Buy Montrail Men's Bajada Trail Running Shoe

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I've been hiking the Appalachian trail with these shoes until recently. I loved everything about them the fit, the weight, the breathability, and the dry time. However the one glaring issue I've found had with these have been durability. The shoes on average have only lasted about a month a pair before the mesh uppers on the inside of each shoe have completely blown out. It has happened with three different pairs of shoes, I eventually gave up and got a pair of salomons, they aren't as comfortable but so far they've lasted twice as long as my bajadas.

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I have the Outdry version of the Bajada, but here are my thoughts on these:

This is the best fitting shoe I have ever had on, period. I realise this is different for everybody but here is how it fit me the heel is really nice and secure, and the toebox is roomy, giving me enough space to never feel cramped in the front. I lace down pretty tight in the front, normal in the mid section and a bit more loose on top. This way the Bajada's stay securely on my foot, no friction anywhere, without feeling constricted.

I live next to some nice mountain trails and usually go out once or twice a week. On my last treks (for reference, roughly six hour treks of 20~24Km, 3000~3600 meter accumulated height difference) I never got any blisters or rough spots. I normally often get black toe nails even with large enough shoes on but the Bajada's gave me no problem in that sense. It is also nice to have nice light trail runners on and I don't feel I need a high boot for my ankles with these.

I personally also like the 10 mm heel to toe drop. There are a lot of more minimal trail runners coming out that for me and my back just don't work well. The Bajada do. They are great on the approach or the road and on the trail itself as well.

What I would really like to see though is a rock plate in the soul. After negotiating bigger and smaller rock trails for 3~4 hours I start to feel it in the ball of my foot, and at the end of the day I feel more bruised there than with other trekking shoes. I might try to make a small rock plate myself.

The other thing is some better stitching of the upper, I haven't had any problems yet myself, but it looks a bit fragile. I personally always put a thin layer of shoegoo on the rand with all my shoes just to reinforce them, I might do that to any potential problems with the upper.

The Outdry layer on my version has worked well for me up till now. One time of rain was alright, foot feels plenty of ventilated while staying quite dry (foot gets wet due to the low cut without gaiters) but I haven't been standing inside a river or anything. I just know I won't get immediately soaked. If you normally don't like gore-tex versions of trail runners because of the heat and how slow they dry, you still might want to try these. The non-Outdry version might be more breathable and quick drying, something that would need to be tested, but I am very pleased up till now.

Overall the Bajada is a really great, neutral shoe, with a caveat for continuous hard rocky treks.

Will update after more usage.

UPDATE After upping my day treks to mostly 38~50Km I'm switching to other shoes. I would love to have the Bajadas work for me but the bruised soles of my feet on rocky trails are taking a toll. Not just on my soles, but on the tendons and small muscle in my feet and ankles. Not sure if it's the soft mid sole or not but I have to check more and feel more where I step, while I want to go faster and more smooth. I hear some people take insert like Superfeet for more protection. Perhaps it would work.

If you are looking for another shoe with a narrow cut, I have tried Asics which were alright and Salomons which were great fitting.

Have fun!

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I bought a pair of these shoes in September 2012. I loved everything about them in the first few months of wearing them. They drain well, give good traction on trails, and are not bad on roads when you need to get to the next section of trail. The mesh is not that tight. I'm sure this makes for good ventilation and helps with drainage after stepping in a puddle. However, after running in these for about 3 months, I bumped/snagged the top on a stick on a single track trail and put a nice big hole through the mesh. Figuring I'd get another 2-3 months out of the shoes, I sewed up the hole and moved on. About a week later, I bumped into another stick with the mesh and tore a nice inch and a half hole in the mesh on the side where it meets the rubbed toe guard. This one was irreparable.

All in all, I liked everything about the shoe except the mesh top. If you're running trails with lots of debris on them, you may want to consider a shoe with a tighter, more durable mesh.

Honest reviews on Montrail Men's Bajada Trail Running Shoe

A shoe that has been badly let down by the poor design of the uppers, why? they simply are not tough enough to withstand harsh trails, wear and tear you would normaly experience, but with these the mesh will simply fall apart at the slightest knock, worse to come , the inners will pop out, all this after 150 miles max, shame they have a great base, but sadly not supported by the rest of the show, are Montrail bothered, NO!

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They are just wonderful. I really like them and they fit very well... They are just wonderful. I really like them and they fit very well...