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VJ Shoes ACE Review. The Top Shoe for Full on Winter Trail Running?
May 23, 2024
RTR Contributor Mike Postaski, a top ultra runner from the snows of Idaho goes deep on the VJ Shoes Ace ($180), a studded broader fitting, water proof shoe for winter running.with a non hardening eTPE midsole foam. Details, 06:30 Ride, Cons, Performance 10:06 Conclusions 11:00 Comparisons.
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Samples provided at no charge by VJ Shoes where the Ace is available here: https://vjshoesusa.com/collections/winter-running-shoes-with-spikes
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0:00
Is the VJ Ace the top winter trail running shoe on the market right now
0:05
Hello, this is Mike P here from Road Trail Run and today I'll be bringing you a full
0:14
video review of the VJ Ace. The VJ Ace features 17 star shaped carbon steel studs
0:23
It comes in at 38 in the heel, 30 under the forefoot for an 8mm drop
0:28
Midsole foam is ETPE, nice and soft. The Ace is listed on VJ's website at 9.7 ounces, that's 275 grams
0:38
My size US 10.0 comes in at 11.5 ounces, now that's 326 grams
0:45
As far as fit, VJ recommends that you don't size up as much as you may typically have
0:52
with VJ models of the past. Now typically my true to size is a US 9.5 but in VJ I've been wearing a US 10.5 which
1:02
is a full size higher than my typical true to size. Now I'll vary between a US 9.5 and a US 10 depending on the distance of the shoe, the
1:11
fit of the shoe, that kind of thing. But VJ is the only brand that I've worn a 10.5 in
1:17
I followed their advice so I only went up a half size which is somewhat normal for me
1:22
not a big issue, and this fits me perfectly. So I do have to say I'm a half size down compared to some of their other models
1:30
I find that these fit my foot really, really well. The toe box is just perfect, the width across is perfect
1:39
As you can see here, this looks totally different. If you've run in the VJ Ultra, you'll know the tapered toe box, you don't have this rounding
1:47
along the edge over here. So you have a nice comfortable toe box
1:52
We're not talking ultra wide here, but there's enough space and I find that in cold conditions
1:58
I don't know if this was the reason why they went with this, but in colder conditions
2:01
you generally want a little more space for the toes. It tends to keep your feet warmer
2:06
You also could be wearing thicker socks. And generally, when there's issues with traction, we're talking about running in snow, obviously
2:14
running in hard packed snow, running on sections of ice, possibly sheer ice
2:19
The more space you have up front, the better kind of feel you have under that forefoot
2:24
The lacing is quite reminiscent of a shoe I have just over my shoulder here, the Hoka
2:29
Tekton X. As you can see, the lacing extends quite far down, similar to the Tekton X1
2:36
Also, if you take a look at this shoe, it does look quite similar to the Tekton X1
2:41
It almost seems as if they copied the general design from the lacing to the two-tone design
2:48
of the midsole and even a little bit of a swallowtail. The VJ Ace features a waterproof upper
2:55
Now it's not an official Gore-Tex upper, but it is waterproof. I have tested it in snow and slush
3:02
It definitely gives you as much, if not more, protection and warmth as a Gore-Tex upper does
3:08
They don't have a particular snazzy name for it. The label here just says waterproof, so it is
3:14
The upper is a quite thick, engineered mesh. Like I said, you have that waterproof outer, and you also have a gusseted tongue with an
3:22
inner bootie liner, similar to most Gore-Tex designs. All in all, it ends up being a little bit on the thicker side, and that probably contributes
3:32
to some of that 11-plus ounces of weight. But, again, you do have the waterproof aspect
3:38
Gore-Tex shoes typically tend to be a little bit on the heavier side, so no real issues there
3:45
The heel is quite a protective toe bumper. You won't have any issues bumping chunks of ice, rocks, anything around on the trail there
3:53
It should be quite protective. Moving on to the rear, heel counter, not overly rigid, not overly soft, somewhere in the middle
4:00
I'd say. One thing to know is the ankle collar is quite soft, quite comfortable around
4:05
You don't have any hard edge here. I didn't have any issues. I will say, this heel area is very soft
4:13
If you see here, there's not much rigidity at all to the collar around the heel and Achilles area
4:21
I found the upper to be quite warm on the run. I tested this in temperatures down into the 20s, probably in the upper teens
4:29
My feet felt extremely warm, comfortable, not too clammy in those very cold conditions
4:34
Speaking of cold temperatures, this ETPE midsole is quite insulating from the ground, and that's
4:40
something I found in some of my colder test runs. It doesn't harden as a traditional EVA foam does in cold temperatures
4:50
You know, sometimes when you go out running, it's very cold. They can tend to firm up
4:54
The foam is not as responsive when the temperature gets colder. This shoe maintains its softness even in the coldest of temperatures
5:03
I tested this in extremely cold temperatures, and it felt soft underfoot the entire time
5:08
It does seem to be insulating. Like I said, with the EVA foams, they tend to almost feel a little bit cold, like as
5:16
if they're transmitting cold ground to the bottom of your feet. This kind of feels totally different
5:22
The softness tends to really insulate the foot. I mean, in conjunction with the waterproof upper, my foot felt totally warm, even in
5:32
the coldest... The outsole is, of course, VJ's top of class, 100% butyl rubber
6:01
In all of VJ's models, the Ultra, the Spark, Extreme 2 that I've tested, hands down the
6:06
best traction and grip that you will get in any trail shoe on the market
6:12
This features the same rubber here, but again, you add those 17 star shape..
6:32
Found the ride of the VJ Ace to be excellent. Lots of flexibility in this shoe, and I really love a flexible ride in a shoe, especially
6:42
in technical terrain. Sometimes, a little bit of stiffness is okay if it's really rocky, but generally, I prefer
6:49
to have just enough protection to allow flexibility in the ride, and this really fits the bill
6:57
Give a little flex here. You can see the flex up front
7:01
You can see I'm able to twist this shoe. So what this means is when you're in that kind of uneven terrain, maybe chunks of ice
7:13
chunks of hard snow, you have that wide toe box, you have that flexibility in the shoe
7:18
to contour over the ground underneath, and along with the star studded spikes in the
7:24
bottom of the shoe, it's just great for winter running. Moving on to some potential cons with this shoe, I mentioned in the beginning talking
7:31
about the upper, this soft heel. That's something I also did notice on the run
7:36
Again, you could see, you could pretty much just push this down right here
7:42
My heel feels a little bit disconnected as it's kind of not coming along for the ride
7:48
as the shoe flexes, so to speak. I think they could use a little bit of bolstering around the inner edge here
7:55
I didn't have any slippage, so that was not an issue, but it just felt a little bit soft
8:00
I would like to feel it a little bit more locked in. Another issue that I did notice, I at times got some pressure when I was running, particularly
8:10
in descents, and I noticed that where the gusset-ish tongue is attached to the inner
8:16
waterproof liner, there's a seam right there, and right on this corner, there's some pretty
8:22
thick stitching in there. So when I really lace this down, it seemed to put a little pressure on the top of my feet
8:28
Other than that, as far as cons, the only thing I would say, maybe the weight
8:33
I mean, we're looking at 11 1⁄2 ounces here in my US 10
8:37
That's a little bit on the heavy side. Typically for me, I'm 138 pounds, 5'10"
8:44
Typically when I get to the 11 ounce range is when I tend to notice sheer weight of a shoe
8:50
So 11 1⁄2 is a little on the heavy side, but again, this is a winter shoe made for
8:55
pretty extreme conditions. So you do have those studs in there. If you were running in any other type of Gore-Tex shoe, there's going to be added weight
9:04
If you were using any other type of traction devices, say micro spikes, or if you had screwed
9:09
your own sheet metal screws in there, that's going to add weight. If you're using Yak Tracks, something like that, that's going to add way more weight
9:17
So again, relatively speaking, compared to some other shoes, I would say it's actually
9:22
Probably I would say on the lighter side, but generally speaking, compared to a regular
9:27
running shoe, say if you were going out and you didn't need the spike traction, it's going to..
9:52
...market right now
10:07
And in my opinion, the answer is yes, absolutely. The past two weeks, we've had a couple of storms roll through
10:16
We had a solid two week period where we were in the twenties, snow cover trails, everything
10:21
If I didn't have to test other shoes, I would have picked the VJ Ace for every single one
10:26
of those runs. The traction on the snow, especially early morning, frozen conditions, impeccable
10:33
Now, of course, this is a winter trail running shoe. You have spikes on your feet
10:39
Some of those runs, I actually had to drive to the trailhead, typically, not trying to
10:42
brag here, but I could run about a half mile from my house and I'm at the closest trailhead
10:47
Again, not trying to brag, but with the spikes, I made that little drive a couple of times
10:52
because I didn't want to mess up the spikes on the sidewalks. This is a specialized tool for winter
10:58
You're not going to run these all year long. Even within winter, you're going to use these only in specialized scenarios, but that also
11:04
means they're going to last longer. So typically, if you get a winter shoe like this, it's going to last you several seasons
11:10
And I would say, if you at all go out on the trails and run in those types of conditions
11:15
having a studded shoe with integrated studs and not just screwing your own sheet metal
11:20
screws into your shoes, I would say it's a must-have. When you get to those periods where it's two weeks, the trails are snowbound, or even longer
11:28
depending on where you live. It's just great to have a shoe like this. Now, I'll just go through a couple of comps, some shoes that I've tested recently
11:34
I'll talk about maybe some different scenarios that you might want to choose one shoe or
11:38
the other. If you're running in any type of slick conditions, mixed conditions, any potential for ice, VJACE
11:47
hands down number one pick. But I'll just go through some of the other options
11:51
Here I have an old Sense Ride 4 GTX. This is a bit firmer underfoot
11:57
I typically use this just for cold weather, casual use. I have used it hiking, running
12:03
The midsole's a bit firmer. The drop feels a little bit more apparent in this shoe
12:08
I typically don't run in it too much, but it's great for casual use. It has a nice look
12:13
Another option, the Merrell Agility Peak 5 GORE-TEX. This of course doesn't have the traction on the bottom, but it does have GORE-TEX
12:21
Very breathable GORE-TEX. As you can see, this shoe is very clean because I actually did run it in very snowy conditions
12:29
If it's just snowy and maybe there's no issues with traction, sometimes you get that couple
12:33
inches of snow and you don't need a spike or anything like that
12:38
A regular GORE-TEX shoe or even a regular trail running shoe is just fine
12:42
The GORE-TEX is great if your feet are cold. Moving on, here I have a Merrell Zero
12:47
Now this is another shoe we tested on the channel. Again, nice and clean
12:51
I've been using this out in snowy conditions. This is a great shoe for winter activities
12:58
Snow shoeing, hiking, deep snow. If you have this gaiter and maybe a long pant that comes over this, your feet will
13:06
not be wet at all. Great shoe, but this is definitely on the heavier side compared to the VJ-ACE
13:12
It's less runnable. It feels a little bit almost clunky on the run
13:16
Nice and soft underfoot, but you get better ground hold with the VJ-ACE. If you want to run and it's slippery, I would go with the VJ-ACE, but this is a great shoe
13:24
for other winter activities. Finally, I have an old Salomon Ultra Pro here
13:30
I don't know if you can see here. I have some screw holes in here. What I did before is I would typically use my micro spikes here
13:36
They give you a little tool and you could screw in your micro spikes or sheet metal
13:40
screws wherever you want. The advantage of doing something like that is if you have a shoe that you're really comfortable
13:46
in, the upper, the feel of the midsole, something that you just like that shoe and you just
13:50
maybe need a little bit of extra traction, you can put them in yourself. But again, you'll have that kind of cleat-like feel
13:56
They won't feel as smooth as the VJ-ACE's spikes. Those star studded spikes are really very tiny in comparison to doing a sheet metal
14:05
screw or a product such as the micro spikes. Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this video review of the VJ-ACE
14:13
Again, for me, the top winter trail running shoe on the market right now
14:18
If you need that traction on ice, this is a top pick. If you'd like to see more of these types of video reviews, leave us a comment
14:26
Anything you feel like asking, fire away. Thank you for watching
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