I am a lifelong Merrell hiker. Since the original Moab, I have enjoyed the out of the box fit, durability, and performance. I decided to try the Speed 2’s for the GR 65 in France after buying a test pair and putting 75 miles on them in Arizona. I purchased a new pair just for the hike which is 750km/500 miles in 31 days. It’s a trail that is 60% mixed trail and 40% paved. The good: great comfort and style as usual with Merrell’s They are lightweight and dried quickly after several rainy days. They performed well for a lightweight trail runner. At first. The bad: They just didn’t last. After 250 miles I had to replace them with something else on the trail. I usually get about 1000 miles from my Moab’s. Not these. Not even close. 4 lugs were worn to the base plastic layer. Very disappointed and it was very difficult to find something to replace them with in rural France. My experience is that these are great for casual hiking but not for any serious or long-term duty. 2 Stars. 1 Star for each hundred miles these shoes lasted.
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