XA Elevate review

By: Sean Parker on 23 July 2019

My first pair of Salomon shoes for a couple of years. I was a user of the XT wings for running and XA pro 3d for many years but the recent iterations of these shoes have been too narrow in the midfoot and I switched to la Sportiva. The XA elevate came on sale and I decided to take a punt - they fit very much like the old XT wings but without the plastic support structure around the midsole. That said, they feel stable, if firm, for running and great for bushwalking. i tend to use trail runners for pack walking and day walks so these fit the bill nicely with good support on sidehilling and very good drainage - these features are achieved with the internal mesh that holds the foot firmly but allows the drainage that a full rand wouldn't. These do fit slightly narrow in the midfoot but there is enough give in the fabric that they stretch after the first couple of wears. There is good room in the forefoot and toe, in fact very good for a european trail runner that tend to run pretty narrow. The sole grips very well but like all trail runners lacks some bite in mud. There is enough heel to accommodate a gaiter but not enough to be intrusive or to be too 'hiking shoe - like'. they are a little stiff and slappy on tarmac so more of dedicated trail runner in my opinion - not as soft as the old XT wings and not as rigid as hte XA pro 3d. For running there is a nice transition from heel to toe and good ground feel. I don't like being too insulated from the ground and these shoes are a good blend of protection and ground feel. They have a high drop but feel pretty stable. Salomon do the best heel cups in the business, I reckon, and whilst this doesn't feel as deep as the older shoes I have used they treat my tendinitis pretty well so I am happy. The colour is pretty ugly, I suppose, but they are covered in mud now so it doesn't really matter. Service from wild earth was very good - i chose the free postage and they arrived in country Victoria within a few days.