Ultra 3 Navy

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.

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.

Ultra shoes are very durable and supportive on all types of terrain.