Review: La Sportiva Helios 2.0 Trail Running Shoe

By Mont Sponsored Trail Runner and Australian Mountain Running Team member Etienne Blumstein-Jones

First Impressions:
This is a very light and good-looking shoe. They fitted my foot well and were very comfortable. The new lacing system is really good, but it would be good to have somewhere to hide the string when the shoes are tight. Something similar to the Salomon system would be a good improvement.

After the first use:
I found they were an improvement on the first edition of the Helios because of the narrower design to the shoe. They drained well. They had good grip, except for wet rocks where I had to be a bit careful.

After further use:
They are still just as comfortable as the first time. I’ve only done around 50 kms in them but they has been no visible wear so far. If they are anything like the first edition of the Helios then I expect them to last a long time. I’ve so far kept these shoes for shorter runs under 25 kms and even done some road with them to get out to trails and they’ve been great for that too. I wouldn’t do a lot of road in them, so as to not wear them out too much, but its good to have a pair of trail shoes that is just as good on the road as this is generally a limiting factor when running out to the trails.
I have also done fast and flat trails races in these shoes and they were great, just the right level of cushioning, responsiveness and lightness I want in a shoe for that sort of race.

I would recommend this shoe for anything up to marathon distance, as long it’s not technical and too wet and in that case it would be better to use the Helios SR due to the extra grip. But these shoes shine in fast trail races whether there’s a lot of climbing or its mostly flat.

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