Hiking Shoe Free Shipping "Salomon Women's Ellipse GTX Hiking Boot" 8.9 out of 10. based on 276 ratings
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Good hiking shoe
By Cate Rowan, fantasy romance author
When my ancient Salomon hiking shoes needed to be retired, I started looking around for a waterproof shoe. I'm going to post this review for each of the three pairs I tried so people can compare.
The first shoes I tried were the Merrell Women's Siren XCR Running Shoe (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NEF8NO/), but they just weren't wide enough for the ball of my foot. I have a low volume foot with a normal heel, but also a bump on the outside of the balls of my feet. That gets rubbed and hurts unless I get a wide-enough toe box.
Salomons fit my low-volume feet well, including a wide toe box and a heel that doesn't let my foot swim, so my next pair was the Salomon Women's Ellipse GTX Work Boot: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ZH2L04/. I don't know why they call it a work boot--it's a classic hiking shoe. I bought the Thyme/Asphalt/Dark Green color. IMO, the color is ugly. It is NOT the beige color it seems on my monitor--the main color is a greenish
gray. Still, for a hiking shoe the color is less important than the fit, and these fit well. But they had a stiffer insole than my next shoe. My feet can be wimps when tired, and I wanted that extra cushion.
I bought a pair of the Salomon Women's Exit Peak Mid 2 GTX Lite Hiking Shoes (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LB4Y6A/) at the same time. I noticed that the Exits had a cushier insole than the Ellipses. In fact, they were so immediately comfy that I didn't want to take them off...for a little while, anyway. I'm used to a hiking shoe, not a mid-height boot with ankle support, and the ankle of the Exits started bothering me. A lot. I tried walking around without the top two tiers of laces done, because I *wanted* them to work out so much. The Foundation/Shrew/Light Moss is gorgeous, and like I said, the shoe itself is cushy and very pleasant to walk in--for my foot, anyway, but not my leg. I'm short, so it's possible that the back of the heel digs into my tendon in
a way it wouldn't on a taller person. And maybe women used to ankle support won't be at all bothered.
Overall, I loved the Exits the most, but I think I'll have to send all three pairs back and look for the Salomon Exit 2 GTX Women's Low Hiking Shoe, which isn't available at Amazon as of this writing and in fact seems really scarce. Maybe Salomon is about to introduce a new line of waterproof hiking shoes. Let's hope! Good luck and good shopping.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Nice shoe, but insole is not removable
By Michigan Reader
This is a comfortable, attractive and durable shoe with a significant drawback: the insole is glued in under the ball of the foot. So it's not removable (and believe me, I tried - it's glued very tightly and I risked damaging the shoe in trying to remove it). Who designs a hiking/athletic shoe without a removable insole? I did not discover this until I had worn the shoe several times and decided to (I thought) put in a more supportive insole, which I frequently do with my shoes. New insole won't fit over the old one; it makes the shoes too tight. I'll probably have to try cutting out the back part of the original insole and using a pedaq or other partial insole for the back. VERY annoying.
Other than the insole problem, the shoe is pretty good. It runs large. I usually wear a 10 in hiking/athletic shoes, but this one fit properly in a 9.5.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
These shoes are great!
By Meghan Naslund
I bought these for a hiking trip during the summer. They are meant for colder weather and I didn't think of that when purchasing them. So, these will be great for colder and wetter hikes! Luckily the day I went on my hike, it was a cool day. The sizing was so confusing when ordering and I went to the Salomon website to find out how to measure my feet. I am normally a 6-6.5, and I ordered a 5.5 in this shoe. I was skeptical still, but they fit pretty well! I think if I planned on wearing these with thick socks though, which I don't, I'd order the next size up. I actually ordered a 5.5 and 6 in this shoe just to be sure for sizing, and I went with the 5.5 (which is what the Salomon website said to order). They are comfy and durable. I am excited to go on many more hikes with these shoes.