Buy Keen Men's A86 TR Trail Running Shoe

Customer Ratings:

I just my A86 in the mail two weeks ago. I was impressed right away with how light they are. Talk about your minimalist shoe. I felt like i put on a sock. I've put about 50 miles on my A86 shoes so far. I'm just converting this year to the zero drop shoe. Here in Utah it's all the rage. Because of the zero drop, you have to change your running form strike flat instead of a heavy heal strike. That's taking a bit of getting used to for me. They say they fit true to size, but i found mine to run about a half size small. So far i really like the shoe.

Pro's

1. Super light shoe

2. Excellent fit and plenty of room in the toe box

3. Pretty breathable.

4. Well constructed and flash colors to choose from

5. Trail Runner magazine really liked it and gave it an "Editors Choice Award"

Con's

1. The ankle box is unusually large (From Heal to Laces) I'm still undecided if i like it yet.

I will update my review after a couple more weeks running on it.

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I love these..I have had 2 pairs as I wore a hole in the toe box of the 1st ones. I run trails 95% of the time but did a road marathon this past labor day and was very happy with the shoes. Yes my feet were sore but nothing to bad. I finished in 3:30 which was decent and will continue running in them!

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Love these shoes. The photos really dont show how cool they look. My son thinks they are comfortable and time will only tell if they are tough enough. My child has a wider foot and he never said that they felt tight.

Honest reviews on Keen Men's A86 TR Trail Running Shoe

At the end/bottom of the laces, there is a design flaw that causes the 'toe cover' to rub against my big toe when I tighten the laces. The toe cover sort of folds in on itself and creates a wedge that rubs on outer part of my big toe, creating discomfort. Within a half hour of any type of activity in these shoes, the discomfort turns into a mild pain. Because I didn't address the issue, I grew a grape size blister on my big toe the first time I ran with these shoes.

The next issue is the traction tits/cleats under the shoe. I've put less than a hundred miles on these shoes and the area where my feet strike the ground are already flattening. Now, granted, I have put just a little more miles on pavement than on trails, so this is partially due to user error. My running path in my neighborhood goes through trails and pavement and it's a little hard to find shoes with good traction for both.

What I do love about these shoes is how breathable they are! I run through puddles, mud, dirt, and back to pavement on a regular basis. Theses shoes are so breathable that I can literally feel water draining out of the shoe sides and wind/air coming into the shoes, drying my feet off.

I run with socks and without socks, depending on the weather and/or if I plan on running through water/mud. Other than the issue with my big toe mentioned above, these shoes handle sock-less running just fine (I use a band-aid and a corn cushion to address my big toe issue). Unlike a certain other popular minimalist "free 3.0" shoe, which digs into the back of my heels and practically require socks on 24/7.

Another thing I love about these shoes are the lace design. With an exception to the toe rubbing part, the design of the laces allow me to tighten the shoe like a glove from the top rather than through each pair of eyelets.

So with all of this being said, I truly hope that Keen doesn't abandon this line of shoes, but rather plan on improving these couple of points. As it is, I will not be repurchasing these shoes once my pair becomes worn out. I have a pair of Nike Free 3.0, as well as a pair Fila Skeletoes, both of which have issues all on their own. I plan on moving onto Merrel, Vibrams, or Innov8 next. However, if Keen provides a revised version of these shoes that mainly address the toe issue, I'll be back on board with Keen.

I plan on running a 5k mud obstacle race here soon (6/1/13) and I intend on using these shoes. I'll update this review with how they handle the race!

**UPDATE 6/18**

I ran my mud race on 6/1 like I mentioned above. The shoes held up great. Even after being fully submersed in water as well as being ankle deep in pure mud, the shoes survived. Everyone I went with, donated their shoes after the event. I brought mine home and threw them in a bucket of water (too tired to clean it that day), then clean them in the washer the next day with a load of laundry. I let them dry in the sun and they were as good as new with the exception of the laces being a bit frayed. I bought a pair of lock laces and threw them on and I am still using the shoes for trail running. I have a couple more mud runs coming up and I plan on using the same pair of shoes yet again. I'm gonna put these shoes through hell, lol.

Unfortunately, due to the design flaw I mentioned above (where the shoe folds in on its self and rubs my big toe) I am still not planning on repurchasing. Well, I actually bought my pair on a different website that as a daily sale that so happen to be these shoes. I got my pair for $30. If I saw the price again, I definitely repurchase, but I don't think they're worth a penny more.

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These are my 14yr olds favorite shoes but they held up for less than 4 months and started to pull away from the sole. Time for a new pair. I wouldn't buy them again at full price.