Attention f-lite 195 fans:
After announcing the f-lite 195 colorways a few months ago, the much desired (according to Inov-8's facebook page) gray and red colorway is finally available at RunningWarehouse. I don't see this colorway online anywhere else at this time. So, not only are these shoes finally available to the rest of us, but they're available from one of the best shoe retailers in the United States!
RunningWarehouse also added the white/black and grey/white f-lite 195, as well as the all black f-lite 230, to their inventory.
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Hey Ash,
ReplyDeleteDo you have the x-talon 190 also? Am I right that the f-light 195 is the same shoes with a different outsole? I'm asking because it turns out that the x-talon are the most comfortable shoes I own (even though they are a bit too roomy for my foot) and I'm thinking I should get a pair of the f-light 195 to go with them.
Thanks
Hi Garth! Surprisingly, I don't have the x-talon 190. But, everything I've seen online indicates that the 195 is pretty much identical to the 190 with the exception of the outsole. They're both built on the "performance last", which I've found to be fairly predictable as far as fit is concerned across the various shoe models (Bare-Grip, f-lite 230, Roclite 285).
ReplyDeleteI'm not one to inspire frivolous shoe shopping, or anything. But, I'd definitely recommend the 195 as a complement to your 190s. Given the 195's suitability for pavement, you may find that those will be the only two running shoes you'll ever "need". ('Course, when your 190s wear out, I'd suggest giving the Bare-grips a try).
Thanks Ash. As a follow up, I read your comparison of the f lite 230 with the trail minimus. Where does the f lite 195 fit in that comparison? And also, am I right that you are a size 12 in the minimus but 11.5 in the f lite 195? I wonder if I should go down half a size, as I mentioned my size 12 x-talon 190 are pretty roomy.
ReplyDeleteHello again Garth! If I were to compare the f-lite 195 to the NB Minimus MT10, I'd probably write the exact same post as I did for the f-lite 230. The only real difference would be that the 195 has a 3mm differential in lieu of the 230's 6mm differential, which gives the 195 even more of an edge, by my standards, over the Minimus.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, the f-lite performance last is a bit longer than that of the NB Minimus. If your x-talon is especially roomy in the front, it may not hurt to try on a smaller size. The 11.5 size f-lites are snug at first on my feet. But, they break in to the perfect fit. However, a size 12 f-lite is plenty roomy at first, but, it breaks in to an even roomier fit, more than I like, actually. If you order your f-lites in both sizes from RunningWarehouse or Zappos, you could just return the size you don't want for free after testing.
I don't know if this will help anyone else looking at the 195, but I wanted to follow up to say that even though the x-talon 190 size 12 are correct (but roomy) for me, the size 12 f-lite 195 is TOO long in the toe. I should have taken Ash's advice and done just like everyone says with this shoe - go a half size smaller.
ReplyDeleteWhy the difference when they use the exact same upper? The only thing I can come up with this is that on x-talon, the outsole wraps up onto the upper at the front of the shoe while on the f-lite 195 it does not, and this makes just the tiniest difference. Enough that I stumbled badly several times catching roots/rocks with my toe in the 195s which is very unlike me. The half size smaller would have been correct.
Thanks for the follow-up comment, Garth! It's a bummer that the size twelve 195's are too long for you. I have the same issue with my Bare-Grip 200's: Wish I'd gone with the 11.5 in those.
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