Brooks Catamount 2 Review
This week it’s the latest trail running shoe from one of our most popular brands Brooks and their Catamount 2 review. The Brooks Catamount 2 is Brooks’ first ‘real’ trail running shoe suitable for a variety of terrain like we are blessed with in Britain. The outsole grip is not necessarily designed for the most extreme of conditions, but the Catamount 2 offers a flexible ride with a good balance between ground feel and foot protection. It rides well on the unsurfaced footpaths that criss-cross the countryside in the UK.
The original Brooks Catamount was launched in 2021 as a shoe designed for running quickly on the trails. The marketing of the shoe was based around the Western States 100-mile race, which is arguably ‘the’ 100-mile race in the US. This race is mainly hard packed trails. The original catamount was therefore made to help the runners go quickly on this type of terrain. It had a very noticeable rocker and a stiffer sole like a road running shoe. It was designed to encourage a quick cadence and the maintenance of an upright running posture. I enjoyed running in the original Catamount on road to trail runs where the trails were hard-packed bridleways. It was too stiff to cope with broken ground but gave a smooth ride on firmer surfaces.
Catamount 2 – Very Different to the Original Catamount
Fit & Feel
The first thing that you notice when putting the Catamount 2 onto your feet is that it feels stable and ‘low to the ground’. You feel well-rooted to the spot. The stack height is the same as the original Catamount so Brooks hasn’t made the midsole any thinner to achieve this stability. What it has done is increased the height of the side walls, particularly at the rear of the shoe. This means that your foot now sits inside the midsole whereas in the original Catamount your foot sat on top of the midsole, giving you the sensation of riding the shoe. The new shape, fit and flexibility of the Catamount 2 makes it feel more like the shoe is part of your foot allowing your foot to move naturally over the ground. There is still a rocker but it is almost unnoticeable. The forefoot now has a thin plastic plate to help with propulsion and give the shoe a flexible, snappy type of feel. This mechanism Brooks have called SkyVault. The plate still allows some ground feel whilst offering a good level of protection from roots, rocks etc which might bruise your feet.
The heel cup is semi-stiffened with a half plastic heel cup. The collar is well padded for a lightweight trail shoe but considerably less than you would find is Brooks everyday road running shoe like the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 23 (coming soon) and Brooks Ghost 15. The upper is made from a dual sided air mesh. This mesh is water resistant and abrasion resistant on the outside and has a soft, quick drying inner layer on the inside. The upper is made from a recycled polyester.
The fit and general shape of the toe box is a big improvement for me. The previous Catamount had a very pointed toe box. The Catamount 2 is a lot more rounded. Which I feel allows my feet to relax inside the shoe and function better. I also feel that I can run up hill better in shoes with this shaped toe box and get less tension in my calves even after long climbs.
Upper & Tongue
The tongue is gusseted to stop debris from getting into the shoes and to keep the tongue in place when the shoe is bending in line with the shape of the trail. The tongue is lightly padded. This reduces how much moisture the shoes can absorb, yet still supplies adequate protection from the laces, which are flat and sit nicely on the top of the foot. There is a piece of elastic that runs horizontally across the tongue part of the way down the tongue. This is designed for you to push any excess lace into to stop the laces from getting untied while running through the undergrowth. I found that there wasn’t any excess lace so didn’t have the need to use this facility. If you prefer to swap your laces for an elastic lace then the elastic would perfectly secure the loop at the top of the lace.
There is an overlay that runs around the upper just above the midsole to provide a protective rand. This is designed to prevent the upper from getting cut by rocks and to reduce excessive erosion of the upper. There are drainage holes in the upper to help get rid of excess water after river crossings etc. The toe cap is firm to provide additional protection and comes over the big toe.
SkyVault Midsole
The midsole is made from DNA Flash, which is a nitrogen infused foam. It is designed to be firm and responsive. Inside the forefoot of the midsole is a thin nylon plate shaped like a fork. This is what Brooks calls SkyVault and is designed to give the Catamount 2 a bit of ‘snap’ particularly on the climbs. I did experience the snappy feel but wouldn’t say hill ascents sped up that much. I felt that together with the slight rocker and flexible forefoot it was easy to maintain a quick cadence on the climbs, which is the most efficient way of running uphill. That’s short quick strides, which on steep climbs can feel like you are almost running on the spot. Running uphill this way reduces how heavy your quads get and makes it easier to get back into your running or pick the speed up as you come over the top of the hill. Your torso should be upright so that you are looking up the track/hill side. Not at the floor. Shoes that are too soft or too flexible which make running uphill difficult I find I bend at the waist and feel like I am digging a hole in the ground rather than moving easily up the hill. Brooks claim that the SkyVault increases your uphill running efficiency and the sensation that I got during my review miles makes me believe what they are saying. However it is hard to measure this, as you can’t run hill reps and measure the times or do one long climb, as the shoes don’t make you significantly quicker over short distances. Where you are likely to see a difference is when you have been out for a long time. Running efficiency will reduce your fatigue overall. To measure it you would need to control all other fatigue supplying factors.
A lot of shoes on the market today make you feel like you are ‘running quickly’. The rocker in the shoes takes over and you feel like riding over the top of the shoes. The Catamount 2 doesn’t feel like that and you feel in complete control. The shoes felt flexible and agile during my review miles. You run quickly downhill because of the ‘rebound’ from the nylon plate and the midsole encourages you to increase your cadence. This keeps you more upright. Good running posture is in effect ‘controlled falling’ and this is what it felt like. I was falling down the hill.. but in complete control!
Catamount 2 TrailTack Outsole
The outsole is made from what Brooks call TrailTack. Essentially it is a sticky rubber designed to grip well on wet rock, wood and other slippery surfaces. It feels softer than the rubber used on the original Catamount and doesn’t have the same loud sound on tarmac. I didn’t have any issue on stepping stones, wet wooden stiles etc.. However, it doesn’t have quite the same ‘stuck like glue’ feel that you get from La Sportiva’s ‘white cross rubber’ that is used on the Cyklon and Mutant or the Butyl rubber that is used in NVii and VJ running shoes. However, the Catamount 2 is not designed to race on open mountain terrain like the above mentioned shoes and the TrailTack rubber provides an adequate level of grip for the trail terrain it is designed to be used on.
The lugs are slightly longer than on the original Catamount. They are 4mm in length and shaped to offer good breaking when descending and good traction when climbing. Lugs that are 4mm in length are designed to be used on a versatile number of terrains. Long lugs (8-10mm) offer the best traction on wet and muddy ground but they have no feel for the ground on firmer trails and slow you down. The 4mm lugs work well on firm tracks and trails and still offer some traction when it rains and it gets a bit slippery. The flexibility and nimble feel that the Catamount 2 has allows you to skip over or around the puddles and really sloppy bits.
The Catamount 2 has adequate enough cushioning to be used as a road to trail shoe. A lot of the runs I do have a mile or so of tarmac before I am able to get onto fields or disused railway lines. They ride quite nicely on the road and could be used for longer sections of road if you like a responsive ride that’s adequate, just not really soft.
There is a Velcro attachment at the heel and a hole at the bottom of the laces to allow for gaiters to be attached to the shoes. A men’s UK8 weighs 275g and a women’s UK5 weights 244g.
In summary the Brooks Catamount 2 is a versatile, responsive trail running shoe that offers a good level of underfoot protection and yet provides plenty of ground feel. It’s ideal for all surfaces except the extremely soft and sticky, which means it caters extremely well for a huge proportion of readers. I was impressed with the new version, enjoyed the review miles and am keeping the Catamount 2 in my rotation.
Other Considerations
La Sportive Akasha 2: These have the same heel to forefoot drop. A firm EVA midsole provides a firm and responsive cushion that feels good on the climbs. They are quite as bouncy. The lugging on the outsole is 6mm long and bites more effectively into soft ground than the 4mm lugs of the Catamount 2. Here is our review for more information: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/la-sportiva-akasha-ii-review/
Scarpa Ribelle Run: A very similar shoe. The drawstring laces and lace pocket stop your laces from coming untied. The grips are a similar level as is flexibility. The Ribelle lacks the bouncy feel of the Catamount 2 but this does give more ground feel. Here is a link to our review for more information: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/scarpa-ribelle-run-review/
Icebug Capra: Longer lugs give the Capra a much better grip in the softer conditions. Doesn’t ride as nicely on harder ground but, on more technical terrain it goes well. Here is a link to our review: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/icebug-capra-review/
Hoka Tecton X: A carbon plated shoe designed to help increase propulsion. There is more soft cushioning which takes away the ground feel. The grip is best kept for hard packed trails. Here is our review: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/hoka-one-one-tecton-x-review/
Inov-8 Roclite G275: These are 8mm heel to forefoot and have longer lugs which makes them better on softer ground. However, they don’t have the same smoothness on firmer tracks and trails. The Meta-Plate gives the Roclite a similar stiffness on ascent which helps when running up hill in a similar way to the Sky Vault in the Catamount 2. Here is a link to our review: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/inov-8-roclite-275-graphene-review/
Scott Supertrac RC 2: These have a similar versatility to the Catamount 2. The lugs offer better traction in softer ground. The midsole isn’t as springy and durable as the nitrogen infused midsole of the Catamount 2. Here is a link to our review for more information: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/scott-supertrac-rc-2-0-review-trail-fell-running-shoes/
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