The North Face is no stranger to innovating products in the outdoor space as well bringing that innovation and smashing it with street wear to make a product that works both on the trail and on the streets. Their new trail line falls right into that. The VECTIV footwear line has been in the works for over 2 years and has been thoroughly tested with over 6,000 miles of athlete testing to ensure that this line stands up to the North Face name – and it does. We had the opportunity to test out the VECTIV Enduris and it is not your run of the mill trail shoe. Also, the shoe looks really good off the trail. So good that I was reluctant the first few days to take it on the trail so I just sported them around town. And damn they look good and feel good!
We got around to testing the shoe on the red rock trails of Southern Utah. Lots of red dirt and basalt rocks. With some other shoes I’ve ran in the past on the same trails, there are times when you step on a sharp rock and you can definitely feel it. Not in the VECTIV. The cushion and response is insane! So insane that it warrants us to get nerdy tech with the features.
VECTIV Tech
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Positioned beneath an incredibly light, comfortable, and protective mesh upper, VECTIV™ is a proprietary soling architecture comprised of a 3D plate against the sole, a finely tuned rockered midsole and SurfaceCTRL outsole. This unique construction delivers superior stability, forward propulsion and incredible grip to reduce fatigue on the trail.There are two key components to the 3D plate: the location, which is directly underfoot, and the sidewalls that wrap up surrounding your heel and the sides of your forefoot. This provides increased propulsion and lateral stability for all terrain.
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The VECTIV system is highly tunable, with its components—upper, plate, midsole and outsole—altered and optimized within each VECTIV shoe, based on the intended use and target consumer of each. This allows the technology to fit the needs of an elite athlete, a first-time trail runner, a performance hiker, and a casual hiker.
They really nailed it on this shoe. This is an easy 10 out of 10.
With the launch of this new line, The North Face partnered up with Strava with a global challenge called VECTIV Power Further, Together Challenge. The challenge runs (pun intended) from March 1-March 31. Complete 100k in a month to unlock your badge and a chance to win the latest VECTIV gear (and more). The collective goal is to complete every square kilometer of land on Earth – all 148.3 million of them!
