Under Armour continues leveraging their EVOnatomy platform with a trail version of their best selling Charge RC minimalist running shoe which we reviewed earlier this year.
The Charge RC Storm weighs in at 10.6 ounces (US Men’s Size 10.5) with a heel-to-toe differential of 6mm and a stack height of 24mm. The shoe is identical to the original Charge RC road minimalist running shoe except for two major differences.
- strategically applied water-resistant DWR finish on uppers
- mountain bike inspired tread on outsole
If you like the original Charge RC or is comfortable running in it, then adding the Charge RC Storm to your trail running is a no brainer. Obviously the original Charge RC works well for non-technical trails but what I found is that the Storm has better traction on slippery trails and being water resistant when it is drizzling – common weather pattern in Northern California. The added water-resistant finish did not affect the breathability on warm days.
I had observed while reviewing the Charge RC that the toe box looked wider in the pictures online than my test pair but it turned out that the Charge RC Storm is still snug. However, no hot spots or blisters when running sockless.
Rather than repeating everything from the original Charge RC, you can read more about EVOnatomy and full details about the construction of the Charge RC in my detailed review of Under Armour Charge RC here.
Because the outsole is based on the mountain bike tread, I suspect that you can go very fast downhills on technical trails without any loss of traction – something that I’ve not had a chance to test yet. But will in the near future on a hilly cross country course that I ran on with my Vibram Five Fingers KSO – too slippery for the KSO.
My runs in the Charge RC Storm have been in non-technical trails and this shoe fared great as did the original Charge RC but with much better traction and similar amount of breathability.
Initial colorways for Men’s include Steel with Metallic Silver and Gun Metal Gray with Volt Green. For Women’s, there are Capri with Graphite and Graphite.
The Under Armour Charge RC Storm is now available at the Under Armour web site.
*Product provided by Under Armour (MSRP $120). CMP.LY/1 Review
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