The Flex Test

I wanted to design some kind of test that would demonstrate how the shoe feels. How does it flex? How stiff is it? Of course this is something that we could all have very differing opinions over, so a simple test was needed that would enable a comparison between shoes. I will say now that this is most certainly not a totally serious test, but it may well give you an idea if you want to know how a shoe compares to one you already own. A little bit of fun and possibly a little use before you make that purchase.

The Test

It's simple. I take my digital bathroom scales, and I stand a shoe (brand new) on it's heel. I then push down on the toe till it has flexed around 90 degrees (as shown in the pictures). I then note the weight that is recorded and take a photo of the flexed shoe from the side to demonstrate the flex i.e. how the sole flexes. From the toe or further back. The shoes weight is subtracted from the weight to give a final score.

All results will be colated here firstly in a table for easy comparison, then below individually with the picture of each shoe going through the test.

If you would like to see your companies shoes go through the flex-test, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks to Martin at the Aviemore branch of Ellis Brigham for helping out with some of these.

Brand	Model	Flex-Test Rating
La Sportiva	Mutant	10.2
La Sportiva	Helios	3.0
La Sportiva	Helios SR	3.0
La Sportiva	Anakonda	3.4
La Sportiva	Bushido	6.0
Scott	Kinabalu Supertrac	6.7
Scott	Trail Rocket 2.0	4.9
inov8	Race Ultra 270	4.9
inov8	Race Ultra 290	6.6
inov8	Roclite 282 GTX	5.0
inov8	Roclite 295	3.8
inov8	Terraclaw 220	3.7
inov8	Terraclaw 250	6.8
inov8	Mudclaw 265 (Precision fit)	5.2
inov8	Mudclaw 300 (Precision fit)	5.1
inov8	Talon 212 (Precision fit)	2.7
inov8	Talon 212 (Std fit)	5.0
inov8	Talon 190	2.4
inov8	Roclite 286 GTX (boot)	1.3
The North Face	Ultra Endurance	3.6
Hoka	Speedgoat	10.5