked in. I feel like this shoe from the ball of the foot back is, it's like glued to the bottom of my foot
8:54
And the heel hold especially is exceptional. Inside the heel, I'll move up. I'm a little concerned. The lower heel area is pretty
9:03
rigid in there it's actually very firm there's a little bit of flex just the
9:08
material itself and the lower heels firm but during the race 16 miles a little
9:13
over two hours hard running it didn't affect my heel at all I didn't even have any
9:17
hotspots so that's really I would say not an issue until further notice there's a
9:24
huge section of padding this is the biggest kind of ring of interior bolstering
9:30
in any of the super shoes for sure and maybe even normal trail shoes. Your heel is deep under this section of bolstering. Really, the best heel hold
9:40
I like the Tecton X3, but this one really, really locks me in like zero movement at all on the
9:46
heel. And like I said, under the midfoot, this shoe feels glued to the bottom of my foot
9:50
which is amazing. Moving on to the front, there's plenty of space in the tow box more so than
9:55
the previous Vective I tested. There's a little bit of taper, but not as much as that
10:01
previous one that I tested. This is very comfortable upper. I had no problems with my toes being
10:06
squeezed at all across the forefoot and in the front of the toe box. One thing I have to know
10:12
if you look at the rocker of this shoe, there's a really big toe sweep. So I do feel my big toe
10:20
and my second toe on the bottom of the shoe, which is a little bit different than the other shoes
10:26
As I'm running, I feel my big toe and my first toe on the bottom of the shoe, which is a little bit different than the other shoe, which is a little bit different. I'm running, I'm
10:31
on the bottom of the shoe, as if the front of this is pressing up into it
10:36
It's a little bit of pressure. It feels kind of a, it feels a little bit weird
10:40
I have to say, but maybe that's just something you have to get used to
10:44
Again, you have that efficiency of not flexing your toes. It's keeping your toes kind of flex
10:49
but in doing that, you know, the bottom of the shoe is pressing up against your toes
10:54
I didn't have any hotspots, no blisters, anything like that. Again, two hour run
10:59
That's something I wanna kind of, check out in a longer run. I have 100k coming up, Kodiak 100K, hopefully next weekend, so I'll see about that
11:09
And finally, the middle of the shoe, the midsole, North Face Dream Foam, it, I don't want to call it
11:16
firm, but it's firmer than some of the other super shoes, especially firmer, noticeably firmer than
11:23
the Tecton X3. Also, the Terex Speed Ultra has that real soft kind of road shoe
11:30
responsive bounce to it. This shoe is not quite there in terms of softness, but in terms of
11:37
responsiveness, it's 100% all there. It's probably a combination of the foam and also the carbon
11:44
fiber plate. This is probably the most responsive carbon fiber plate in a trail shoe that I
11:51
felt when you hit that midfoot, it really wants you to go. I mean, the combination of the foam and the
11:59
carbon fiber plate, the propulsive effect is definitely the strongest I fell in the trail shoe
12:04
And like I said with that upper fit and security it feels extremely stable I almost a kind of shock that you can have this much propulsive carbon fiber plate effect in a shoe and also be pretty stable The last point I going to mention here
12:23
some runners have had issues with these wings up front. And I have to say, I did notice it. I'm
12:31
going to play a clip as I'm talking about it here. This wing right here can tend to angle into your
12:38
foot as the foam compresses. I didn't feel anything on the rear wings, didn't feel anything on the
12:44
lateral wing, but the medial side, when you compress that foam, it seems to kind of bend into your
12:52
foot. Now, interestingly, I don't feel at all in my left foot. I know my right foot tends to
12:58
pronate very slightly more, so sometimes I notice differences when testing shoes in my right foot
13:03
in my right shoe more than my left foot. And I feel that kind of pressure on the inside of the ball of my foot from that wing
13:13
It wasn't an issue, but it is something that I have in my mind
13:17
If that field is it going to be more distinctive and more problematic over a longer race
13:21
So I would say it's probably hit or miss as to whether you will feel that or not
13:27
It's definitely there. It's definitely a thing. some runners, as in me and my left foot, I don't feel it at all
13:36
Some runners may think nothing of it. Some may find a debilitating pressure on the inside bowl of your foot
13:43
So, as you know, I'm a huge fan of the Tecton X3, and the big question here is
13:49
is this dethroning the Tecton X3 as the top ultra-distanceale shoe on the market
13:56
And my final answer would have to be, yes, Maybe. The Tecton X3 is a totally different shoe. It's softer. It has the carbon plate. It has a different feel. I'm going to actually do a super shoe roundup. This shoe, the X3, the speed ultra primarily, maybe a couple of other lighter weight super shoes in there. I'm going to do a separate video on that. But I will say this shoe feels faster. It feels more secure, more stable, more responsive. The edge with the Tecton X3 is that Piba cushioning
14:30
It's very soft. It feels very comfortable. The upper's a bit more relaxed. It's more comfortable
14:36
It may come down to preference. And I also say maybe because of that point of pressure with the wings
14:43
and also maybe the front rocker on the front of my toes and also this firmness in the rear heel
14:51
None of these things were an issue in my race. I'd say I felt the wing the most on my right foot
14:57
but the heel and the toe thing were noticeable pressure but not bad so I'm saying maybe
15:03
because I'm going to take these out for 100k 50 mile plus 100 mile kind of race I really can't say
15:10
if those would be problems in those type of longer distances if those things are not issues
15:17
during a longer ultra I would have to say that this is the top ultra shoe on the market right now
15:27
Oh, and by the way, Jeff V sent me these shorts. He said they were a little bit too racy for him
15:38
They were a size medium. The outer short fits very well for me, but the inner liner was a little bit baggy, so I swapped in my own custom liner
15:47
A couple of safety pins. Easy way to customize your shorts. So any questions, comments, please feel free to fire away in the comments section
16:03
I'll also be doing a written review on the Road Trail Run website
16:08
Thank you for watching. Pretty snazzy kit, huh
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