As I have only done 30km in the La Sportiva Prodigio Max so far, you can take this review with a grain of salt. You can read my full review of the La Sportiva Prodigio Pro here, which I absolutely loved. So when the Max was announced I immediately pounced. I was imagining something like the Pro but for massive distances. Possible a wider base and toe-box with a more cushioned relaxed ride.
So I’m not sure why they went for a totally different design. The Pro is nigh on perfect. But the Max feels like a direct knock-off of the Brooks Caldera with the added disadvantages of being unstable on very rough ground and having very poor heel lock. The back of the shoe feels like it was designed by the skater-bois in Altra.
My first 18km run was on the worst part of the Kerry Way Ultra route from Foilmore to Inchivata. Out and back. It’s rocky, boggy, wet, lumpy, up and down constantly and needs an extremely stable shoe with great grip. The Prodigio Pro was perfect for this route. In contrast, I just couldn’t make good progess with the Max. I felt like I was fighting the shoe the entire time. My foot kept sliding around in the shoe due to that poor heel lock. It wasn’t as bad as the all-time worst rough-terrain shoe - the Altra Lone Peak 4, where my foot literally twisted out of the shoe on one run. But it was pretty bad.
Towards the end of the run, I was almost tip-toeing downhill to avoid yet another misstep. Any plans to use them for the Kerry Way Ultra were abandoned.
I actually parked them from August until December but decided to try them on 3 short runs over Christmas. This time on much much easier terrain. Mostly gritted forest trails plus some fields. And they were great. The same lugs as the Pro continue to impress. The midsole has some decent bounce too. But they are clearly not designed for anything rough. I could imagine using them on long candy-ass groomed trails but these are not my ultra shoes sadly.
The problem is that the Pros are much better for the shorter routes so I suspect the Maxes are going to suffer the same fate as the Worst Trail Shoe of All Time™ (the Salomon Index) and become my civilian fashion shoes. They are a bit garish for that but I kinda like it.
So please La Sportiva, drop this design, it’s a dead end. For Max V2, take the Pro, widen it a bit, add some more midsole at the front, lower the durometer on the midsole a touch, and you’ll have a 100+ mile race winner on your hands.
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