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LA SPORTIVA PRODIGIO PRO - All Mountain Super Shoe??? FULL REVIEW
Dec 24, 2024
Mike P tests the Prodigio Pro across Oregon and Idaho - from lush forests to the beach to rain to slush. Full details and review on the run as well as comparisons to other trail super shoes as well as the "regular" Prodigio model. LA SPORTIVA has a big hit here!
00:20 Oregon forest testing
00:40 First Impressions from Oregon
06:19 Back to Boise
08:01 Compare with regular Prodigio
09:38 Thoughts vs. other super shoes
11:11 Price & Value
12:30 Detailed comp vs. Prodigio
15:19 Flexing both shoes
16:31 Prodigio heel collar fixed (lowered)
19:29 Final thoughts
Planned release: late February/early March ($195)
Mike's other trail reviews-
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU8zMeCLraQF1zi5EfGkWZVg1OdcjF9n8
La Sportiva Prodigio Review:
https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2023/12/la-sportiva-prodigio-review.html
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0:00
hello it's Mike P from Road trail run
0:02
today I'm going to be taking the
0:03
lasportiva prodigio pros out for their
0:06
final test run before my full review but
0:09
first I'm going to take you back in time
0:10
to my initial test run on my trip out to
0:13
Oregon so before I get too soaked let's
0:15
go
0:36
[Music]
0:39
this is La
0:40
sportiva's Mountain Trail super shoe and
0:45
what I mean by that is they wanted to
0:47
make a super shoe that is not
0:50
specifically designed for flat runnable
0:53
moderate terrain as a lot of the carbon
0:56
fiber plated Super Shoes out on the
0:58
market are now they really wanted to
1:00
maintain the mountain Focus that they
1:03
have as a brand so the main feature or
1:07
should I say non-feature of the shoe is
1:08
that it doesn't have any plate at all um
1:12
there's a nitrogen
1:14
infused TPU midsole used here there's no
1:18
stroble board there's a foot foot liner
1:23
glued directly on top of the mids so
1:26
there's no stroll bolt board in between
1:28
they really want to maintain that that
1:30
ground feel especially without the
1:32
carbon fiber plate in the mix they're
1:34
using
1:35
their friction white compound here so
1:38
this is their tackiest rubber very deep
1:41
lugs here full coverage rubber here they
1:45
really wanted to maintain That Mountain
1:47
Heritage that they have in some of their
1:49
more Burly beefed up Trail models
1:53
another departure for L sportiva here is
1:55
the toe box these are not the L sport
2:00
TAA toe box that you're used to this has
2:03
plenty of width through here I'm I just
2:05
love this I love a wide toe box it
2:07
really enhances the ground feel I don't
2:10
feel squeezed at all I would say the
2:12
shape is almost perfect there's space to
2:15
the side of the big toe round it out in
2:18
the front great width across the for
2:20
foot I may even dial this in I left it
2:22
kind of loose this is my first test run
2:25
so I'm going to try to probably dial
2:26
this in a little bit um one thing to not
2:30
is I am wearing a US 10.5 in this so I
2:33
know lasportiva
2:35
sizing has run a little bit small short
2:38
um this is definitely the case here um I
2:41
was able to try on some samples at the
2:42
running event 10 1 12 is the fit for me
2:46
it's perfect I'm typically a TR to size
2:49
9.5 so I would go up to a 10 for Ultra
2:52
sizing here 10.5 is perfect I would
2:56
consider these for kind of any distance
2:59
type of run
3:01
as far as the upper goes this is I
3:04
believe a TPU coated power wire what
3:07
they call here it's highly breathable
3:10
you could kind of see through it um I've
3:13
been running through some pretty muddy
3:14
stuff here I haven't gotten anything
3:17
into the shoe itself so it's been pretty
3:21
great the ankle collar here one of the
3:25
best that I've seen I mean the Catamount
3:28
agile is a good one of course the tecton
3:30
X comes up higher above the ankle bone
3:33
this one if you're gonna
3:35
have if you're GNA have say an ankle
3:38
collar that's going to be on the lower
3:41
side this is really stretchy I no
3:43
problems getting into this by the way
3:44
that's not a problem it's completely
3:47
sealed it's a knit collar it's highly
3:50
flexible I just love this in a trail
3:52
shoe it's amazing another standout
3:55
feature that I'll point out is the
3:58
tongue this is a booty St upper um so
4:01
there's no separate tongue it's all
4:04
integrated into the NIT collar but
4:06
you've got
4:08
these vertical bolsters
4:12
across vertical B bolsters running
4:14
lengthwise along the tongue portion of
4:17
this booty upper and they're pretty
4:20
thick um they're very thick they're not
4:22
soft at all so that is just perfect this
4:25
is one of the best designs I've seen
4:27
because I can really I like to to have
4:30
my ankle locked in I like to have my
4:31
heel seated I like to have this top of
4:35
the foot this part of the foot really
4:38
dialed and sometimes I'll leave this a
4:40
little bit loose but with these bolsters
4:42
here man I could
4:45
really like lock it in and this is no
4:48
pressure at all on my foot um so you
4:51
could adjust that tension as you need it
4:55
uh I haven't seen this type of I've seen
4:57
you know some tongues that have some pad
5:00
built in but this kind of vertical
5:03
orientation and the way that it's really
5:05
thick it is this is one of the best
5:08
tongues I've seen no doubt in a booty
5:11
design but even for any type of uh
5:14
running shoe design this is really great
5:15
I'm dialed here I love it so I think
5:18
this shoe is just going to be an
5:20
absolute hit for lasportiva if you're in
5:23
the market for a trail Super Shoe but
5:27
you're not crazy about carbon fiber
5:29
plates you're not convinced about carbon
5:31
fiber plates actually working on the
5:34
trails this is just a spectacular shoe I
5:38
think L portiva is going to kill it with
5:40
this one this is only my first test run
5:43
I'm actually out in Oregon I'm out in
5:46
some crazy rainforest type terrain over
5:49
here not right at this moment I just
5:51
went through
5:54
[Music]
6:07
[Music]
6:10
[Applause]
6:13
[Music]
6:20
[Music]
6:28
so the ride
6:30
very
6:32
Dynamic very energetic the midsole is a
6:35
core of super critical nitrogen infused
6:39
TPU inside of a super critical nitrogen
6:44
infused Eva bouncy Dynamic there's no
6:48
plate here there's no
6:52
firmness there's no stiffness 6 mil drop
6:57
works
6:58
great especially as I'm going up a
7:01
little bit of an incline here I think
7:03
they do a 6 mil drop across the prodigio
7:07
line this one the regular one and the
7:11
max coming out later in 2025 the width
7:15
and the toe box works perfect for me I
7:19
love it especially with the
7:24
foothold booty upper is
7:28
great I definitely
7:31
prefer a wider spacious toe
7:34
box could be problematic If a shoe
7:37
doesn't have good foothold this one does
7:39
so it's great if you have a narrow
7:44
foot I would
7:47
say it could be a bit wide for you if
7:51
you thought the regular
7:54
prodigio was wide this one does have a
7:58
little bit more width
8:01
Las fortiva was nice enough to send me a
8:04
test pair of the regular pijio I'd never
8:08
running that one before I know it's been
8:10
out for a while we've even reviewed it
8:14
but they send me a test pair for
8:16
comparison sake so thanks for that but
8:20
with that shoe feels more like a regular
8:22
shoe I would
8:23
say in the sense
8:26
that you feel like you're standing on
8:29
top of a
8:31
midsole you know and the uppers holding
8:34
you on to it and this one midso sidew
8:39
walls come up a little bit it wraps
8:43
around the foot a bit more so I more so
8:46
have the sense
8:47
that I'm kind of in the shoe versus you
8:52
know riding on top of the
8:55
[Music]
8:58
Mido part of that is
9:00
definitely the booty upper also the lack
9:04
of the stroble
9:05
board compared to the regular prodigio
9:08
and for that matter most other trail
9:14
shoes as far as flexibility and Agility
9:18
especially moving uphill there you saw a
9:20
lot of flex in the foref foot I was able
9:23
to kind of pick my way through some
9:24
rocks a bit of slush um puddly sections
9:28
pretty easily felt very confident even
9:31
though it's not icy but it's it's it's a
9:34
little bit slick U so I felt really
9:36
confident picking my way through there
9:38
as far as stacking up against the other
9:40
Super Shoes the three that I've kind of
9:43
talked about and called out recently the
9:45
Adidas speed Ultra The North Face
9:47
vective Pro 2 3 is coming out Hoka tekon
9:51
X3 those are the three top Trail Super
9:55
Shoes in my mind right now so as far as
9:58
how does this Stack Up
10:00
all three of those shoes have some form
10:02
of a plate the Adidas has energy
10:04
rods this shoe doesn't feel quite as
10:07
fast as those shoes it certainly has the
10:11
best fit the best and most secure fit so
10:14
if you're thinking of this shoe in terms
10:15
of all Mountain allterrain Ultra race
10:18
and you highly valued the fit and the
10:22
security of the upper and don't
10:24
necessarily value the stiffness of a
10:26
carbon plate maybe it's not as runable
10:29
able as some of the typical Western us
10:32
races maybe you don't need that
10:34
explosive
10:35
propulsion this is definitely in the
10:37
ballpark like I said the TPU is highly
10:40
energetic it feels fast it feels quick
10:43
on the run you just don't have that
10:45
extra oomph you know from the carbon
10:47
plate that's definitely a thing in
10:50
plated Super Shoes so that's not there
10:53
you have a much better fit you have a
10:55
much better feel the outsole is probably
11:00
superior to the outsa is definitely
11:02
Superior to all three of those shoes if
11:04
you're in an all Mountain environment
11:06
Ultra race scenario and traction is
11:08
Paramount this would be the one to pick
11:10
for that price is definitely a
11:12
consideration too I believe these are
11:14
$15 the other shoes are in the range of
11:16
250 plus so you're taking out that
11:19
carbon fiber plate but you have a stout
11:23
kind of racing shoe here and you're
11:25
coming in at under $200 so it's
11:27
definitely a great value as far as every
11:29
day running if you don't mind spending
11:31
that little bit of
11:33
extra compared to say some other daily
11:36
trainer shoes you're getting a lot of
11:38
bang for your buck so if regular trail
11:40
running shoes are coming in in the $130
11:43
to $160 range and this one's coming in a
11:45
little shy of 200 and you're getting the
11:48
performance of almost on a super shoe
11:52
level if not at a super shoe level in
11:55
certain conditions this would be a
11:57
fantastic training shoe honestly if I
11:59
was in a position where I didn't want to
12:01
reserve this for racing I would love to
12:04
use this as an everyday training shoe I
12:06
don't really like the carbon fiber on an
12:09
everyday basis I tend to reserve those
12:11
for racing so having almost that level
12:15
of performance with the flexibility I
12:17
really think that's helpful for
12:18
day-to-day running to not be in a carbon
12:20
fiber plated shoe these are kind of in
12:22
the middle ground as a high value high
12:24
performance training shoe or high value
12:28
almost as performance Super Shoe all
12:30
right I'm back at the house dried up
12:33
warmed up had a cup of coffee I wanted
12:35
to wrap this up by doing a little
12:37
compare and contrast between the regular
12:39
prodigio and the prodigio pro so looking
12:42
at both of these shoes the Midol specs
12:44
are the same you've got 34 under the
12:46
heel 26 under the 4T for a 6 mm drop the
12:51
difference here is you've got what they
12:54
call xflow speed here and xflow foam in
12:58
combination
12:59
this one has their regular xflow which
13:03
is a nitrogen infused Eva here like I
13:07
talked about in the ride and on the run
13:09
that explos speed is a TPU nitrogen
13:13
infused within an Eva carrier which is
13:16
also nitrogen Infuse so on the run this
13:18
one definitely feels a bit more
13:21
energetic softer a little bit bouncier
13:23
the TPU gives it generally a lot more
13:27
energy than the regular prodigio the
13:30
regular prodigio feels of course nice
13:33
and stable the toe box is wide relative
13:36
to other lasportiva models I do think
13:38
the prodigio pro is even a little bit
13:41
wider I didn't have any issues with
13:43
either of these shoes they both felt
13:45
comfortably wide I generally like the
13:48
fit of this upper better though one
13:50
other difference that I did talk about
13:53
maybe you could see a little better here
13:55
is this midso does seem to wrap up above
13:58
the foot a bit more so I feel like I'm
14:01
really connected and in this shoe as
14:04
opposed to with the regular prodigio
14:07
riding kind of on top of it which is
14:09
fine um I have no issues with the ride
14:11
on this shoe I really like it I think
14:13
it's a really comfortable easy day shoe
14:16
with range for some real mountain
14:19
running due to the outsole that they
14:21
have on here uh but this one I just feel
14:24
a little bit more connected I feel like
14:25
I'm seated inside of the shoe as I put
14:27
my hands in here I can feel
14:29
the kind of sidewalls wrapping around
14:32
really love the fit and feel of the shoe
14:34
I talked about this a lot on the Run
14:37
quickly comparing the outsoles here
14:39
we've got the friction White Version
14:42
here this is Los bivio stickiest
14:45
compound I don't know if there's any
14:47
difference between the outside lugs and
14:49
the inside lugs it feels the same to me
14:52
here you've got friction Red version and
14:55
they specifically say that you have a
14:57
more durable
14:59
ring of exterior logs and on the inside
15:02
is stickier for traction you'll also
15:04
notice that the outo does wrap up around
15:07
a little bit more here on the ball of
15:09
the foot and also on the medial side
15:13
something of a difference between this
15:14
one gives you a little bit more
15:15
protection probably a little bit more um
15:19
control I'll Flex both of these shoes
15:24
here the
15:26
website says that the prodigio has a pu
15:30
coded flow
15:33
film whereas this prodigio pro has a pu
15:38
speed film it does feel noticeably Flex
15:43
in this one I don't think either one of
15:47
them would be in the category of a full
15:50
Rock plate or anything like that they're
15:51
both quite flexible but as you can see
15:54
the prodigio pro is very flexible um so
15:58
that's film maybe something um in terms
16:01
of just bonding the two layers of foam
16:04
maybe between the TPU and the Eva could
16:07
be what that's for here I did notice of
16:11
course on the run more firmness in this
16:14
shoe it could be due to that flow film
16:17
plate being a little bit thicker perhaps
16:21
a little bit more
16:22
protective um also this is full Eva you
16:26
don't have that
16:27
TPU uh in the middle of the foot it's
16:29
going to feel a bit of a firmer ride one
16:32
thing to call out here and I've heard
16:34
this personally from Runners not just
16:36
online people have complained about this
16:39
collar being a bit High I was told in
16:42
person at the running event by Los
16:44
fortiva that they've lowered this ankle
16:46
collar from some of the initial versions
16:48
I also followed up with them they told
16:50
me it was an inline update it was done
16:52
pretty early on all of the models that
16:56
are for sale anywhere right now should
16:58
have the lower collar so if the high
17:00
collar was something that bothered you
17:03
and that's something that definitely I'm
17:05
sensitive to in my testing I've had
17:08
plenty of shoes where I've literally
17:10
hacked out this collar or hacked out the
17:13
heel area literally with a razor blade
17:16
to make the shoe runnable So and I've
17:18
had no issues it actually feels quite
17:21
low to me so I none of this has bothered
17:25
me at all so if that was an issue maybe
17:28
you got a very early pair when it first
17:29
came out obviously the shoe's been out
17:31
for a while it seems to have been
17:34
remedied so just quickly
17:36
recapping the weights and the prices of
17:39
these shoes this regular prodigio comes
17:42
in at 9.9 o 280 G and this one comes in
17:47
at 9.6 Oz 272 g you have a lighter
17:52
version here a little bit more energetic
17:54
this is more this is really a racing
17:57
shoe with some range to be a really fast
18:01
training shoe and if you don't mind
18:03
paying the extra price this one comes in
18:04
at $195 and this one's listed at $ 155
18:08
now that's a $40 difference and
18:10
personally I think this is a
18:13
$195 Super Shoe that punches very close
18:19
to the high-end Super Shoes on the
18:20
market that are in the range of 225 for
18:23
the Adidas shoe 250 for the North Face
18:26
shoe and 275 for the Hoka ton X you're
18:29
getting very close to these shoes at a
18:32
lot lower price and in comparison to
18:34
this one at 155 if you were thinking of
18:38
perhaps a racing shoe or even just for
18:39
training I I would spend the extra $40
18:43
because I think the shoe is so good the
18:46
TPU is really really great it feels a
18:50
lot more energetic than this shoe this
18:52
shoe is great it's solid it's stable the
18:56
rubber is probably more durable you'll
18:58
get lot of miles out of this one I don't
19:00
see this out soole being a problem at
19:02
all they both have 4 mm lugs by the way
19:05
the fit of this upper is just for me
19:08
impeccable this is probably the best
19:10
booty fit that I've ever had in a trail
19:14
shoe it just wraps my foot perfectly
19:18
probably the best knit collar out right
19:22
now love the Hoka version but of course
19:24
it's higher in terms of low just at and
19:27
below the ankle this one is the best on
19:29
the market so that's a wrap on the Las
19:32
fortiva prodigio Pro I think they have a
19:36
big winner on their hands here a
19:39
mountain shoe borderline Super Shoe
19:42
competitive with those runnable terrain
19:45
Super Shoes on the market but far more
19:47
stable far more secure probably better
19:50
performing in true mountainous rugged
19:53
terrain here across the board lasportiva
19:55
just crushed it with this shoe so I hope
19:58
you enjoyed this review stay tuned to
20:00
Road trail run for more reviews check
20:02
out my playlist of Trail reviews I'll be
20:05
doing the written review on the road
20:07
tril run.com website there'll be
20:09
additional comps let me know if there's
20:12
something you'd like to see specifically
20:13
or if you have any other questions about
20:15
the prodigio pro fantastic shoe again
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