Built on the popular Kinvara platform this shoe has a lot to live up to, and largely delivers. I bought this shoe to serve as my winter, trail, and general bad weather trainer; with good grip, good comfort, and a grippy outsole, this shoe delivers nicely. The Nomad's upper is nicely constructed and very warm; the weather resistant "jacket" does, however, come at a cost; the shoe does not breathe or vent well. My feet were very warm and sweaty after a 12-mile run. That warmth will be a blessing as the temps start to drop.
The outsole design is unique, eschewing the typical deep lugs for a broad interlocking hexagonal pattern. The design works, and provides excellent grip on wet grass, mud, dirt and gravel. Beyond that, I never felt like I was wearing a trail shoe when running on pavement. Flex is excellent for a trail shoe, and response is also good.
The Nomad, being a Kinvara relative, uses the same midsole design features and characteristics. It's a low heel drop, mostly neutral riding shoe, with just a touch of motion control. I have a narrow heel, wide last (forefoot) at 103mm, and arches that rival St. Louis's Gateway Arch. The shoe is snug (which I like) on the forefoot and captured my heel nicely; I could have done with a little more arch support by the end of the 12-miler, but without an aftermarket or custom insole, that's pretty common for my feet.
Fit was right where I expected it. In Nike's I run in Men's size 9. These and Hoka's I run 9.5.
Do not look for this shoe to compare to Gore-Tex lined, aggressively lugged shoes for running across scree. It's niche is for light / occasional trail use, and cold/wet/muddy conditions. In that niche, it excels.
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Reviews with images
A running/trail shoe confused about what it wants to be
I've purchased Saucony off and on for years, with great experiences with all my purchases. Frankly, I don't know how I feel about these.Here are several initial impressions I've made while running in them today:1. These are not, in my opinion, worthy of being used as a dedicated trail shoe. My run today covered cross country paths, walking trails, creek crossings, technical ascents and descents and everything in between. Over the course of my entire run, these only excelled during the cross country and walking trail portions. During every other phase, these lack traction and stability. I slipped close to a dozen times and I would consider myself a very conservative runner on trails. These simply are absolutely NOT going to cut it for anyone that runs advanced trails.2. They have a very awkward fit. As others have said, the tongue on these is very short. It's not a huge problem but is strange. Also, while the toe box is wider than normal in terms of not tapering as much as most shoes do, it's still fairly narrow as is the rest of the shoe. I purchased the correct size and the size that I've always worn in Saucony and these fit very oddly. The fit almost seems to want me to wear these without socks. Either way, they're definitely a bit narrow and a bit small in all areas. I could've moved up a half size.3. While I think these are nonsense for advanced trails, I think they'd be perfect for regular running. They are very comfortable, have a nice fit once on, have some nice touches material wise and feel good overall. I find this very odd because instead of being marketed as a do all trail runner, these should've been marketed as a runner that can handle rain and generally bad weather. As that, these are good.Overall, I have a purpose for these so I will keep them. I gave them a 3 star not because they aren't good shoes, but because they simply are NOT do everything trail runners, which they're marketed as.In short:If you just want to run in these on the road or cross country paths, they're fine but consider moving up a half size if you're on the tail end of your size. On the other hand, if you're buying these as your go to trail runner, I can't in good conscious recommend these. Please really consider how you intend to use these and follow the above.Cheers!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2016
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Top reviews from other countries
Juan Sebastian Iñiguez Rodriguez
Muy buenos tenis para trail running
Reviewed in Mexico on April 6, 2018
Mr. Peter Shenton
I found this shoe a little tight on the top ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2018