ProView – Inov-8 Men’s TrailFly Speed Review

La Niña showed up in full force this year in Northwest Montana. We are at 200% of seasonal snow averages and with no signs of stopping, mother nature produced variable testing grounds for the Inov-8 TrailFly Speed. Inov-8 have big shoes to fill as more and more technical trail/speed shoes are coming to market each year. 

We were growing comfortable with a long and moderate autumn in NW Montana, but all things must come to an end. In this case, autumn ended abruptly with massive amounts of snow and consistently cold temps. The ever present battle of holding on to summer hobbies vs the call of early season skiing rages forth. This year, I have been trying hard to hold on to my favorite summer hobby of trail running as long as possible. Snowy trails this time of year are a true joy to run on, and they gave the TrailFly Speed plenty of challenge during testing. I had a few end of season 5ks and other speed attempts that I was training for that allowed me to use the shoe in a variety of terrain and workouts. As a running footwear enthusiast, my favorite type of shoe is a speed shoe, so I was itching to get the TrailFly Speed on trail and moving fast. 

Fit/Comfort

The “brand-new anatomical shape” of the TrailFly Speed is what caught my eye and excited me about trying the shoe. Inov-8 claims that the shoe hugs the natural contours of your foot with the heel fitting snug, giving you that locked down feel. The toe box widens allowing your toes to splay, and giving you a comfortable, secure and responsive feel on trail. While my heel felt secure and my toes had plenty of room to spread, the stock “Boomerang Footbed” felt very slippery on steep and technical terrain. I tried some aftermarket footbeds like the Sole Active Wide and the Superfeet Run Support with great improvements to the security in the toe box. Overall, the TrailFly Speed is a comfortable option for folks with wider feet looking for a fast and technical trail shoe. 

Look/Style

If I’m being 100% honest, Inov-8’s shoes have always seemed a bit “brick-like”. The TrailFly Speed is one of the first shoes from Inov-8 that genuinely caught my attention and made me want to run in it. The colors in the past have been fairly bland and unoriginal, but I feel that they took some risks with the TrailFly Speed, especially in the Women’s colors. I hope this new speed trail shoe is a taste of what is to come from Inov8. 

Features

The TrailFly Speed’s features are simple and effective for the goal of the shoe. One of the main features to pay attention to is the “Graphene-Enhanced Rubber G-grip”. During initial runs, I was impressed with how the grip held on the steep and loose trails. Throughout the testing period, the snow started falling and it did not let up. I tried the Inov-8 with and without trail spikes depending on how icy the conditions were, and I found that the grip was really solid on most snowy conditions except for exceedingly hard packed ice and snow. I ended up doing most of my runs during the second half of my testing without trail spikes because I felt like I didn’t need them. Now, I am not condoning a false sense of wild confidence on ice and snow, but there is something to be said about the quality of the outsole. Other features of note, such as the anatomical fit of the shoe and its “Boomerang Footbed”, are fairly simple and straightforward. It works for what the shoe was designed for, but the terrain and distance of a more extreme adventure would overwhelm the TrailFly Speed’s features. 

Function/Performance

In my book, a shoe’s performance is second only to comfort. I was excited to see how the TrailFly Speed compared to other speed trail shoes, as I have been doing a lot of trail races and FKT (fastest known time) attempts this year on local routes. Some shoes that I have been using for speed this year are the Hoka Tecton X3, The North Face Vectiv Pro 2, and the Adidas Speed Ultra. The Speed Ultra is a minimalist and lightweight technical trail running shoe, so I felt that it was the closest comparison to the TrailFly Speed. The Inov-8 felt fast and poppy while maintaining comfortability on uneven and rocky terrain. I felt that it excelled on technical descents when the ground was loose and uncertain. I feel that the wider toe box falls short in specific scenarios like off-camber or off-trail running where you need the shoe to feel locked to your forefoot. My impression is that the TrailFly Speed will be my go to for shorter races or training runs that involve a lot of elevation change and fast trails. I will leave the off-trail and off-camber running to the more locked down Speed Ultra or Vectiv Pro 2. 

Durability/Construction/Weight

Inov-8 excelled in the construction and weight of the TrailFly Speed. Coming in at 270 grams per shoe, it is very comparable to some of the top shoes in the same speed/trail category. Given the testing period was only one month, the durability of the shoe wasn’t put to the full test, but throwing every rocky trail at it showed how durable the construction is. Both the upper and the outsole held up very well to the sharp trails in the Rockies, however, the lack of a rock plate in the thin 18mm forefoot midsole allowed sharper rocks to push through and cause quite a bit of pain on more technical trails. 

Friendliness to the Earth

Inov-8’s sustainability section on their website does not go very in depth on their practices, and most of the page revolves around their “Renov8” recycled gear program. The program involves bringing any used or unwanted Inov-8 gear to one of their UK stores (sorry other countries), and receiving 20% off your next purchase in store or online. On the main sustainability page, there is very little mentioned about practices other than their initial sustainability strategy in 2020, the creation of Renov8, and Renov8’s achievements since its start in 2023. As far as information about sustainability practices go, Inov-8 is sub-par. I would love to see more data on their carbon emissions, recycling practices, giving back to the community, material usage, etc. 

The Final Word

I had a wonderful time trying out the Inov-8 TrailFly Speed on the snowy trails around Whitefish, MT. It surprised me with its incredible grip and stability, as well as its ample toe room and comfort. The TrialFly Speed struggles when the terrain gets too 3-dimensional and the thin midsole and insole limit the length of run they excel on. This shoe is made for the runner seeking more toe and forefoot room in a shoe that feels fast and peppy on shorter trail runs and races.  

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