After a year of daily use, I’m reluctantly retiring these.
La Sportiva markets the Akyra GTX as an “all weather running machine” and I can’t disagree.
These shoes have a welded TPU upper, an aggressive “Trail Rocker2” outsole, a La Sportiva “Ortholite” insole and a waterproof and breathable Gore-Tex lining.
After a year of slogging through streams, hiking in mountains and malls, facing snow on the trail and icy runoff in parking lots, I’m still a fan of this shoe. The sole grips well on everything but wet rocks and the tread compound holds up well over time.
I much prefer a shoe with a long-wearing tread compound that slips on slippery things over one that only sometimes loses its grip but wears down and soon needs replacing because the lack of any meaningful tread makes it begin to slip. It makes sense to me that I may slip on slippery things and I plan my route and speed accordingly. Even sticky soles slip, and often when you are least expecting it; I don’t like those kinds of surprises.
Gore-tex and I are not always on the best of terms. It’s almost always kept water out, but my issues have always revolved around how much dampness it keeps in. Through much experience, I’m a skeptic of the breathability claims of any fabric.
My feet sweat. A lot. After years of losing battles to athlete’s foot, several years ago I switched to wearing wool socks. All. The. Time. Problem solved. However, Gore-Tex footwear can still keep my feet uncomfortably damp at times. These shoes were the exception to my usual experience. My feet stayed dry with minimal dampness no matter the activity; the obvious exception being when water, ice or snow managed to get into the top of the shoe. Wool socks help with that too.
The Akyra fits well, has stayed stiff where I want it too (primarily the heel), grips underfoot well, is waterproof and vented my foot moisture adequately. It was a great shoe and I highly recommend it.
I’ve replaced the Akyra’s with La Sportiva’s Lycan GTX shoe, which I’ve read good things about. If it proves as comfortable and stable as the Akyra, they have another winner on their hands.
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