Merrell Moab Flight

When I was told that they were going to send me Merrell brand's new bet for long distance trails to review, I thought it would be a shoe with which I was hardly going to enjoy: for me, Merrell is synonymous with naturalistic footwear, where our footsrike must be well compensated not to suffer overloads or possible injuries and my ankles are already quite delicate. But no!!! I was completely wrong. I loved this new format of the Merrell Moab Flight...

Not only because of the fantastic sensations they transmit just by putting them on, but also because of how much research the American brand has done in order to include recycled materials. Good news for the planet

First impressions and most outstanding features of the Merrell Moab Flight

The Merrell Moab Flight is a versatile trail running shoe designed for medium and long distances, thanks to the FloatPro foam that Merrell has used for the midsole. It is a type of EVA that provides great cushioning, stability and durability, a material that combined with the Vibram Eco Dura outsole (made of 30% recycled rubber) provides great security in multiple terrains. This is where the asymmetric lug design comes into play. Something that I personally love is its rear flap that provides extra stability to heelstrikers and what is also very important, the Vibram compound is a guarantee of durability.

I also think the drop of the Merrell Moab Flight and its profile are very good: 29 mm in the heel and 19 mm in the forefoot, so we have a 10 mm drop. All very balanced for medium and long distance.

If we have to highlight something about the upper of these Moab Flight, it would be this:

• Great feeling of comfort that you can feel as soon as you put them on.
• The seams are not noticeable.
• Last that adapts to most feet.
• Impressive eyelet that offers fantastic support when tightening the laces.
• A collar and tongue with a foam that doesn't bother you, even if you tie them tightly.

And again, a surprise in support of the environment; the upper is made from 70% recycled materials and the laces are 100% recycled.

Profile of runners who will enjoy the Merrell Moab Flight

Thanks to the great work that Merrell has done with the Moab Flight, we can say that many of you will be able to enjoy these shoes, regardless of the weight, technique, terrain or distance for which you are going to use them.

Even so, I personally believe that the most ideal profile would be a runner looking for a training shoe, of medium-high weight with a mainly heel strike technique (the rubber flap that protrudes in the rear area absorbs much of the impact and stabilizes the footstrike) and who intends to run medium or long distances over a wide variety of terrains.

This broad range of runners has been achieved by Merrell by combining materials in a way that makes them especially light, despite their volume (they weigh approximately 270 grams in a size 6 UK), something that is appreciated as the kilometres go by.

Paces are also important, but not so much for these shoes, unless you move at very fast paces, in which case I think they would not be your ideal shoes.

Ideal distance to enjoy the Merrell Moab Flight

As I said before, I think these new Merrell shoes are designed to be enjoyed over medium to long distances, but it's going to depend on a few factors.

While testing the shoes we found that as the kilometres progressed, the Float Pro foam became softer. As we have already said in some of our articles, as we rack up kilometres, our musculature gets tired and the running or trail running shoe we are using will become more important, so if it becomes softer and our musculature gets tired, we will inevitably have more tendency to overpronate (in most cases), and that can be the cause of overload or injury.

Is this a problem? No, the only people who will notice it are:

• Runners who are over 80 kilos in weight.
• Overpronators.
• Ultradistance runners.
• Runners who do a lot of heel striking.

So, if I weigh more than 80 kilos, I am an overpronator, I have a heel strike or I want the trainers to run long distances, you wouldn't recommend the Merrell Moab Flight? Of course I would. As I said I loved them, but maybe in these cases you should use them for shorter distances or specifically work on your foot and leg musculature before venturing into longer runs with them.

Another solution would be to use insoles that help you compensate for your running gait. The Merrell Moab Flight have a wider toe box so that the insole fits without problems.

Thinking about it, they could even be used for hiking or long hikes such as the Camino de Santiago.

The best of the Merrell Moab Flight

As soon as the American brand makes a good campaign to be known in the trail universe, these Merrell Moab Flight are bound to occupy the highest positions in the lists of best rated shoes for medium and long distance.

I loved the first feel when I put my foot in. It's been a long time since I've felt that feeling of putting my foot in and thinking "this is my shoe". And that's what I look for when I think of a shoes to run long distances or spend many hours with them.

Comfortable, good support, generous last, balanced in all its elements and with a high percentage of recycled materials.

I particularly liked the eyelet. Those wide eyelets cause a double effect when tightening the laces, so we can say that we have 8+2 eyelets, which together with the seam that goes down to the midsole, offer the best support without wrinkling the upper.

Points to improve of the Merrell Moab Flight

I understand the design that Merrell has done on the outsole of these shoes (and which I love) thinking about creating a model that is as versatile as possible and suitable for running on all terrains. But I think that the grip will be greatly diminished with the 3 mm lug depth of these Moab Flight, which will be insufficient when running on very muddy terrain or when the rubber is slightly worn.

Thinking about long distances, I think that the middle part of the shoe should be a little wider. If we look at other models that are direct competitors of these Merrell Moab Flight, most of them exceed 9 cm of width in that area, and in this case it's barely 7 cm in my size (45 Eu, 10 UK). This detail is of utmost importance to control pronation over the kilometres. These 7 centimetres would be more understandable in a racing shoe or for fast paces, but not in a model designed for training or racing at medium-slow paces.

Competition of the Merrell Moab Flight

To highlight the features and performance that these Merrell Moab Flight can give you, this model can compete head to head with other versatile models, which are perhaps more mediatic, such as:

• Merrell Agility Peak 4
• New Balance Nitrel v4
• Salomon Ultra Glide
• Joma Shock
• adidas Terrex Two Flow
• Brooks Cascadia 16

Final conclusions about the Merrell Moab Flight

As I said, the Merrell Moab Flight are the best I have tried lately. Putting your foot in them is a real pleasure.

The Float Pro foam offers cushioning and great durability, the Vibram Eco Dura outsole provides security on the different surfaces you can run on and the upper with its eyelet and its tensile threads gives a very reliable foot support.

On the other hand, I think that if you have a tendency to overpronate, you should use insoles or have a good running technique to prevent the excess of torsion that the shoe has from causinf a muscular overload as the kilometres go on.

RUNNEA tester's rating

• Lightness: 8
• Responsiveness: 7
• Cushioning: 9
• Stability: 8
• Flexibility: 7
• Grip: 8