I took the shoes out for a spin in foresty rocky trails outside Philadelphia and hard-packed trails in my hometown of Santa Barbara, CA-at paces ranging from nine- down to six-minute miles. While I found the shoes’ eco creds impressive, I was anxious to see how it performed on the trail. REI Swiftland MT Performance Review (Photo: Courtesy REI) Other recycled components include 100% recycled PET laces and webbing, 75% recycled PET collar lining, and 70% recycled PET collar foam and reinforcements. “We have almost no waste in production because we get to knit the exact shape of the shoe instead of cutting it out of cookie-cutter patterns.
“ allowed us to really dial in the amount of recycled content and waste,” says Grimes. They also used Bloom to create an insole made with 30% algae.įor the upper, Grimes and his team chose a knit made up of 90% recycled PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), aka plastic bottles. REI worked with Bloom to create an EVA foam blend for the midsole that’s made with 10% algae. One such partner was Bloom, which cleans lakes and waterways of harmful algae blooms and recycles them into various compounds. With this philosophy in mind, Grimes and his team sought out like-minded partners to help build a trail shoe that featured recycled or bio-based materials in every single component. Bennet Grimes, REI Senior Product Manager, said their guiding philosophy is “to push the industry forward when it comes to building footwear, with carbon footprint at the center of how we build product.” This meant thinking through every component of the shoe and also focusing on designing the lighest shoe possible because reducing the shipping weight has a significant impact on carbon footprint. That’s not an easy task.īut holding their own with big-name brands isn’t enough for REI. While REI does have credibility in the outdoor industry and the ability to access consumer product insight and buying patterns, I wondered if the brand could successfully design a top-tier trail running shoe that can compete with established running shoe brands. Typically I approach brand-new shoes from non-running shoe brands with a sense of skepticism. This month, REI joined the club, introducing their Swiftland Multi-Trail running shoe. Companies such as NNormal, Speedland, Norda, LOWA, Tecnica, Helly Hansen, and Lululemon have all debuted new trail shoes in the past few years. Besides exciting advancements in the foams and carbon-fiber plates of supershoes, there’s been an insurgence of brands entering the trail shoe market. It’s an absolutely thrilling time to be a runner, if I may say so without sounding too much like a complete shoe geek.
0 kommentar(er)
