01 February 2015

Asolo Athena Review



For our planned hike through Oregon, California, and Wyoming, I needed a pair of hiking boots.  I did not like my old hiking shoes (they always ground painfully into my foot) and wanted something that would warm my ankle bones.

I ordered, and returned, several pairs before clicking buy on the Asolo Athena's.  I do not particularly like the color options, but I was getting desperate.

Being that I run in minimal shoes, or barefeet, and spend most of my days in socks ... well, typical shoes have gotten very uncomfortable for my feet.


The pros, as I see it:
- While these are not minimal shoes, they are comfortable and perhaps "minimal friendly."  I do have some feedback from the sole (much better than anything else I bought).

- Additionally, they are flexible and lightweight.

- In fact, they are almost run-able.  I did some minor trail running in them, and have no complaints about the experience.

- Compared to the typical hiking boot, their sole is almost self cleaning.  I did not develop near the amount of muck accumulation as someone else along the hike did.

- And they work very well on rough and rocky terrain.  I was surprised as they do not have a luggy sole.


The only negative I see (besides the icky girly color choices):
- They were not very grippy on wet and slippery surfaces.  So I will not be dancing across any mossy plains ... too much danger of falling.


All in all, I am pleased with the purchase, and glad I finally found something that would keep me out of hard-to-break-in, typical "hiking boots."  Whew.

2 comments:

KathleenS said...

You're lucky with the colours. My trainers came in bright pink *only*.

Kira said...

Well, granted, this was the best color selection of a thoroughly questionable group. I think pink was an option!

I just wish I had more "guy" color options - warm greens and browns. (Grumble, grumble, why do they always get the neat colors?)

Why do we women always get stuck with pink, gray, and purple? Ick.