Brooks Pure Grit - independent review

For my commute run in the city I've used Brooks' Pure Flow for quite a while now. And I must say I really love them even though they don't hold up very well (please wait for later review on them). Out of this satisfaction I decided to get a pair of their trail running siblings, the Pure Grit.

Overall impression

Big, big, big disappointment. Maybe good for running on trails in city parks

Test conditions

• several mountain runs ranging from 1 to 4 hours at dry and moist conditions.
• size: 10 US, 44 EU, 9 UK, 28 cm [my long foot measures 27 cm]
• I'm a natural forefoot/midfoot striker [since ever and not just since it is trendy. Running up a mountain with your heels is quite difficult.]
• added a 2 mm Noene under the insole. However, I cut the Noene half way to level the 4 mm drop of the shoe a little bit.

Positives

• fairly flat with only 4 mm of drop (though I'd like to see 0 mm)
• decent cushioning (for longer distances I could do with more)
• greenish colour fits my Inov-8 backpack

Negatives

• grip and traction is pathetic for a trail running shoe. Slippery even on dry rocks. In wet conditions suicidal on mountain trails. I consider Inov-8 outsoles as gold standard here.
   
• compared to the Flow the Grit seems more narrow and pointy. While the uppers are quite flexible they're still restrictive. Due to the pointy shape of the shoes I constantly caught my foot on rocks and roots. A more anatomical last would do good here [compare to Merrell's Trail Glove]. Especially at the end of longer runs when concentration poor. First I thought that I may have to size down and got a second pair. But these were simply too short and much too narrow.