In part 1 of this review, EndurElite Chief Endurance Officer Matt Mosman discusses the technical features of the Icebug BUGRIP running shoe before he puts it to a month-long test. For the part 2 review click here and for the running test click here.
When the conditions get slippery the pros trust Icebug
Good morning EndurElite family of fast. Matt Mossman, the endurance guru coming at you today to talk to you about something I am very, very, very excited about.
So excited about, I can barely contain my excitement. But before I tell you what that is, I'm gonna tell you a little story. So a lot of you know, that I live in South Dakota which really isn't known for its sandy beaches and warm weather.
It's more like nice temperature, somewhat nice temperature, and winter where we get about 12 foot of snow every other week. It gets really icy and it really puts a damper on my endurance training.
Now, from previous videos, you know that I've tried all sorts of devices to help improve traction on my running shoes.
I've tried the homemade screw shoes which are good but they really haven't stopped me from falling on my ass completely, and eventually those screws will kind of work themselves out of the outsoles. I have to go buy more screws. Pain in my ass.
I've tried things like Yaktrax which are good on snow-packed surfaces, but again not so much on ice.
The point being is I've never really found anything to help me to stop completely falling on my ass. And as a 40-year-old man, I really don't need to be breaking my hip by slipping on the ice.
So this is why I'm really excited today. We're gonna do our very first gear review with EndurElite, and today we're gonna be reviewing Icebug running shoes.
Now, a huge thanks to Icebug for sending me these shoes out to review. But just because they sent me these doesn't mean that I'm not going to give you an honest review of what I like and what I dislike about the shoes. So before we actually get into talking about the actual shoe they sent me,
Where are Icebug shoes made?
I'm gonna give you a little bit of background on Icebug. Now Icebug labels themselves as the traction experts and they're a company based out of Sweden which last time I checked the Olympic...or the Winter Olympic medal count, they had 14 medals, 7 of which of those were gold, so that leads me to think they know a thing or two about winter and icy conditions.
Icebug makes a whole host of different shoes designed for traction
They make hiking shoes. They make boots. They make running shoes. And they're really designed for icy surfaces, wet surfaces, loose surfaces, possibly like really gnarly trail running.
I know a lot of obstacle course racers will use the Icebug shoes. So the main point being is Icebug makes shoes that are supposedly give you a ton of traction.
So here's what we're gonna do. This is gonna be a two-part video.The first video we're doing right now is gonna kind of go over some of the technical features of the shoe they sent me.
The second part of this video will be shot about a month later after I've given these shoes a fair test on icy surfaces, loose surfaces, basically all the worst that South Dakota can throw at them and we'll see how it performs and give you some feedback on there.
Icebug running shoes fit and feel
So let's just jump right into it. The shoe that Icebug sent me is called the DTS3 BUGrip. Now DTS stands for distance training shoe, and let's go over some of the technical features first on the top and then on the bottom.
The first thing with this shoe and what makes it a good winter running shoe is it has a water-resistant upper.
So if you're trudging through slush and ice and as long as you're not standing in it for a long period of time, no water's really gonna get through this.
Second, this shoe has a very wide last which is good for a guy like me that has a huge, huge frankenfoot, quite honestly, so that works out really nice.
A nice padded heel collar back here. The drop on this shoe is roughly 12 millimeters from heel to toe, so not overly built by any stretch of the imagination which I really like. I don't like a big, bulky running shoe by any stretch of the imagination. It almost feels like it's too much on me.
In terms of rigidity, it's I would say middle of the road.
It's not overly flexible, but not underly flexible, if that's even a word either. So just a really nice or what I'm assuming will be a nice, smooth ride. And then you have a fully cushioned midsole, too, so if you're a hard heel striker like me, this may come in handy. So that's kind of some of the technical features on the top.
Icebug shoes sole features
Now when we turn this thing over to the bottom, this is really where the magic happens, and I'm sure you can see this.
So this is where the BUGrip technology comes in, or what it's referring to.
Now you can see that there are little studs on the bottom of this shoe, and there's 19 of them total, and these are made out of carbide which is 5 to 6 times stronger than steel if that tells you anything like how these will wear. I mean, you'd have a hell of a hard time wearing these down.
So there's 19 of these total studs on the bottom that are designed to provide you with, what I'm gonna assume, an awesome amount of traction.
Now what's really cool about these studs is they operate independently of each other, so depending on how you're coming down and where you're stepping, some are gonna grip more some not quite as much.
And they actually float within the sole, too, so depending on the surface that you are on, how hard or how soft will really dictate how far these little studs will push in.
So again I'm guessing this is going to lead to massive amounts of traction and it's really gonna have saved me the time again from having to put on a, you know, a slip over traction device or, you know, put more screws in my screw shoes as I am going throughout the winter season and running.
So that's the technical features of the Icebug DTS3 running shoe.
Now like I said, about a month from now, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna tell you how these shoes performed in the beautiful winters in South Dakota and then I'll give you my final verdict on the pros and cons, the fit, the feel, performance, etc.
Update: How to replace Icebug carbide tips
For those of you who have either worn down or lost a carbide tip in your Icebug shoes...fear not! Icebug will send you replacement studs free of charge and give you a simple and successful way to reattach them. Just head over to their website for more details.
Where to buy Icebug shoes
The best place to find a wide array of Icebu shoes is on Amazon. My favorite that has been put through the snow and ice wringer is the BUGRIP GTX Road Running Shoe with Carbide Studs.
