Darn near perfect!
Love these shoes for the grip and comfort. One not so small point is the lack of a toe cap for when I stub my toe on a rock! I miss that, please do bring it back. Helpful on rocky trails.
I want to love these! So much that I bought another pair and sized up and to no avail. My toes hate these shoes and the larger size made my ankles sore because they were just too big. Amazing grip, good cushion, just not for these feet.
Just wrapped up the Mogollon Monster 100M in the MAXX 2. Conditions were dry throughout, so did not have to deal with any mud. Shoe performed admirably, tackling both runnable track, highly technical terrain, and everything in between. Mid sole and heal cup held foot in place incredibly well. Shoes lived up to their stickiness on the rocks! The durability of the upper was great and did not tear on any of the rocks, roots, etc. Rock plate did its job perfectly, and does not make the shoe to stiff.
Only draw back was that the breathability. The shoe always felt warm, but then again it was 80F and we were running in a desert for 50% of the time.
I rate this shoe a 5 of 5. It lives up to its advertising.
AP
My daughter has been wearing these for cross country and absolutely loves them! Great grip, comfy and she believes they make her faster :). Definitely recommend!
Bought my VJ shoes for the OCR World Championship and they proved to be comfortable and grippy enough for obstacles.
First time using this shoes for Tough Mudder and they were great. 100% recommend
I love my new VJ MAXx2. They fit perfectly and are fun to run with on trail. Love the brilliant green color and the way they make my feet feel.
These shoes were recommended by a friend. I chose a pretty substantial run/hike for a first run in these bad boys and fell in love. Big fan and a convert. I also have a standard - wide! - foot and I sized up a half size and fit has been spot on for me. Love them planning to get another pair.
Love these shoes. Recently used them for a Spartan Super 10k and biut another pair specifically for training! Best I’ve used for OCR.
One of my all-time favorite shoes for OCR. The aggressive grip is perfect for the muddiest, toughest terrains. Definitely more comfortable than the previous model. Love having it back in rotation!
This thing is light and feels nice on even terrain, but the stack height and heel-toe drop is too much for very technical trails & stability overall. I also think your foot does not sit low enough within the shoe’s upper. I wore these twice and rolled my ankle on a fairly moderately slanted slab on the second go. Lifting the heel decreases stability (try to balance 1-foot on just your toes), so this is not really for east coast technical mountain running. Probably fine for west coast or smooth single track. I think the most recent VJ lineup is style over substance, & catering to a new crowd
Thank you for your review Brian. And, yes you are correct this shoe is not made for East Coast technical, rocky mountain running. It is designed to be more of a speed trail shoe as stated in the description.
Fantastic grip, wonderful in wet conditions. I cannot recommend this shoe enough. Very sad its being discontinued.
Can do it all, really happy with them and how they fit/feel/hold-up during my test runs and every day routine.
VJs all day!!
Incredible traction on wet slabs. I usually wear a 10.5 US and went down to a 10 they got great. Out of the box I was not a fan of the way the shoe fit, but after a 6.5 mile run the formed to my foot perfectly. Improvements for the shoe would be a more breathable upper that also drains better, a pull tab on the heel, and a tad bit more padding on the tongue. This is still my go to shoe for northeast mountains.
About to do my first obstacle race have used these on the trail and street and are working well!
I like how snug they are but flexible
I regretted wearing these outdoors and voiding my ability to return them, as I found the mouth of the shoe bites into my ankle in an uncomfortable way, and the shoe is too narrow at the middle part, meaning its easy for the ankle to twist one way or another and also the sides of the shoe are likely to split due to being too narrow at this point.
However, there is a lot of foam on the bottom of this shoe, giving them a lot of cushioning. The shoelaces seem tough and grippy, so they are unlikely to come untied.
Saturday I hiked 30 miles with 10000 feet of gain in Maine to New Hampshire and my feet feel fine. Amazing grip and comfortable. This is my second pair of Ultra 3.
After lots of testing of various shoes and careful thought I decided to use the VJ Ultra 3 for my most recent 100 miler through some pretty rugged territory. Longest run(s) before the race were a few 20s and a few shorter runs so went in with around 90 miles on them. Perfect shape for my feet. However, at around mile 40 I started to get chafing around the heel collar on both sides which became extremely painful by mile 60. It had caused a very straight line rip through my socks and turned bloody. Never seen this before, much less experienced it. Changing socks didn't help. Wish I would have taken pictures. I will probably buy another pair but won't go past 20 miles again. Thankfully I was able to hobble in, but a month later, still have blood blisters and remnants of rubbing. Hopefully V4 will solve this problem for me, as the rest was perfect (though the tongue could be a few mm taller). I did manage to analyze the heel afterwards but couldn't see anything obvious other than it appeared to taper in just a tad as opposed to many brands that flare out backwards.
I was very excited for this shoe based upon its natural foot shape, but unfortunately, it led to numerous issues. Due to the thin heel padding and tongue, as well as poor lock down, I experienced bilateral heel blistering. I tried to heel lock, which led to lace bite and blistering because of the thin tongue. I’m not one to blister, so that’s saying something. I reached out to customer service, but they were unwilling to process a return.
The first 50-75 miles in this shoe were amazing. Great fit, fantastic midsole, and standard VJ outsole excellence. Unfortunately, the midsole foam rapidly packed out and with less than 150 miles on them, I had to retire these shoes.
A smaller issue is it took awhile for the ankle collar to break in, leading to a lot of rubbing on my outer ankle bones at first. I taped over them and eventually it got better.
If the midsole durability can be improved while retaining the fantastic bounce it has when new, these shoes would be a winner because the rest of the design is great.
Theses are the most comfortable socks I have ever ran in. Breathable and cushion make for perfect sock for OCR and Trail.
The Ultra 3 is a new and different creature from VJ that feels designed to go fast and long on slightly less technical, more firm packed terrain.
It’s more similar to recent trail “super shoes” from Adidas and The North Face than the more aggressive, minimalist, orienteering style shoes we saw from VJ previously, and this new option is very welcome as it still comes with great lock down and the famously grippy outsole we appreciate so much.
I have 89 miles on my pair and can say the foam is bouncy but not too soft, the underfoot protection is great, rocker is smooth, and toe room is ample. The shoe also has felt increasingly stable as I’ve broken it in, making them feel capable on increasingly technical terrain. Will likely get a fresh pair for Mogollon 100 miler and Black Canyon 100k.
4/5 stars as the shoe is a bit wide/high volume for my narrow feet and the liveliness of the foam may be at the cost of longevity.
P.s. VJ sizing has been a bit unpredictable. So for sizing reference, I’m a 9.5(US) in the Xtrm2 and MaXx2, a 10.5 in the Ultra 2, and a 10 in the Ultra 3.
