Customer Reviews Arc'teryx Norvan SL

I tried these out recently and ended up sending them back. I really wanted to like them because they look so sleek and sexy, but when it came to functionality they just did not work with my feet. The drop was a little too high for my preference, the toe box is long and narrow, and the shoe fits tight like a racing flat. I ended up buying a pair of Altras which are essentially the opposite of this shoe. The shoe is made of high quality and is super light. I think this would be an ideal shoe for someone who is a fast tack runner and wants to get some time on the trail.

I should start off by clarifying that, in hindsight, I probably didn't choose the correct shoes for the job. I do a lot of climbing/running on Colorado's 14er trails and probably should have chosen the Norvan VTs. I have had the SLs for 2 months and put 250 miles on them and about 100k vertical feet The Good: The traction on the bottom was great out of the box. Very grippy with no fear of slipping even on class 4 terrain. The weight is impressively light. This may be a personal preference, but the blue color is fantastic; compliments from others seemed to confirm this. The Bad: DURABILITY. After only two months (under admittedly heavy use) the soles have lost much of their initial traction. Where I never used to slip on rocks, I occasionally do now. Smaller rocks on-trail are more evidently felt through the soles as well with a couple feeling like they punch through. If I had only been using these shoes solely for running on well-defined trails, I think they would have held up better. There is a secondary issue with some pain in my Achilles as well, but I don't want to place blame solely on the shoes. I have never experienced this pain while doing similar activity in other shoes, but it could also be due to forgetting to stretch sufficiently...

I recently started with trailrunning so im far from an expert. I do however love this shoe. Fits fine and is superlight on the foot. My go to shoe for the shorter and fast pace runs. If the trail gets to technical you could miss a rockplate

I absolutely love these shoes. They are incredible light and responsive. In spite of that they still offers good protection on rocky trails. The sole is a little bit all round. Not the best when its muddy, but really good on rocky ground- even when its wet. I have medium wide forefoot and they fit perfectly. Unfortunately have I been a bit unlucky. There is no problem with the right shoe, but the left shoe got two holes in the TPU mesh. One on the inside, and one on the outside of the shoe. I think the hole on the inside is just bad luck- some roots penetrated the TPU mesh. The hole one the outside is maybe som kind of weakness with that actual shoe. I have used them for 23 runs.

I absolutely love these shoes. They are incredible light and responsive. In spite of that they still offers good protection on rocky trails. The sole is a little bit all round. Not the best when its muddy, but really good on rocky ground- even when its wet. I have medium wide forefoot and they fit perfectly. Unfortunately have I been a bit unlucky. There is no problem with the right shoe, but the left shoe got two holes in the TPU mesh. One on the inside, and one on the outside of the shoe. I think the hole on the inside is just bad luck- some roots penetrated the TPU mesh. The hole one the outside is maybe som kind of weakness with that actual shoe. I have used them for 23 runs.

I tried these shoes out on several hiking trips and on a week long backpacking trip. What caught my eye was the extremely low weight of the shoe. In my opinion, these shoes are excellent for hikes or any kind. But that they don't have the support when I'm carrying 20-30lbs of weight on my back. The insoles are also not removable, so when I added a more robust insole for my trip, it pushed my heel up and I got blisters from rubbing against the shoes' heel-pad. Lesson learned. Also, these shoes require gators if you're going to be on a sandy or dusty trail.

I tried these shoes out on several hiking trips and on a week long backpacking trip. What caught my eye was the extremely low weight of the shoe. In my opinion, these shoes are excellent for hikes or any kind. But that they don't have the support when I'm carrying 20-30lbs of weight on my back. The insoles are also not removable, so when I added a more robust insole for my trip, it pushed my heel up and I got blisters from rubbing against the shoes' heel-pad. Lesson learned. Also, these shoes require gators if you're going to be on a sandy or dusty trail.

I'm generally a fan of lightweight footwear and being only 160ish it's doesn't feel like hyper specialized gear. My longer foot is a true 9.3333 (so 9 in almost everything, 9.5 in nike running shoes) and B-C width depending on the time of the day, and heel being on the narrower side. The fit of these guys is perfect for my foot, but you get much wider than an average width foot and they probably won't work well. Last weekend I did half of a Quad Dipsea (28.4miles 9.2k elevation) in these guys with them essentially not broken in. Only got one tiny blister and a hot spot in my heel by the end of the half. I switched to a more built up and cushioned shoe for the second half but those small blisters that developed I didn't even feel in the other shoe. Love how the stupid light weight of these just makes them disappear and become an extension of your foot. Also having them be super breathable helps with that as well. The footstrike sensation on these is hard to explain. It's not quite hard/ harsh, but compared to double density runners out there, switching back to a double density (not even a Hoka) running shoe felt like stepping on a pillow. It's closer to if an approach shoe was a running shoe, stiffer and very responsive. The outsole is basically the same shape as the SLab Sense7, so very narrow heel with a generous (for the weight) forefoot. So if you're not a precise runner or someone who pronates or supinates this is NOT the shoe for you (paired with not having a heel counter). The lugs only being 2.5MM tall makes them not great in mud, so no monster trucking through puddles and mud.

I'm generally a fan of lightweight footwear and being only 160ish it's doesn't feel like hyper specialized gear. My longer foot is a true 9.3333 (so 9 in almost everything, 9.5 in nike running shoes) and B-C width depending on the time of the day, and heel being on the narrower side. The fit of these guys is perfect for my foot, but you get much wider than an average width foot and they probably won't work well. Last weekend I did half of a Quad Dipsea (28.4miles 9.2k elevation) in these guys with them essentially not broken in. Only got one tiny blister and a hot spot in my heel by the end of the half. I switched to a more built up and cushioned shoe for the second half but those small blisters that developed I didn't even feel in the other shoe. Love how the stupid light weight of these just makes them disappear and become an extension of your foot. Also having them be super breathable helps with that as well. The footstrike sensation on these is hard to explain. It's not quite hard/ harsh, but compared to double density runners out there, switching back to a double density (not even a Hoka) running shoe felt like stepping on a pillow. It's closer to if an approach shoe was a running shoe, stiffer and very responsive. The outsole is basically the same shape as the SLab Sense7, so very narrow heel with a generous (for the weight) forefoot. So if you're not a precise runner or someone who pronates or supinates this is NOT the shoe for you (paired with not having a heel counter). The lugs only being 2.5MM tall makes them not great in mud, so no monster trucking through puddles and mud.

The Arcteryx version of the Salomon Sense but with the foot space of the Salomon Sonic. The Megagrip sole is as advertised, grippy on hard terrain. If you tried Salomon on the past, this shoe will fit as good. Id rather say, the shoe is for people with narrow arch, people with wide feet might find it a bit tight on the sides

The Arcteryx version of the Salomon Sense but with the foot space of the Salomon Sonic. The Megagrip sole is as advertised, grippy on hard terrain. If you tried Salomon on the past, this shoe will fit as good. Id rather say, the shoe is for people with narrow arch, people with wide feet might find it a bit tight on the sides

I was so excited about these shoes and have tried very hard to like them... I am not "price conscious" so would have paid even more for the right shoe--- but can't recommend these for trail running or hiking. Around the ankle, the shoes "pucker"--- I borrowed that term from another review, but it is the perfect description--- they do not form fit your ankle well at all, so debris comes in. So I bought some gaiters--- but the shoe tongue sides are loose (not attached with any stretchy material to the main shoe like other similar shoes I have) so debris still gets in. I have several pair of trail running shoes that are much cheaper and that keep debris out much better. These shoes also rubbed both my ankles and heels to blistering ---something I don't experience with my other lightweight trail shoes (materials? padding?) The laces are also overly long with too many eyelets, so difficult to both tighten and remove---Ive never had this issue with any shoe(?) Kevlar "non-tie" laces would have been preferred The 2 "pros" of these shoes are the light weight and the water repellency ---they dry out VERY quickly--but the cons outweigh these pros. It seems Arcteryx maybe focused on the light weight and water repel features, but sacrificed a couple of highly necessary shoe trail runner show basics (and trail testing?) in the process

I was so excited about these shoes and have tried very hard to like them... I am not "price conscious" so would have paid even more for the right shoe--- but can't recommend these for trail running or hiking. Around the ankle, the shoes "pucker"--- I borrowed that term from another review, but it is the perfect description--- they do not form fit your ankle well at all, so debris comes in. So I bought some gaiters--- but the shoe tongue sides are loose (not attached with any stretchy material to the main shoe like other similar shoes I have) so debris still gets in. I have several pair of trail running shoes that are much cheaper and that keep debris out much better. These shoes also rubbed both my ankles and heels to blistering ---something I don't experience with my other lightweight trail shoes (materials? padding?) The laces are also overly long with too many eyelets, so difficult to both tighten and remove---Ive never had this issue with any shoe(?) Kevlar "non-tie" laces would have been preferred The 2 "pros" of these shoes are the light weight and the water repellency ---they dry out VERY quickly--but the cons outweigh these pros. It seems Arcteryx maybe focused on the light weight and water repel features, but sacrificed a couple of highly necessary shoe trail runner show basics (and trail testing?) in the process

I had high expectations for these shoes but unfortunately, I can't recommend the shoes for the following reasons: 1 Getting the right size and fit is a bit tricky 2 I tried several times to run with this pair of shoes but debris gets inside so fast since there's a funny little gap around my ankle even with my right size. Also, got blisters many times on my ankles AND my heels because of that reason. In the beginning, I thought I just needed to break them in but I can see in other reviews that it is actually a problem a lot of people is having 3 The laces are unnecessarily long Seems to be a lot of room for improvement for these shoes.

I bought this shoe in the spring for trail running. After getting the right size (1 size down from regular shoes) I liked the shoe out of the box - it is amazingly grippy, looks great and feels light and responsive. I found even after downsizing the heel was a bit loose and wide leading to movement and discomfort while running. Because of this they were never my go-to shoe, and now after only ~ 80-100km of running the sidewall has started to tear. Despite the great first impressions, the sizing issues and longevity make it hard to recommend this shoe.

Es muy cierto que es una prenda ligera. Aparte de eso, a mi parecer, la suela es blanda, se notan todas las piedras cuando pisas y es rgida cuando introduces el pie en ella, no la notas agradable.

When I first got the shoe it quickly became my favourite running shoe ever. The sole has the perfect amount of firmness and I love the sleek, simple design. But I have now had two pairs replaced each not lasting more than a month before rips begin to appear. This has also been only sports shoe so sending it in for repair/replacement leaves me in a tough situation as I don't want to buy another pair of runners while I wait. I have enjoyed Arc'teryx products for many years, but based on my recent experiences with this shoe and the Norvan VT 2 (which also ripped after less than a month), I can no longer keep buying shoes from this brand. I will return to the Nike Zoom Pegasus.

I love the design and the light weight feature. I returned the shoes when I found that they do not have the loop on the heal. When hiking I do not want to carry a shoehorn. Without the loop these shoes are difficult to get on. I can only imagine the frustration out on the trail with a rock in my shoe or removing them to cross a stream, and then trying to get them back on. Add the loop, and I will probably purchase them.

I love the design and the light weight feature. I returned the shoes when I found that they do not have the loop on the heal. When hiking I do not want to carry a shoehorn. Without the loop these shoes are difficult to get on. I can only imagine the frustration out on the trail with a rock in my shoe or removing them to cross a stream, and then trying to get them back on. Add the loop, and I will probably purchase them.