REVIEWS
6 Shoes for City Exploring
This post started as research for comfortable shoes city exploring in London and Tbilisi. The criteria was lightweight, durable and able to wear in city context in a range of situations. The following are shoes that started off as off-road shoes but work well for urban adventures and city / mixed used.
Desired Shoe features:
- Protected toebox from scuffing / scraping / tearing
- Trail running style sole for grip
- Lightweight
- Ankle support and protection
- Able to be worn in a casual context
Salomon Men’s City Cross Trail Running Shoes
These shoes look stylish but have a trail running pedigree.
Salomon X Ultra GTX 2
Update on one of their most popular hiking shoes. Lightweight and water resistant textile upper, which is built around a gore-tex bootie liner to provide a fully waterproof and breathable barrier. Rugged and stylish, low cut all round shoe.
Scarpa Margarita GTX
The Scarpa Margarita GTX has looks built for city life, but is capable enough to go on mixed terrain.
Columbia Peakfreak
Waterproof, with breathable mesh upper and outsole for grip good for on and off road.
Keen Marshall WP
Durable and versatile for a variety of uses. Good choice for urban and micro adventures.
Keen Bryce WP
Waterproof, breathable membrane and non-marking tread. Stylish low cut shoe for all round use.
Conclusion
There is a huge amount of choice out there for footwear. Many shoes that started off as hiking shoes are now evolving for a variety of uses such as trail running, parkour, martial arts, crossfit, skateboarding where durability, support, lightweight and grip are key.