I wanted something I could use "off road" at the local nature center paths. I have tried a wide variety of shoes over the past year running the gamut from traditional cushioned to full minimal vibram's and Merrell's. The Kinvara 2's have become my favorites and the shoe I compared all others to now. The Gel Racer's compare as well as anythign else I have tried. They have a very simialr feel to the Kinvara's. They are quite as lightweight and have a little greater heel drop differential, but they feel very similar on the foot.

The Gel Racer's are supposed to weigh in at around 8.8 oz in a Men's 9 which is about 2 oz's more than the Kinvara's but still on the lightweight side of things as far as shoes go. The heel to toe drop is approx. 6mm which is less then most traditioanl shoes (10-14mm) but more then a true minimal which is usually (0-2mm). 6mm is a good compromise in my opinion. I wear size 12's and that is what I order here. I found the fit to be spot on and these are very comfortable.

The upper is well made. Seems to be better quality than the Kinvara's. The heel offers gel cushioning which doesn't mean as much to me as I tend to run more on my midfoot and forefoot these days, but even on hard roads the rear of the shoe is very comfortable. The forefoot is not really that well padded, again in line with minimalism. The material is much tougher than that found on the kinvara. There is a rock plate enclosed as well. On actual trails the traction is great and padding fine. On hard road surfaces the padding isn't quite there if you are going on longer runs on a purely paved trail. 5k-8k or so is fine but I don't know if I would go longer on a hard surface. Again though this is a trail shoe and on grass and dirt or a mix of trail/pavement this is a great shoe. I have run an 8k trail race in it in addition to training with it and the shoe performed very well.

Color is nice as well. I went with the purple, black, yellow and it looks great. Overall a great shoe for trail racing.