The North Face Fire Road Trail Running Shoes (For Men)

This review is for a previous pair of this shoe. The ones I just ordered (haven't worn) are being returned this week.

Sizing is perfect at 11.5. Immediately comfortable. Used so far for walking, running on roads and small hikes with a 12kg child on the back. Survived all so far. Minimal waterproofing. Good for its purpose. Sole strength looks promising for rockier trails.

I have a difficult time finding shoes that fit. I was happy with the initial fit and feel of these shoes. I am disappointed in their durability. They didn't last a year. The soles are peeling off of the mid sole at both the front and rear of the shoe, the tread is almost flat at the heel and the fore foot, and the mid sole appears to breaking down. These may be good for someone to use as a dedicated trail running shoes but they are not good for everyday wear.

Over the last 5 years I've found myself purchasing North Face shoes exclusively. They fit well and the overall quality is what I need in a shoe. I've watched other manufacturers quality decline and as far as I can tell the first pair I bought is the same quality as the latest pair I bought. Plus, you can't bear Sierra's prices!

The show provides stability with my slight pronation. The forefront of the shoe could be better but for the price and quality of the shoe I give the thumbs up.

shoes were made for me!!

These went straight from the box to a 12 mile run on a rutted, crusty dirt road. This is really never a wise move but they felt very comfortable and the fit was good when I tried them on so figured what the hell. It didn't take me too long though to realize this is in fact more of a road shoe that happens to look like a trail shoe. This is not necessarily a bad thing though if it's used for its intended purpose...running on mostly flat fire roads and trails or even asphalt. On the plus side the shoe is adequately cushioned and is overall comfortable and transitions well enough, fairly lightweight too...oh and it's a good looking shoe as well if that sort of thing matters. On the negative side this is not a nimble shoe. My foot seems to ride on top of this platform instead of feeling integrated (as I do in my Montrail streaks, for example) so my foot was constantly shifting around inside the shoe on the uneven surface. The heel fit is pretty sloppy, the tongue is too short and slides to the side...though this didn't cause any discomfort. The outsole is not aggressive enough...in fact I've gotten better traction on slippery off road surfaces in many of my road shoes. Bottom line: This is an average road shoe that looks like a trail shoe. It's comfortable and works well for its intended purpose...road running and smooth surface off road running. Seems to be well made too. This is not a technical trail shoe so don't be fooled by its technical look.

This shoe is very lightweight, even at a size 14. The shoe is pretty minimal, which is great, but DOES have some heel cushioning, more than my other trail shoes. This is a great travel-and-don't-bring-separate-running-shoes shoe. It probably wouldn't work well in the extreme cold. Not a lot of toe protection against rocks, but it's not marketed as a hardcore trail shoe.

This shoe is perhaps the weirdest fitting running/trail shoe I have ever tried on or owned. I have a narrow foot with a high arch and this shoe is TOO narrow in the toe box! I've NEVER tried on a shoe this narrow in the front. It actually has a pointy toe like a women's dress shoe that is SO uncomfortable. Also, it is very shallow meaning, when your foot goes into it, the sides of it barely come up the sides of your foot so it feels like the shoe is about to fall off all the time even with the laces tight. And finally the sizes are so off. I've NEVER worn a size 13 athletic shoe, I wear a size 14 in athletic shoes and at that size they are usually either snug or a bit of room, perfect basically. These shoes in a size 14 are MONSTEROUSLY huge. I had at least an inch of space in the toe box, so I reordered them in a size 13 thinking that would be perfect. But to my surprise, the size 13 was crazy tiny!!! One size and it dropped down like 1-1.5" in size. I've never changed 1 shoe size and had such a HUGE change in size. Unreal. Other than that, lol, they look like nice shoes and like they would be great if it weren't for all the horrible fit issues and sizing. I am very disappointed.

Took them for a run and they were really comfortable. I got a 13, but wish they came in size 12.5. That's just an unfortunately common gap in sizes produced. I think these are a great choice for a thru-hiker with feet a little on the narrow side. They look pretty good, too.