When I began running regularly last year I shopped around quite a bit trying to decide on some new shoes. In the past I’d run in Salomons which I had selected since I had good luck with the fit of their hiking boots. However, as I did some research I learned that I’d probably be better suited to a neutral shoe. The Cascadia 4 was well-reviewed so I decided to give it a shot.
Brooks Cascadia 4 (mine are the slightly more subtle gray/red)
Out of the box the Cascadias were a great fit. I wear a 12 in street shoes and went for a 12.5 here; it fit like a glove. My feet are average width but my heel is a little narrow, however I had no trouble locking my feet into position. The toe box gave me plenty of wiggle room (they actually made the forefoot slightly wider on the Cascadia 5s…after I put some miles on those I’ll let you know how it affects the fit).
While these are not minimalist shoe they strike a balance between some cushion and great trail feel. I never had any problem feeling “insulated” from the trail as I occasionally do in my New Balance 875s. The outsole is grippy and has excellent traction on the forested single-track terrain I frequent.
The uppers are a nice breathable, durable mesh. After about 350 trail miles nothing is frayed and there aren’t any problem seams. I don’t much in the way of full-immersion stream crossings so I can’t comment on drainage in that scenario, but they seem to dry just fine when I have gotten them wet. The drainage is supposedly improved in the 5s; once the weather warms up here I’ll go trouncing through some creeks and see what happens. I have some new DryMax socks I want to test out too…
After 350 miles my one complaint is that the midsole seems to be breaking down. I realize this is in the 300-500 mile range but I was expecting them to go a bit longer.
Summary
I’m completely satisfied with the money spent for my Cascadia 4s. They were a great introductory trail shoe and fit my foot extremely well. Perhaps the best endorsement I can give is that I happily bought a pair of the Cascadia 5s which are purported to be a very minor update to the 4s.
