The Good: Amazing midsole combination of compressed EVA and embedded 'Infinitoo' polyurethane foam dampen shock while giving just the right amount of rebound and cushion and allow surprisingly good ground feel for a 29 mm / 22 mm stack height (4 mm Ortholite insole included) and 7 mm offset. The dual compound, dual patterned outsole lugs and 1.5 mm rock guard worked extremely well on ascents and descents. The outsole even felt fine on the pavement. The Bad: The upper is flawed in at least two ways which is both frustrating and surprising because it was adapted from the Kaptiva upper which did not have these issues and because La Sportiva should have caught and corrected these problems before mass production. Flaw 1: The overly stiff, inadequately padded ankle / heel collar is too high so it rubs on both the lateral side and the heel. This is so bad that both of my Achilles contact points developed blisters less than 5 miles into my first run as did the lower lateral side of my left ankle. I've never experienced this in any other trail or road shoe. It is possible the collar material may soften over time but I'm not looking forward to suffering while waiting for that to happen. Flaw 2: The tongue is integrated into a bootie construction but it is too loosely structured with no mid-tongue through holes in the tongue for the laces to hold it in place. This would be fine but it does not work as it did in the Kaptiva because the tongue is too short and the material is too loose at the base of the tongue so the laces eventually ride up and over the top of the tongue - especially if you lace them all the way up through the top lace lock eyelets. The Kaptiva did not have lace lock eyelets but it did have a much higher tongue that was just as soft and caused no issues. Some people complained about heel slippage in the Kaptiva so I suspect that drove some of the design thinking in the Jackal's variation of the upper and addition of heel lock eyelets - too bad those changes were poorly implemented. Conclusion: I've purchased many pairs of the La Sportiva Akasha and completed several ultra marathons in them. This shoe could have been a perfect successor to that discontinued model had these issues been identified and corrected. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I can't recommend these shoes at this time unless your ankles are freakishly shaped or you are a masochist. I will be returning mine but will purchase them in a future model if La Sportiva fixes these critical flaws.
The Good:
Amazing midsole combination of compressed EVA and embedded 'Infinitoo' polyurethane foam dampen shock while giving just the right amount of rebound and cushion and allow surprisingly good ground feel for a 29 mm / 22 mm stack height (4 mm Ortholite insole included) and 7 mm offset. The dual compound, dual patterned outsole lugs and 1.5 mm rock guard worked extremely well on ascents and descents. The outsole even felt fine on the pavement.
The Bad:
The upper is flawed in at least two ways which is both frustrating and surprising because it was adapted from the Kaptiva upper which did not have these issues and because La Sportiva should have caught and corrected these problems before mass production.
Flaw 1: The overly stiff, inadequately padded ankle / heel collar is too high so it rubs on both the lateral side and the heel. This is so bad that both of my Achilles contact points developed blisters less than 5 miles into my first run as did the lower lateral side of my left ankle. I've never experienced this in any other trail or road shoe. It is possible the collar material may soften over time but I'm not looking forward to suffering while waiting for that to happen.
Flaw 2: The tongue is integrated into a bootie construction but it is too loosely structured with no mid-tongue through holes in the tongue for the laces to hold it in place. This would be fine but it does not work as it did in the Kaptiva because the tongue is too short and the material is too loose at the base of the tongue so the laces eventually ride up and over the top of the tongue - especially if you lace them all the way up through the top lace lock eyelets. The Kaptiva did not have lace lock eyelets but it did have a much higher tongue that was just as soft and caused no issues. Some people complained about heel slippage in the Kaptiva so I suspect that drove some of the design thinking in the Jackal's variation of the upper and addition of heel lock eyelets - too bad those changes were poorly implemented.
Conclusion:
I've purchased many pairs of the La Sportiva Akasha and completed several ultra marathons in them. This shoe could have been a perfect successor to that discontinued model had these issues been identified and corrected. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I can't recommend these shoes at this time unless your ankles are freakishly shaped or you are a masochist. I will be returning mine but will purchase them in a future model if La Sportiva fixes these critical flaws.
Great review!
The Lycan II badly needs lace lock loops, please!
What about width, are they narrow
Jackal concept is a Salomon sense ride 2 copycat
not at all