I know, I know, it took me a while to make this review. It took me so long the TraiFfy Ultra G300 isn’t even for sale on the website of Inov-8. But, it’s still for sale in a lot of (online) shops. Often for a discount, and that’s a good thing because the TrailFly Ultra G300 is a pretty good trail shoe.
Inov-8 started a new line of trail running shoes. Still called the TrailFly, but now the brand is selling the TrailFly Max and the TrailFly Zero. As you can guess, the Max has a lot of cushioning, while the Zero has little.
The Max could be the improvement I’ve been waiting for. See, the TrailFly Ultra G300 is a good shoe. A very good shoe. It was just missing one thing for ultras: cushioning. I’ve put the shoe to the test. As you might know by now, I don’t believe in running once or twice on a pair of shoes and reviewing it. I believe in running hundreds of kilometres in a shoe. On different terrain. In different weather conditions. So I did. I ran in this shoe in the mud, in the snow, through the water, on the asphalt, on the grass and on the sand.
As for the grip, it’s good. Except – strangely enough – on asphalt. When it rains, I find the shoe a bit slippery. Especially when you want to speed up, the forefoot slips away. In all other conditions and on other terrains, I had no problems. Of course, on icy parts in winter, I slipped, but I haven’t found a shoe that doesn’t.
I was especially pleased with how easy it was to run in the SuperFly Ultra G300 on technical terrain. I’ve done a lot of my trail and ultra runs in the Brooks Caldera (six and seven). I love that shoe because of the cushioning. Yet, when I run on technical terrain, with a lot of rocks and boulders, I often end up ‘next to my shoe’. At least, that’s how it feels. My foot slides to the side and it feels like I am over the edge of the sole.
In the Inov-8 I don’t have that. The shoe stays ‘on my foot’. The only place it could be a bit more snug is on the inside of my foot; around the arch. I have some space there. It has to do with the low arch of my foot.
The other ‘foot problem’ I have is that my feet are pretty wide. Yet, the Inov-8 has enough room for my pinky toe to be comfortable. Around the ball of my foot, I could do with a bit more space.
My heel locks nicely in place, without the shoe being too tight. My heel can slide a bit, which I like. I mean, when you’re running trails, your socks often get wet, because of all the mud and river crossings. Or on a hot day, your socks get wet because your feet are sweating. If the heel is too tight, it gives too much friction, resulting in blisters. With the SuperFly I don’t have that problem. Not on the left, not on the right. Which sounds weird, but on the left I run without heel lock and on the right I run with.
Size 48 (UK13, US14) – yes, I have big feet – gives me enough space at the front on the downhills. If shoes are too tight, I always end up with blue toenails and painful toes. The SuperFly fits nicely while keeping my toes happy.
I run in ON on the road, Brooks, and Altra on the Trail. For all these brands, I have size 48. Well, for Altra I had, as they changed their shoe sizes. 48 is now a bit too small. But for Inov-8, the shoes are true to their size.
A big thumbs up for the shoelaces on the Inov-8. I know, it’s a stupid thing, but with my Altras and Brooks I can’t use the laces the shoes come with if I want to run with a heel lock. The laces are not long enough. Inov-8 comes with laces that make a heel lock possible.
The tongue of the SuperFly is tin. Just like the Hoka Speedgoat. I have to admit I like that. It feels like it stays in place better than if the tongue is cushioned.
The first time I put the G300 on, the shoes did feel a bit plastic on the outside in my hands. But as soon as I had them on my feet, I was happy.
The SuperFly Ultra 300 is Inov-8’s ultra shoe. I like shoes with cushioning when I run an ultra. The first runs in this shoe felt hard, but the more I ran on them, the more I got used to them. Either the shoe became softer.
However, the cushioning never felt as comfortable as the Brooks Caldera. It’s good, up to 50 kilometres or 5 hours. I used them as my race shoe for the Lighthouse Trail in the Netherlands and after 5,5 hours my feet became painful. That race had a lot of mud, but also a lot of gravel roads and a lot of sand.
I used them for a 6,5 hour training run (50k), which included a lot of hiking and my feet were fine. So it depends a lot on the terrain you’re running on.
So far I’ve done 575 kilometres on these Inov’s. They still look good. There is a little hole in the upper mesh, which is the result of a confrontation with a blackberry bush. The sole looks pretty okay. The lugs on the heels – left more than right – show some wear and tear.
The cushioning still feels the same. The upper still looks good. So a new outsole would do the trick for another 500k.
I bought a new pair of the SuperFly Ultra G300. That’s how much I like this shoe. I’m happy to wear it in training and in races, as long as they are not longer than 50k or six hours. I will take my time to break them in, as I’m noticing that the cushioning is getting better after 100k.
For longer runs, on less technical terrain I prefer the Books Caldera, because of the cushioning. Long, technical ultras I prefer to run on the Altra Olympus 5. So, as often with trail run shoes, it depends on the terrain, the weather conditions, and the length of the course which shoes I would go for. But for anything up to 50k you can’t go wrong with these SuperFly Ultras.
