When I got my new Road X-lite 155's I was more than excited. Picked them up and looked over them for about 5 minutes of course and then some worry settled in. The Outsole of the shoe is quite unique. The outsole is pretty flat without the tread of say the 195/230 that I like. However, I was given the perfect situation to test the outsole to see whether my concern would actually be a problem in races to come.
Race day was pretty wet, windy, and of course chilly. Having lots of hills and turns on the course would be a great test to see if the 155's had the traction to allow me to get a powerful foot plant into turns and enough grip while churning up steep inclines and blazing down them. This shoe is sure to turn some heads with the bright yellow upper and pure white outsole. Fashion is but only one great feature of this shoe. After about 100 meters or so we had a tight turn and I decided, what the heck, its early in the race, if I fall then I can get up and get back into the race so I decided to run hard into the turn to see how responsive the 155 was. Not only did the shoe stick to the concrete like gum on a New York City street, but due to the flexibility of the shoe you have great toe off power.
The 155 is also quite light sitting at a very anorexic 155 grams (5.4 oz). The low profile of the shoe lowers your center of gravity giving you a great combination of light weight and balance. The heel to toe differential sits at 3mm giving you just a small amount of cushion under the heel. Although extremely minimal, the 155 feels comfortably cushioned for taking on steep descents where the heel impact becomes amplified. There are no fascia bands or support for the 155 so the foot is able to move, rotate, and push your body forward naturally. This not only allows you to use the full spectrum of your toe off power, but also builds calf muscles and improves efficiency in the running cycle. Look out for the 155's this summer on the roads and trails!
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