Topo Athletic Mens MTN Racer 4 Lightweight Comfortable 5MM Drop Trail Running Shoes Athletic Shoes for Trail

I have several pairs of topos and love all of them. Probably my favorite shoe brand. These are great! Snug in the waist but roomy toe box. Vibram outsole is super grippy even on wet rock. Only thing that would make them better is if they were 0 drop but 5 mm is fine. Read more

These are great shoes witha very comfortable heel area. I wear them on trail walks and at the Gym and when I travel. My feet always feel cared for after a long day. Read more

I'm a (former?) Altra wearer. I have duck feet, Fred Flintstone feet, whatever you call the paddle shaped things at the end of my legs. My foot size is 9.75 in US sizing. 44 in Euro sizing. This means that if a shoe runs large I can sometimes wear a US 10. If other reviewers say a shoe runs wide I can consider it. Info provided only for your comparison. This shoe- Topo MTN Racer 4, in a size 10.5 is working for me so far. I have the street version of the same shoe in a 10 and I have run in them both. 10.5 is better for my big toes and the inside of my stride around the ball of my foot. Both have good mid-foot hold though in this shoe at 10.5 both lacing and sock selection (not slippy socks) are crucial. I'm using these as training shoes for an Ultra. I could probably get by with them for the actual run, but I don't find these shoes to be great at keeping the wet off of the top of my feet, though they do work well with micro-spikes in the snow. But that's not what they were designed for. I was considering adding a layer of Shoe Goo to the top to help with that, but this winter is proving to be short here in the Seattle area. Maybe next year if I haven't destroyed them by then. Anyway, these shoes are very comfortable on trail, though a rock plate would be awesome. I'm not a fan of the laces provided but they work. The gaiter keeper on the front of the lace plate is too small for my gaiters. I'll probably replace them with a zip tie or something. Topo does make gaiters that are supposedly compatible with this shoe, but I don't have them to comment. Great traction in the wet, springy enough in the stride, good toe-off, great braking from the sole. No complaints whatsoever as to performance. Colorways were "okay." I went with the grey which cleans up nicely and isn't as blah as the others. That's obviously totally subjective. In short, I would buy them again. Read more

Background: These are my eighth pair of Topos / my fourth Topo trail shoe. I previously ran in two pairs of V1 Ultraventures, a long gone, awesome shoe for me, and a V1 pair of Pursuits. On the road: multiple versions of the UltraFly. The Pursuits were an upgrade in added forefoot stack, though the zero drop took time to get used to. The overall fit of the V1 Ultraventures were hard to beat & the Pursuits just weren’t quite there for me with a sloppier feeling toe box. FWIW - I get a couple seasons out of trail shoes as a lot of my miles are still on the road, hence the older model mentions. Enter the MTN Racer 4: - 5mm drop of the OG Ultraventure - 28 mm forefoot stack of my previous Pusuits - Fit on my foot (very subjective) just feels more dialed in like the OG Ultraventure - Tread is as awesome as ever. Seriously, these things grip! - The insole took a couple runs to get used to (beaded foam) - even felt a little slick at first, but now feels just normal. - The gray colorway looks nice. I’ve not really loved a lot of the Topo trail shoe colorways, but the gray still looks decent if you were wearing them post run or hike out and about. - If the design planning had been different, these could have been an evolution of the original Ultraventure (which became something very different in a second model). This basically feels like a higher stack height model of the OG Ultraventure, with updated upper (and probably lighter foam, which I am not adequately crediting). I run on rocky trails (sharp rocks / hard rock surface / loose rocks) with a lot of roots and sometimes steep elevation change). Not a lot of smooth paths to be had. Great underfoot protection and grip. The shoe locks onto my foot just right after a few rounds of adjustments. While I’m early in my miles, these are off to a good Topo start. I’ve also taken to wearing my Topos instead of hiking boots for day hikes in the Colorado Mountains and can recommend. Read more

Just what I was looking for. Great on the pavement now time for mountain trails. Read more

Improved from the MTN Racer 3--the Velcro gaiter attachment is much better than the old proprietary set up from previous models. The upper fits better with less five on technical terrain. Cushion, traction, etc., are all excellent. Haven't tested the drainage yet (pretty dry these days I'm Tucson). Currently my favorite trail shoe. Read more

All very well. Read more

The shoe is awesome, but the insole fell apart in 4 days. It is made of little foam beads. Wish they had a better insole. Seems like they could have done some better testing before they put them into production. Update - I reached out to Topo directly. They gave me a voucher for new insoles, so I ordered a pair of the standard ortholights. A+ on customer service. I still think the insole that comes with the shoe is garbage. Read more