Following on the success of the Sun Dragon, GoLite made a few subtle improvements to bring you the new trail-hungry Men's Sun Dragon 2 Shoe. The Sun Dragon 2 is tuned even more finely to trail running with a new Neoform seamless upper that not only protects your foot, but reduces chafe on long distances and variable terrain as well. GoLite's innovative fit system includes interchangeable, interlocking footbed inserts to change the volume inside the shoe. This means one shoe adjusts within the whole size and the next half size up, and narrow, medium and wide widths—a feature that people with slightly different-sized feet will find invaluable. The trail strike last, square toebox, heel stabilizer and Trail Claw outsole work in concert to create the optimal balance between comfort, support, and tenacious grip in hairy conditions.
Bottom Line: Hit the trail with the GoLite Sun Dragon 2, and it'll go down for the count.
I've put about 10 runs (six to seven milers) on various terrain with these and have found these to be great on most trail conditions except real rocky areas wear jagged pieces can jut between the nubs and throw your balance off. Also, these are definitely not made for any urban or treadmill runners, simply because on firm surfaces the the lugs put a lot more pressure on the balls of your feet then soft ground does. Which equals pain after a while.
Seeing as they are mesh almost completely around, the shoes are just about impossible to keep wet. Which equals happy feet. It also means cold winds ignore your cordial requests to stay outside the shoe.
All-in-all, it'd be nice if the shoe was a little more versatile comfort-wise for the price. I still prefer the Storm Dragons which offer the best of both worlds (Breathabilitia and Comfortius), and are waterproof too. And like the Storm Dragons, I wouldn't pay full price for these either.
I got this shoe and have had a chance to try it out now in a few different situations. I was surprised at how big the lugs were when I first saw them. It is good in the mud and loose gravel. I feel like I am walking around with monster truck tires on my feet except without the weight. I was worried a bit that I could somehow rip the lugs off but they are solid.
I wore these shoes almost out of the box on a 4 day backpacking trip around Lone Mountain in Montana. We chose to link several trails together - which meant a lot of bush-whacking, side-hilling, and talus field crossings. Shoes held up despite the punishment I gave them - only one small abration resulted. Highly impressed!
