If you were asked to judge these shoes based on their appearance, you'd swear they were with their chunky , but they're named for the technical Basque Country trail race and a closer look reveals details that prove the Zegama 2s are built for the rough stuff. An impressively chunky 39 mm stack of ZoomX foam in the heel is actually slightly lower than their predecessor but you can definitely expect a ride in these shoes, even when you're striding over mud and grass, and they're lighter than they look. The addition of a Megagrip outsole with chevron lugs means you stick to the trails even on mud and grass.
The uppers are reinforced to offer your toes a little protection against the odd pinecone or prickly bush, but they won't do much when it comes to rocks. Nifty built-in stretchy gaiter cuffs help keep debris out of your socks which is a really nice feature. Visible holes in the mesh hint at but we did find that our feet got super hot on a warm day and wondered if the lining could be a little more airy.
Meanwhile, we didn't find there was much room inside these shoes for those of us with arches and that combined with the rocker sole and extended heel geometry makes us think these shoes are going to be quite niche, and a pricey pair at that. If they work for your feet, however, they'll be most useful on long runs on gravel roads with tarmac sections where you want comfort but aren't too worried about stability. That said, they are beautiful and we're willing to bet that enough .
