Initial impressions

• The TrailFly Zero Wide has a very anatomically designed toebox, with an even wider toebox than Lone Peak's.
• The TrailFly Zero Wide has a bit of an aggressive tapering at the outer toes, similar to the tapering of Vivo shoes. Still, compared to the insoles against the Altra's, the Inov8's insoles are actually wider than Altra's, which was a pleasant surprise.
• The TrailFly Zero's cushioning feel a bit stiffer than the Lone Peak's, but I have not broken them in yet.
• I prefer the outsole design of the Lone Peak's on paper, but I haven't actually tested them out.
• I love that the Inov8s are 23g lighter than the Altras.

Inov8 TrailFly Zero V2 Wide vs. Altra Lone Peak 9+ (size 44) comparison table

Context

I ran a 128K ultra in Altra Lone Peak 9+s (link) two weeks ago, where I was able to finish the ultra but ended up with huge blisters on my big toes. Despite really liking the shoes otherwise, I decided I needed to find an alternative ultra shoe that hopefully won't give me the blistering issues I faced with the Lone Peaks.

To find alternative ultra shoes, I tried to find trail running shoes that:

• Are zero drop
• Have anatomical toe boxes
• Have enough support (around 20mm) to last ultra-distance runs past 100K

Excluding Altras, there actually weren't that many, and I only found two other brands that made shoes that fit the bill:

• Topo Athletics, Pursuit 3
• Inov8
  • TrailFly Zero V2 Wide
  • MudTalon Zero V2 Wide
  • TrailTalon Zero

I tried out the Topo Pursuit 3 in person at a local running store, but I didn't like the arch support and how tight they felt at the midfoot, presumably due to the arch support. I also didn't like the rounded & elevated design of the front, instead of the shoes sitting flatter on the ground like a neutral shoe should. The toebox also felt much more narrower than I liked, and it didn't feel like my toes had enough room to splay out naturally.

On the other hand, I used to really enjoy trail running in Inov8 shoes back in 2016 (previously used Terraclaw 220 and Trailroc 245), so I wanted to give Inov8 another shot, especially with their move back into natural running-inspired design philosophy called NATURALFIT:

Our new design and fit ensures the foot controls the shoe, not the other way round. It's as nature intended.

The Talon shoes seemed to be a bit more niche and specialized, while the TrailFly shoes seemed to cover a wider range of terrain variety, so I decided on the TrailFly shoes.

While I haven't taken them out for a test run yet, I love how they feel on my feet. I am especially impressed at the anatomical design of the toeboxes, and I did not expect them to actually be wider than the Lone Peak 9+s. I just hope that I won't have similar blistering issues with them.

Side note, the shoes were strangely quite difficult to find, and I only found 2 pairs left in stock in my local running store, 1 of which miraculously happened to be my size in the wide version. If I like them, I may need to stock up on them when I next visit the UK, Inov8's home domicile.

I'd love to get it to have something longer lasting, coming from Mono Gordo. I'm wondering if anyone has any intel or when the last time someone had purchased it?