In recent years, Merrell has evolved from a hiking shoe company into the competitive trail realm. With the new Agility Peak 5, MTL Long Sky 2 Matryx, and MTL Skyfire 2 Matryx, they have certainly taken a competitive step into the trail world.
Specs
- Weight: 290g
- Drop: 6mm
- Lug size: 5mm
- Key Features: Floatpro midsole, Vibram Megagrip outsole, lightweight mesh upper, Rock plate, Vegan Friendly (According to the Merrell page)
Review
My Saucony Peregrine 13 was almost dead, so I needed a new shoe versatile enough for race days but also for training. Since I am a heavy runner (80-82kg), I prefer to have shoes with some cushioning to run more comfortably from start to finish.
After narrowing the options, the decision was between the Hoka Speedgoat 5, the Brooks Cascadia 17, or the Merrell Agility Peak 5.
When I bought the Agility Peak, I also tried the MTL Skyfire 2 Matryx and oh boy, they were so light and felt very very fast! The only thing that made me not opt for them was the cushioning. Since it’s a very light shoe made for fast trails and speed, the outsole felt a bit harder with minimal cushioning, which is something I didn’t want at this point. Maybe when I drop some body weight 😅.
Why did I choose the Merrell Agility Peak 5?
There were 2 factors that made me choose the Agility Peak 5 over the others:
- I wanted to try the Vibram Magagrip Outsole. Heard great things about it, and I was not particularly happy with the grip of the Peregrine 13, so I narrowed down my options to the Agility Peak or the Speedgoat.
- I have the feeling that Merrell is investing a lot into R&D to be able to competitively enter this market. The best way to do it is to build great shoes that make people talk, so I got into the hype to try them.
Despite my desire to have a pair of Hokas at some point in my career, I decided to place a bet on Merrell at this time. Let’s see if it pays off on my next races!
Check out all the faces, outsole, and lacing system in the photos below:
First feel
The first time I stepped into this shoe, I felt like I had a cloud under my feet. They are really really comfortable, and despite being on the heavier side of competitive trail shoes (around 300g), they felt very light on me!
The space around the toe box is great, not too much, not too little. Great cushioning but a stable feeling. Didn’t feel any pressure on the upper or on the sides of my feet which is common on some other shoes I try. A very pleasant overall fit.
After some runs
This was the first running shoe that didn’t gave me blisters or any kind of discomfort on the first runs. They are super comfortable when you try them on the store, and also on the trails.
Since I have trails near me that contain many types of terrain like asphalt, hard dirt, soft dirt, loose rocks, technical descents, technical climbs, and wet rocks, I was able to fully test them on multiple scenarios.
3 things that impressed me:
- The comfort. Transitioning from trail to road and then to trail again was super natural with this shoes. On loose rocks, I was always able to feel the ground but with a great sense of comfort from the cushioning. Always felt protected from any sharp rocks that I stepped on. On climbs and descents, the feet stay in place, with no strange movements or slips inside the shoe.
- Another thing was the responsiveness of the outsole. On technical descents, the Vibram Magagrip outsole gave good traction and safety and I felt I could speed up and make the descent faster or slow down and make a turn at any moment. On technical climbs with many uneven rocks and turns, the response was always there.
- The last one is the way they dry. Since I am an OCR athlete, many races have mud, water, or water streams. It is fundamental for me that water comes in and out of the shoe easily to keep them light on my feet. After entering a water stream and then resuming the run, I felt all the water come out easily and after a short amount of time the shoe felt dry again.
The only thing that let me down:
- The grip on wet rocks. Don’t get me wrong, the grip on these shoes is really great! But I was really really excited to try the Vibram Magagrip outsole on wet rocks since I heard so many things about it. The expectations were very high!
Mud and wet dirt were not an issue, they performed at their best, but when I arrived at some wet rocks with a bit of moss, I stepped up on them, started to gain confidence to speed up the pace but then I had a little slip. Maybe it was because of poor technique from my side, or maybe it was due to the first runs on them. Only time will tell. Once I get some more kilometers on them I will post an update about this topic.
Conclusion
This shoe gave me great feelings since day 1. Great comfort, great overall grip (still need to test wet rocks better), strong foot support (no strange foot movements inside), they give the confidence to speed up when needed, they give security on technical descents with safe and grippy steps, and the design and available colors make them stand out.
It is a complete shoe, very versatile with a bit of everything we look for in a trail running shoe. Merrell did not save back on any part, everything has great quality and you can easily feel it.
Although it is not the fastest shoe for short or fast trails, I think it fits perfectly on heavier runners to give them a better feeling from start to finish, on runners who make longer trail races or on races with mud due to the aggressive lugs and grip.
Do you think this shoe was a good bet?
I hope they give me energy and confidence in my next race.
Follow my next races and results here.
