The tongue is a minimal semi-gusseted racing style tongue. It laid flat, never bunched. Because of the stellar fit, as mentioned, I never had to cinch up the laces extremely tight. So, this low-profile tongue really worked for assisting with fit and comfort.Â
As for the EVA-based Cushlon 3.0 midsole, it wasn’t my favorite in terms of comfort, but that’s actually one of the reasons it performed so well on moderate to technical terrain. This was part of the Vomero 17 recipe and I can only find it in some other budget shoes on Nike’s website.Â
The overall stack is at 29/24mm (5 mm drop). It’s in the mid-to-low range of stack height. It also feels medium/firm underfoot, mostly protective with a little bit of give. With the help of a forefoot rock plate, the midsole offered appropriate protection from the trail while allowing some ground feel while remaining rigid enough to feel in control.Â
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love with the underfoot sensation, but the control aspect is key for light and fast pursuits on more technical terrain.Â
What I am in love with is the brand new outsole! We know all too well of the years of train wrecks because of Nike’s atrocious outsole rubber in wet conditions. We make it a point each year to remind our readers of the horrors of previous Nike outsoles, and how our longtime reviewer Matt broke his forearm (and was never able to get proper surgery on it, thanks Covid) from slipping in these things.
So, so, so many people completely wrote off the Terra Kiger because of the outsole alone. That’s no longer the case. Vibram Megagrip is now on three of their trails shoes: Terra Kiger 10, Zegama 2, and Ultrafly.
It’s another one of those highly dependable yet simple ingredients that makes all the difference in performance. The lugs are fairly shallow at 3.5 mm. They still performed really well on a variety of terrain and conditions. We’ve had a wet spring here in the Colorado Rockies which allowed me to really test this outsole. It checked all of my personal boxes. The only trouble I really got in was when soft ground conditions were deeper than the lug itself.
