Review of the Topo ST4 road running shoes
Topo Athletics
Topo is an American brand and is not (at least in my experience) that present in France.
I bought a pair of Magnifly 2 a few years ago and liked them, but these days I mostly run in Altra (both for trail and road running).
Even though I like Altra a lot, I am open to testing other shoes/brands, so I also had/have Salomon ones (Ultra Glide) or NNormal (Kjerag and Tomir).
Buying Topo once again
I went back in the same running store where I bought my first pair of Topo.
Initially, that was because I saw that they were selling NNormal shoes, and I
wanted to test the Kjerag. But while discussing with the staff member, I saw
that they had also some Topo - namely the ST4, so I tested them as well.
Since my Altra Rivera were
close to dead, I was also looking to buy a new pair of road shoes (even though
there was no urgency).
But as the shoes felt great and were on sale, I bought them (I also bought the
Kjerag, which I'll review in another article).
Look and feel
The ST4 look great - I chose the "Ocean/White" model, which is not flash at all, and I like it.
Below you can see the ST4 side-by-side with the Kjerag:
Specifications
The reason why I bought Topo initially was because they had 2 "features" I liked a lot with Altra:
- Zero drop,
- Large toebox.
Additionally, Topo has different drops: 0, 3 or 5 mm - I always go for zero, but it's nice having the option, e.g. for people transitioning to forefoot running.
At 227 grams (my size), they are really light!
Those ST4 are perfect for road running and training on track (which I'll do once my running club opens in 2 weeks!).
I especially like the laces: they are rounded and feel really great when lacing up.
Feedback so far
I ran around 180K with the ST4 (I mostly do trail running these days as I have an upcoming trail race at the end of September).
I like them, they are light enough and provide enough cushioning. I'm using them while running on roads, and since the running club season started again, I'll be using them there as well.
I wore them at the first running club session of the year, and did a pretty tough session, and was very happy with them. They're very comfortable, good response.
Tags: Running