The good people of Teva are very proud of their new Forge Pro…and they have every right to be. Though you may be more familiar with Teva the sandal-makers, get ready, because they’re hot on the scene of shoes for a variety of sports and pursuits.
When I opened the box containing a pair of men’s Forge Pros, with electric blue laces and “sulfur” yellow highlights, I knew Teva was on to something—and not just because these great shoes were the official shoe of the amazing Teva Mountain Games last June. Don’t let the quasi-leopard print pattern inside fool you: these shoes mean business.
Teva claims the Forge Pro is a true multi-sport shoe, with “a range of versatile technical features, such as an aggressively lugged outsole and an external heel counter for stability.” Let me just tell you, those lugs are amazing, with a texture pattern that splits the sole into two directions, perfect for traction headed uphill or back downhill, and I can personally attest to being very impressed with the shoe’s grip. During some light bouldering, I felt like a mountain goat!
The grip isn’t just due to the lug pattern. Teva claims the Spider365 is their most versatile compound and should be good for both traction and durability—often two mutually-exclusive factors.
With a “blended polyurethane/EVA unit in the heel cup that evenly transfers the energy of impact throughout the footbed and away from the heel,” the Pros are great for hiking whether you have a load or not. Without more test time under a variety of loads and conditions, I can’t say how they’ll hold up under heavy use, but a few other reviews point to hikers and backpackers replacing boots with Forge Pros.
Initially on putting them on, the Teva’s feel a bit stiff. I expected that from the footbed, since you want stability, but the upper took a little break in time—nothing unusual or unexpected.
Teva was also good enough to include a pair of women’s Forge Pro eVent shoes. For an extra $15.00, you get shoes with greater ventilation and evaporation technology to quickly evacuate sweat and cool your feet. Our tester reported great ventilation on these without any compromise in feel or quality. The traditional Forge Pros, however, don’t seem overly stuffy to me, perhaps on a par with standard Moabs from Merrell.
Now we get to price: at $110 for the Forge Pro and $125 for the eVent, Teva’s offering isn’t as cheap as my old standby, the Moab Ventilator from Merrell (at $80.00). However, the price is competitive with other sets of multi-sport shoes, and Teva’s Shoc Pad ideally means that this shoe can save you the weight of full boots for like hiking and stand up to the beating of lighter and middle loads.
Can you throw out your heavy-weight hiking boots? I’d say the jury is still out on that one. For an extended hike with two weeks of gear on my back, I think I would go with a tried-and-true boot (heavy though they are) to support the load. But for my favorite urban wilderness, my typical day hikes, bouldering, and a host of other activities, I can think of few shoes that are in the Forge Pros’ league.
