I have been wearing my Inov-8s for a few months now and thought it was about time I wrote review on them seeing as they have stood up well to rigorous exercise and daily wear. I tend to do a variety of exercises on a regular basis, including countless WOD’s and a spot of running. Through all of these exercises I have found my Inov-8s to be comfortable, durable and functional. Here is a more detailed rundown of why I love these shoes.
The Best Cross Fit Shoe
The inov8 f-lite 195 is a great shoe for Cross Fit training. One of my favourite exercises is rope climbing and the Ropetec reinforced lateral and medial arches seem to make my shoes last much longer than some of my previous pairs have done. The Ropetec technology basically adds a layer of flexible and durable material to the arches of the shoe which stops it from fraying during rope climbing. It doesn’t seem to have made a lot of difference to the feel of the shoe when I’m wearing it, but it is certainly something that I couldn’t live without now and is a definite advantage over any other general training shoe I have tried.
The Immaculate Fit
This shoe has minimal structure which means that it is relatively forgiving for most shapes of feet. There are no big overlays or chunks of material around the front of the foot so it gives a good amount of room for movement and less of a chance of your toes rubbing and chafing if you are wearing them for a long period of time.
I have noticed very minimal wear to the upper of the shoe, but I think this is only natural in a shoe that is worn constantly during vigorous activity and certainly won’t put me off buying another pair.
The Durable Sole
I do wear these shoes most days for walking, running and training, and find the sole to be very hard wearing. As I do spend a lot of time on the ropes during my training, I have found that the arches have become slightly worn, but this really isn’t a surprise to me – and they are certainly nowhere close to the absolute destruction that would occur if you wore a pair of normal training shoes to climb a rope.
Breathable Material
An excellent advantage of these trainers is that the upper is made of the breathable material. It is a sort of fabric mesh that is specially made to dry quickly. This is great if, like me, you sweat a lot during your training. It definitely keeps my feet a lot more comfortable if I do a hard session or if I choose to wear my shoes for a large portion of the day.
In Conclusion
This may seem like a bit of a one-sided review, but it really is quite hard to find very much wrong with the Inov8 195s. They are a great all-round training shoe and work well on a variety of surfaces. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, these shoes will work really well for you and ensure you have a comfortable session whichever WOD you choose. So spend the extra money and go for a shoe that will work really well for you in the long term.
