La Sportiva Mutant: Performance

What we loved most about the Mutant was its amazing underfoot grip. To put it in perspective, both our favourite off-road all-rounders, the Salomon Speedcross 4 and the Saucony Peregrine 6 work well on soft to medium surfaces, but get distinctly queasy on damp rock or tarmac in particular.

There’s none of that with the Mutant. Not only do the aggressive sole knobs dig into the soft stuff, the sticky rubber compound means they also give leach-like adhesion on the sort of slippery rock that has rivals slithering about alarmingly.

It’s a bit like magic. You tense for the slip, but the shoe just pats you reassuringly on the shoulder and carries on regardless.

Fit And Form

To be fair, it’s not a one-trick pony either. The ‘integrated gaiter’ construction gives a little extra ankle protection and helps keep debris at bay and the lacing allows a confident close, but not overly tight fit.

One thing to bear in mind is that the forefoot is narrower than average, which gives a neat precise hold, but won’t agree with everyone. Also on the fit front, the internal padding is less lavish than some, but we never had any comfort issues, though it might be a factor on really long outings.

We used them everywhere from tow-paths to wind-blasted moorland and they handled it all. Like the Speedcross they’re higher at the heel than classic fell shoes, but the pay-off is enough underfoot cushioning to cope with slabbed tracks and harder ground generally.

Protection Racket

The ‘mesh’ uppers proved to be decently water resistant too with a nice balance of breathability and enough repellency to keep you comfortable in light to medium clag. The lack of internal cushioning seems to help with rapid drying as well. No complains there.

La Sportiva Mutant: Verdict

The Mutant may have shown up late to our best Best Trail Running Shoes 2016-17 party, but it rapidly proved to be right up there with the best off-road running shoes we’ve used.

The combination of cushioning, protection and grip on softer surfaces is right up there with our two favourite shoes from Salomon and Saucony, but where it really scores is in mixing that with secure, confident traction on slippery, wet rock.

If we have any quibbles it’s that the narrower than average forefoot and light internal padding may be slightly less comfortable on longer outings. But if it fits your foot, the Mutant will handle not just the mountain terrain La Sportiva designed it for, but pretty much anything off road. Winner!

More Information

See lasportiva.com / Best Trail Running Shoes Reviewed 2016-17