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 but it looks 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 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. There is a normal non-Outdry version too 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.
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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