When a brand claims to be at home in the Mountains, you don’t get much more literal than La Sportiva. The company started off in a small family factory at the base of the Dolomites. Even today their headquarters hasn’t moved far from its mountain home.
Out of changing circumstances and the desire to push myself further, running became more of a sport in its own right for me, rather then a just a necessity to achieve fitness for expeditions.
Of the multitude of brands out there the first shoe I really felt at home with was La Sportiva’s Bushido. A great all round shoe for a multitude of terrains. Roll on 2019 and the launch of the Kaptiva soon replaced it. Billed as medium to long distance running shoe with a glove like fit, this for me has been my go to running shoe for just about every terrain.
Fit.
The Kaptiva has been designed with Trust-Fit, the fit is designed to be close yet comfortable on your foot to prevent any slipping around in the shoe whilst you’re on the move. This is aided by the slip-on construction of the Kaptiva. The material connecting the tongue to the outer is elasticated, so when you slip your foot in, it holds it in place. In fact its so good, if I am just walking around in them there’s no need to do the laces up.
I did have a few issues with my first pair of Kaptivas, they fit quite snug, and if you have a higher volume foot you may struggle for a comfortable fit. I found I had to size up half a size in them to allow a bit more toe room to prevent my toes from being smashed against the end of the toe box. The arch support is also far more pronounced than any other shoe I have used. It was initially quite a concern, but I soon wore them in and it was not an issue at all.
Upper
There are some new features developed for the Kaptiva by La Sportiva. To save weight but maintain performance, the heavy material used in some of their previous models have been replaced with a mesh outer and a inner liner. Over the mesh outer there are also overlays to increase the durability of the shoe and prevent damage in those high wear and high abrasion areas. At the toe box is a small bumper that does the job to prevent too much toe bashing against hard rocks.
After a few hundred miles the upper did start to how sign of wear. I had a few tears appear in the outer around where the creases appear due to the flex of the shoe and the overlays did start to peel and flake. I’d consider this reasonable for a shoe of this weight and design. I am also pretty tough on my running shoes, using them on varying terrain from sandy dunes to mountain paths. The damage was not major at all and didn’t effect the performance of the shoe in any way. I carried on using them until around 400 miles when my toe poked out of the end!
The original Kaptiva is not a waterproof shoe but it does come in a Goretex version. The original does quite well at resisting some amounts of water thanks to the layering of the overlays, mesh and inner lining, but inevitably the water will eventually get in. Once wet, they do take a while to dry out and there’s no where for the water to escape. If you get wet, expect to stay wet!
Midsole
For me this shoe had the lowest stack height I had used for a while. I was a little apprehensive at first as I was coming back from injury. I was previously using Inov8 Roclites which I had to stop using due to a foot injury. Surprisingly I had very little problems at all with the Kaptiva and found that they were pleasantly low to the ground whilst still offering good support and cushioning. The stats state they have a rear stack of 17mm and a front height of 11mm. This works really well for me. I do use higher stack shoes but I’m always a little nervous of rolling an ankle when I have less stability with the higher heights. The shoe is a little stiffer than most trail shoes, with a bit of flex in the forefoot. Its certianly built to be at home in the Mountains.
Don’t’ expect this to be a plush shoe in the cushioning department. It has just enough to make it feel comfortable when running, but it definitely feels like more of a racing shoe than a slow and steady supportive one.
The Kaptivas come with a rock plate too, which for those gnarly trails with protruding rocks comes in handy. Incidentally, running in a shoe without a rock plate is what led to my injury prior to trying the Kaptivas
Outsole.
This really is the business end of the shoe. It gives superb grip in just about all conditions.
La Sportiva use three different grades of rubber on their soles, Frixion White, Red and Blue. The Frixion White, as used on the Kaptivas, provides the best grip La Sportiva use, with blue being the least grippy, but hardest wearing.
On the Kaptiva there are large lugs that vary in height to provide optimial grip on terrain. They also use La Sportivas Impact Break System by having some of the lugs pointing in different directions. It sounds quite gimmicky, but in practice it seems to do the job. I have been tearing around rocky cost paths and dirt tracks in these and even on some sketchy downhills they have stuck to the ground. The only place I find they struggle was on really loose gravel or downhill on scree slopes in the mountains where I had to tread a little more carefully. In the wet and mud they still do the job, but running over wet rocks was definitely pushing their limits.
Within the outsole there are some flex groves cut to give the forefoot a little more flex whilst running. This made the shoes a little less stiff then the likes of the Bushido and kept it comfortable over longer distances.
Even with FriXion White being the less durable of the La Sportiva rubbers, they have lasted superbly well. After 300 miles the lugs do show signs of wear but have plenty more left in them, although I probably wouldn’t use them on very technical terrain after that many miles. I made sure to use them specifically for trails to try and help them last longer.
Overall
I have used this shoe extensively over the last year and a bit in all sorts of environments and absolutely rave about it. They were my shoe of choice over the Dartmoor 50 mile ultra race over boggy fell and moorland and are a regular for short and fast training runs on the coast path. In September this year, I reverted to them to run the Welsh 3000s when I broke another pair of shoes. Although they weren’t my preferred choice they did really well, although I had to hold back on some sketchy down hills with loose scree where their and support struggled. The Mutants are probably the only shoe I have found to provide better grip and protection in these circumstances.
The design and construction is great, the shoe fits really well to your foot and didn’t cause any rubbing or blisters during any of the times using them.
I was a little worried over the durability of the outers and the wear in the heel cup, but in the long term they held out to around the 400 mile mark. My first pair are still in use for mountain biking and general gym use with a few glue repaired holes. My second pair fell victim to my big toe protruding through the end, but this was after 400+ miles usage, which for a lightweight shoe I feel is pretty good. I’m now onto my third pair and would definitely buy another.
They do take a bit of getting use to with the higher arch support and snug fit, but once they wear in its no longer an issue for the duration of their life. The Kaptiva is quite a narrow shoe, so this might not be for you if you have a wider foot.
In all, if you’re looking for a lightweight, stable trail shoe with a great grip and snug fit this is definitely worth a try. This really is a shoe for going fast over technical terrain. Its excellent performance may give way to some durability, but my personal preference is a shoe that performs really well on what I chuck at it. For the same reason it wouldn’t be my every day shoe, and
I’d probably save it for very technical terrain or races.
La Sportiva say:
Kaptiva is the trail running shoe dedicated to medium and long distance races such as skyraces and mountain running. Unleash your desire for freedom thanks to the innovative knit fabric, SLIP-ON construction which reduces to a minimum the volumes of each individual piece of the shoe, optimizing the overall dimensions and the layers of material for wraparound, super clean structure that is dedicated to the runner’s performance. The fit is snug and comfortable, free of empty, destabilizing volumes. The stretch, mono-layer cuff sticks to the heel like a sock avoiding overlapping layers and preventing external agents from entering the shoe, facilitating at the same time the entry of the foot and the operation of fit. The sole/midsole package aims at providing the perfect balance between fluidity, stability, flexibility and traction thanks to the longitudinal cuts in the tread of the super grippy and extremely durable FriXion White compound with Impact Brake System lugs of different angle inclinations. Kaptiva: unleash your run
Stats:
Upper: Tongue in wraparound, stretch knit fabric + front part in stabilizing mesh fabric Lining: Slip resistant, breathable mesh Midsole: Compressed EVA and TPU stabilizers and anti-torsion inserts + dual density EVA rock guard insert Sole: Frixion White with Impact Brake System with lugs designed for use with AT Grip Spikes Drop: 6 Stack Height:
17mm heel 11mm forefoot. Weight: 280 g (half pair, size 42)
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