Inov-8 Road-Xlite 155 Review

Prior to TransRockies I knew little of Inov-8 and had only seen their shoes on a handful of runners, I brushed them off as a fringe shoe for trail runners. The more I learned about their minimalist shoes, the more intrigued I was, especially when I learned that they made road running shoes. Inov-8 was a sponsor of TransRockies, handing out goodies and taking care of the runners.

One night after a TransRockies dinner I was heading back to my tent and walked by Peter Maksimow and Alex Nichols' tent, both guys are sponsored by Inov-8 and had their F-Lite 230's outside their tent airing out. I looked around and didn't see Alex or Pete so I took the liberty of inspecting their shoes and really liked the look and feel of their Inov-8 shoes. Neither Alex nor Pete wore the same size shoes as me, so I gently placed their shoes back down making sure not to incriminate myself.



Inov-8 is a British company that specializes in off-road running shoes but has recently started making road shoes. They pride themselves in making functional and lightweight shoes. Inov-8 has a loyal following and is popular in England and making huge strides in the USA. Since I don't do a ton of trail running, I opted to pick up a pair of their road racing flats which I believe were introduced to the market in 2010.

The Inov-8 Xlite 155 weigh in at 6.1 ounces and have a heel height of 10mm and a forefoot height of 5mm. That is a seriously low heel height and forefoot height, with a heel drop of 5mm.

My shoes arrived today and since I had a five mile tempo run planned, I was elated. Anytime you get a new pair of shoes it's added motivated to get a run in, but when you have a workout planned it's even better to get a new pair of flats. Out of the box I saw a fantastic mesh upper that looked comfortable and breathable. When I slipped the shoes on the first thing I noticed was the large tongue on the shoe, at first I found it peculiar but it felt comfortable, so I didn't think much of it as it is a signature of Inov-8 shoes. The shoe also has a relatively wide toe box that I found comfortable. Flipping the shoe over you'll notice that the shoe has minimal traction on it; it's a racing flat, minimalist to the core like a Forumula-1 racing tire.



After knocking out a five mile tempo run, eight miles total, I was impressed with the Xlite 155's. I loved the upper, extremely comfortable and breathable, especially after my disappointment with the Nike LunarSpiders. I'm also a fan of the wider toe box, as I feel it allows my foot to move more naturally, and quite a few racing flats feature a narrow toe box that is less than comfortable. As with all Inov-8 shoes they are stylish, they do a great job of making an aesthetically pleasing shoe. The Xlite 155's are priced at $110.



In conclusion, this is one of the best shoes that I have worn in the last 3-4 years, I was impressed. I had high expectations from Inov-8 and they did not let me down, I'm a fan. The one downside with Inov-8 is they are hard to find, you can buy them online at Running Warehouse or Zappos. Checking their online locator Boulder Running Company and Colorado Running Company are the only retailers carrying them in Colorado. These will not be my last pair of Inov-8 shoes.