Sunday Long Run: VJ MAXX2 100+ Mile Review

Jun 09, 2024

I reached out to VJ Shoes shortly after buying these and offered some half-hearted attempt at receiving a referral code and possible partnership with them down the road. They replied "sounds good, what's your plan?"

Well I didn't have one, and never actually responded to that email. I'd rather just run in shoes and write about them as I please anyways. Shoving a referral code in your face after some tow-the-line half assed review is not what I aim to do.

In short, I gain nothing from this review, or any future review of a shoe for that matter.

Speaking of "towing the line", this shoe does exactly that. In a world where we place "super" in front of every spec (see "super shoes", "super trainers", "super foam"), this shoe does that from the jump.

VJ Shoes calls their midsole material "SuperFOAMance". I have to throw them a bone here, it can't be easy being a European company trying to fit in inside the US market. They probably thought that was the coolest name ever. Putting that to the side, this midsole is a supercritical EVA-nitrogen infused high density, blah blah blah.

Buzzwords aside, the foam is awesome. It's not a bouncy TPU or Pebax (which is a disaster on trails), so you're never going to feel unstable.

(A note on PEBAX foam on trails: I've purposely ran trails while wearing a Vaporfly, DO NOT TRY AT HOME! The foam is insanely unstable, and a big reason why companies are not opting for it at this time. Not to say there can't be some kind of blend in the future, we just aren't there yet so don't expect it.)

This leaves us with a quite responsive and "alive" midsole. It's about the best word I can describe it, inviting you to push the pace on flat surfaces. I've ran plenty of flat and fast rail-trail styles miles in these, and they felt awesome. But this shoe wasn't exactly designed for that in my opinion. It truly shines when ascending and descending elevation (more on this later).

The entire midsole is a perfect encapsulation of VJ Shoes towing the line with this shoe. I would call it a "super trainer" if I was forced into a position on the term, but in the trail world you can race in about anything you feel comfortable in, and this shoe definitely fits the bill. Myself, and many others, will run plenty of training miles in this and also bring it to the start line of a race.

That leads me to my next point...what kind of race?

This shoe will go as far as you're willing to take it. The midsole itself is *just* enough for the average amateur to take it over the marathon distance, with more experienced runners taking it as far as they want. The stack height of the midsole is 31mm in the heel (for reference a modern day road shoe is usually 35mm+). And this is a good thing! As for what kind of race, I would keep this to technical trail races or training runs and wet days during shoulder seasons.

But the best part is, it *wants* to go fast as well. So if you have a trail 10K and you want to kick in overdrive, these will be up for it. Rare to see a trail shoe be able to excel in both.

Too many trail shoes leave you wanting more or less cushion. Take the Nnormal Kjerag, Killian's weapon of choice. having a stack height of 24mm. Then look at the new Nike Zegama, having a stack height of 38mm. The first shoe will leave your feet aching for weeks on efforts over 4-5 hours, and the latter will leave you with a broken ankle if you step over a rock the wrong way.

This VJ Maxx2 tows the line perfectly with a 31mm stack height. High enough to go the distance but low enough to feel the ground and prevent ankle rolls.

Speaking of feeling the ground, VJ deciding to use a firm but thin slice of EVA as their rock plate (for protection). I actually love this, as some shoes have rock plates where you could be standing on a needle point rock and feel like it's flat. This can be good, but removes the ground feel. VJ gives us enough protection here but keeps the ground feel, again towing the line (I love the theme VJ).

Alright enough of this midsole, my favorite part of this shoe is the Fitlock system. It looks inconspicuous, but when you tighten the laces up that piece of white material with "fitlock" on it synchs up over your foot and makes it so your foot has no where to go. Very secure feeling.

VJ sneakily informs you to size down in their weirdly formatted product page (I like the grittiness of it!), but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I range between two half sizes usually and took the lower size. It fits fine, but the true saving grace is the Fitlock system on the side of the upper.

While I'm on the fit, there's plenty of room in the toe box for you toe-box maxi's out there. No toe squishing was found on my end.

It would be a crime if I didn't talk about the outsole of this shoe...

VJ Shoes claims they have the

#BestGripOnThePlanet

and even put that hashtag on their insoles. I am happy to report that they are correct. This is one area they DO NOT tow the line. They go all the fuck in. You could rock climb in these shoes, that's how sticky they are. I basically have, taking these on segments of granite where there's a 20-30% grade. Never felt more secure than I did in these.

Even running on pavement feels weird. When on tarmac, it has a feel as if there is gum on the bottom of your shoe and it's a hot summer day. Very sticky.

Ignore what any other company says. There's VJ Shoe rubber at #1 and Vibram outsoles at 1a. I'm not sure why VJ doesn't sell their outsoles to other shoe companies like Vibram does. All else after these two are useless in my opinion.

This shoe was made for vertical terrain. Ascending and descending. I've never, and I mean never, have felt more secured in a shoe on a technical descent than I have while wearing this shoe.

Combine the Fitlock system, *insane* grip, lightness of the shoe, and moderately stacked midsole...you get a chef's kiss of a shoe for technical terrain. This shoe makes you feel like a ninja on descents. One thing I hope they change is the weird hockey lace style laces, I am completely unsure why that is. It's not a bad thing, just looks weird. Also the laces need another few inches as well, especially for technical trail runners who lace up to the last eyelet.

I'm actually impressed a company from Finland known for their obstacle course racing shoes has been able to carve out a niche in the US. What is that niche you ask? East Coast trail runners who train and race over granite in wet conditions. Go to any start line of a trail race in New England and you'll see a large minority of the people in the front of the pack wearing VJ Maxx's.

I'll be running many more miles in these shoes.

-BTR