| Author: |
ben brockway |
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'All time classic, the shoe we love to hate...' |
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| Strengths: |
Unbelievable performance on really claggy ground, the sole unit is superb, the midsole so thin you can feel every nubbin beneath your feet. |
| Weaknesses: |
Blue and yellow? They look absurd, but then you're a fellrunner, so you're used to that. They're not much good on slimy rock, but then nothing is. They're thin, there's no padding to speak of at all, they hurt your ankles and your feet if you get the wrong size, and after a really good season they can fall apart completely. You will swear at them, cry at them, throw them at walls in petulant anger, fall over in them, slip off things, trip over them and then put them back on and do it all again. Road running is really bad in them too... |
| Overall: |
There's nothing else like a pair of Walshes. All these "trailruning" shoes that are advertised would just be destroyed in the kind of conditions these eat for dinner. They're not trail running shoes, they're scree, clag, bog, grass, heather, mud, boulder and river running shoes. They're thin, light, devoid of padding and they're wonderful. They epitomise the absurdity of fell-running. SPECIAL NOTE of interest to anyone thinking of buying them:
Pete Bland has a demo shoe in his shop of the new improved PB2. Due out spring '02 it's quite different. Upper is black/yellow indestructible non-stretch fabric, so lighter as no need for a rand. Midsole and sole pretty much the same. Extensive testing shows them to be as close to indestructible as you can get, the sole will wear through several times before the uppers start to dehisce. So if you want the PB2 buy now, they won't be made after next spring - or wait for the new ones if you can last that long. |
| Breakdown |
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Overall Rating |
| Performance |
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100% |
| Reliability |
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100% |
| Value |
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100% |
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