Kinabalu Supertrac Shoe – Performance

The shoe has a big, burly cushioned look to it, but oddly enough, it never felt like that. The forefoot fits quite snugly, which may be an issue if you have broader feet, but it helps to give it a closer, more flexible and nimble feel than you might expect.

That’s helped by cushioning that takes the sting out of hard surfaces, but never isolates you from the trail and, we think, the deformation of the soft rubber lugs underfoot.

The one downside of that close forefoot fit, for us at least, was some discomfort on long, continuous descents.

The one over-riding impression of the shoe though, was the amount of grip it gave on every surface we tried. We don’t know how well that soft rubber compound will wear, but it bit like a hungry Jack Russell on a postman’s hand on every surface we tried.

In particular, where most other soles were anything from uncertain to positively soap bar-ish on wet rocks, the Scott just felt safe and planted. We’re not saying it’ll stick like glue to slippy, Lake District rock, but it gripped harder in the wet than pretty much anything else we tried.

Verdict

We were pleasantly surprised by the Kinabalu Supertrac. It looks slightly bulky and clumsy, but it’s more sensitive than you might think with a surprisingly nimble feel, but enough cushioning to take the sting out of hard surfaces. The wide-base sole heel means it feels stable too.

Its one defining feature though, is that soft, super grippy sole. It bites hard on anything from wet rock through to soft mud and grass and while we don’t know how long that soft rubber will last, there’s no questioning its tenacious grip.

The only issue we had was with the relatively narrow forefoot, which also seemed to add up to some downhill discomfort, but we suspect that’s a fit issue and those with narrower forefeet should manage just fine.

More Information

See scott-sports.com