When the weather turns snowy or icy, most runners worry about slippery roads and trails and head indoors in search of a treadmill or an indoor track.
With a pair of Icebug Zeal-L RB9X, indoor running is absolutely unnecessary; in fact, these shoes are so good in wet, snowy and icy weather that they will make you want to run through the gnarliest terrain in the worst weather that you can find.
My initial impression of the Icebug Zeal’s was that they were intense, and maybe even a little too fancy for me. With sharp orange rubber studs on the sole of the shoe, these shoes are designed for traction. I also thought the shoes looked rigid, stiff and uncomfortable.
But then I put them on my feet, laced them up and took them for a test run in a rainstorm. I tried to hit every mud puddle that I could and go out of my way to look for things like slick rocks to climb and slippery slopes to traverse.
What I found was that, despite their minimalist design, the shoes were surprisingly comfortable. Water also seemed to roll right off of the shoe’s non-absorbing fabric – my feet stayed dry, but were still able to breathe. The shoes also felt incredibly stable without being heavy or bulky. But, it was the traction that made these shoes really stand out.
They gripped the muddy, dirty road like studded snow tires grip an icy road.
After my initial test run, I was determined to try to find a place where the traction on these shoes would fail. I wanted to see if I cold find terrain that could overpower the shoe.
Thankfully, an incredibly wet and snowy spring here in Wyoming made it easy to put them to the test both running and walking on snow, ice, sleet, slush, rain and even hail. I even gave them a shot on dry trails, but the traction was and is always amazing.
The shoes aren’t perfect: they aren’t cushioned enough for me to want to run in them everyday, and, honestly, I don’t need mega traction all the time. In fact, right now, they are in my closet, and they’ll probably stay there through the summer until it starts snowing again. But, you can be sure that as soon as the first snowflakes fall, these shoes will once again find a home on my feet.
Bottom Line:
If you’d rather run or walk outside through a snowstorm than inside on a treadmill, these shoes are a necessity.
Tech Specs:
MSRP: $119.95
Weight: 210 grams
Cushioning: Medium
Drop: 6 mm
Torsion: Medium Flex
Outsole: Rubber 9 Extreme
Midsole: Lightweight EVA with HGMS2 technology
Lining: Half Lined with QuickDry Mesh
Upper: Nylon Textile
Icebug Zeal-L RB9X
$119.95
Pros
- Traction
- Stability
- Fabric & Design
Cons
- Lack cushion
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