Vasque Transistor FS Running Shoe Review

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At first glance, the Transistor FS appeared to be nothing more than a glorified road shoe – no large, ridiculously grippy lugs, no extremely heavy heel cup with an overly high back, no large plastic toe bumper. Where was all the tech? This is a trail shoe, right? Out of the box, we here at active gear review were skeptical – the initial feel was way, way too light to be a trail shoe. We honestly found ourselves asking – did they send us the right shoe? We asked that until we hit the trail, that is. Weighing in at a skimpy 10.8 oz, Vasque stripped away all of the typical trail running shoe features and asked themselves “how do we do this better?” This was achieved through a combination of new tech and race inspired designs. Equipped with the “Immerse 360 Last” Vasque used a single piece of material in order to eliminate the need for a separate footbed. The result feels remarkably stable in all conditions, but takes some getting used to. The integrated footbed used a combination of the “Flux Foam Strobel” and WaveForm S/C midsole in order to create a much closer feel the ground. The entire system is called “Footsync” and is designed to get you more in tune with the trail without sacrificing cushioning. Over short fast runs, this was the case. While the “RocknRolla” Foot plate does a good job of protection your foot from those all too prevalent baby heads, over long distances we found ourselves missing the stability of a heavier shoe. Definitely break these out for race days, or light fast days – you won’t miss the bulk when taking first place in your favorite trail race, anyway.  For more information on the Transistor FS and other Vasque footwear, please visit www.vasque.com or www.amazon.com/vasque.