Inov-8 Parkclaw G 280 Review

The Inov-8 Parkclaw is the name that Inov-8 give to their road to trail shoes, including the latest Graphene enhanced Parkclaw G 280. These are shoes designed to be comfortable on tarmac but also grippy and responsive enough for use on the trails. Road shoes have a softer cushioning and are stiffer, as they are designed to give a smooth ride on a smooth hard surface. Trail shoes are designed to give more feel for the terrain you are running on and flex with the terrain so that they give maximum grip and reduce the chance of twisting an ankle or a knee. It’s quite tricky to make a shoe that is ‘great’ on both these surfaces. Therefore, road to trail shoes are often a compromise. Where the compromise is best made all depends on what your trail looks like and whether you prefer really soft cushioned shoes for your road running or firmer, more responsive shoes. By using Graphene in the midsole of the Parkclaw G 280 Inov-8 have been able to address a lot of the drawbacks with road to trail shoes and make a shoe that is comfortable on the road and very effective on a variety of trail terrain.

As you can tell from the number in its name the Parkclaw G 280 weighs in at 280 grams for a UK 8. The heel to forefoot drop is 8mm with a midsole stack height of 18 mm in the heel and 10 mm in the forefoot. When standing up in the Parkclaw G 280 I was aware of the stack height. Usually, I wear shoes with a lower heel to forefoot drop but have found that a higher differential isn’t always noticeable. The Inov-8 X-Talon 260 Ultra has a heel to forefoot drop of 8mm and this didn’t feel as much of a difference as the Parkclaw G 280. However, I think the reason I am so aware of the differential is because of the flexibility of the midsole. Once running in the shoes, they didn’t feel like a shoe with such a high heel to forefoot drop and I was only aware of the heel when descending very steep hills, which is great.

The upper is a light breathable mesh with good TPU overlay at the toe. The tongue and heel are well padded to offer a high degree of comfort. There is no plastic heel cup, so the heel is free to mould to the shape of your heel. The upper is quite a low volume at the toe. This is very similar to the fit of the Trailfly 300 Max. When first putting the shoes on I was aware of the toe box pushing on my toe but once moving in the shoes I could no longer feel this pressure. This was exactly the same in the Trailfly 300 Max.

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The Parkclaw uses Inov-8’s standard last, which is it’s most roomy. Inov-8 has rated the width as 4 our of 5 on their 1-5 scale, with 5 being the widest. I would say that the width is a generous D width rather than a 2E width. I found the length to be on the smaller side. I am usually a UK 11 in Inov-8 but took a UK 11.5 in these (this is the same size as I needed in the Trailfly 300 Max) so you might want to try your size and half a size up. Returns are very simple, just test them out indoors.
The outsole lugs are 4mm deep. This is a good length for a road to trail shoe. Longer studs slide on wet tarmac due to the low surface area and take away the feel for the floor, so you are also a bit cautious and don’t get a nice rhythm going. These 4mm lugs are also long enough to cope with a variety of different trail terrains, from hard packed tracks to greasy single track. The Parkclaw G 280 is obviously not designed to double up as a cross country racing shoe or for hitting sticky deep mud etc..
The insole is Inov-8’s ‘Boomerang’ insole. This has been used in the Terraultra G270 and Trailfly Max and is a thin insole that gives a surprising amount of cushioning and energy return. The insole also maintains this bounce even after excessive use.

The exciting new technology in the Parkclaw G 280 is the Graphene within the midsole. This makes the foam more durable, which is backed up by reports from Inov-8 sponsored athletes claiming that they are getting 750 miles out of the shoes before getting compression set in the midsole. This is twice what you would expect to get from other midsoles. How many miles you get out of a shoe varies from person to person and depends on how light on their feet they are and how hard the terrain they are running on is, so it’s hard to say how much longer the midsole will last for any individual. I have over 200 miles on my Parkclaw G 280 and there is no sign of fatigue in the midsole. The midsole is a bit more flexible and has more of an elastic feel than on the first run.

The outsole is made from a soft sticky rubber designed to give good grip on wet slippery surfaces. This rubber is infused with Graphene to increase the durability, elasticity and strength. Softer more grippy rubbers tend to wear down faster than harder rubbers used on road shoes. The infusion of the Graphene has given the outsole a similar durability to a road shoe outsole while maintaining the grip. The rubber is also stronger so there is less chance of a lug getting snapped off the outsole and the outsole is more elastic so the outsole can flex with the midsole, forming to the ground. This means that there is more surface area in contact with the floor, so you get better grip. It also makes the shoes more stable. On really broken ground you have less chance of twisting an ankle or knee. This flexibility in the shoe also allows you to be nimbler so you can run faster and more confidently over rough or broken terrain.

The Parkclaw G 280 is the perfect shoe for me. A lot of my running is mixed terrain. I start off from the door and I can be running over farmers’ fields, disused railway lines, hard packed bridleways and muddy single tracks through the woods or down by the river. I have been able to give the Parkclaw G 280 a good test in the three weeks I have had them on a variety of surfaces and over a variety of distances.

As mentioned previously I felt that I could notice the heel to forefoot drop when standing up in the shoes. Once running though the shoes are so flexible that you don’t feel the shoe pulling you onto your heel, which is what I feel when running in other high heel to forefoot drop shoes that are stiff through the midfoot. Usually, a road to trail shoe is mainly a road shoe and is quite stiff. So, it struggles on any terrain that is more broken than hard packed trail. The Parkclaw G280 feels great on lots of different terrains.

The midsole is so flexible that it is easy to run up steep climbs. Your feet can work in the shoes as they would in a fell shoe. Normally in a shoe of this type there isn’t that flexion, so you are somewhat fighting the shoe. Descending the steepest hills, the heel did get in the way a little bit perhaps, but this is taking the shoe to the extreme end of its intended use. I couldn’t run down a steep hill in any other road to trail shoes as the stiffness of the shoes means you can’t absorb the lumps and bumps in the ground and your ankles therefore must work very hard.

The outsole feels very elastic. You stand on a rock and it stretches to take the shape of the rock then springs back to its normal shape. You have a lot of feel for the ground. Even on rough back roads that are made of tar with stones thrown on top. You are aware of the larger stones. I like this amount of feel. Your feet are getting the messages they need from the floor to control posture, which also stimulates them to function.

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The flexibility of the shoes makes them feel very natural to run in. I felt like I could plod along without being aware of my feet. The Parkclaw G 280 was mainly used for my easy runs and long runs as these are all mixed terrain, but I did use them for one tempo run on mixed terrain just see if it was possible to run quickly in such a flexible shoe. The answer is yes and my previously 01:19:00 tempo run was a 01:17:00 tempo run. I hasten to add that this isn’t all down to the shoes because the ground is drying up a bit now, it’s less windy and I am getting gradually fitter. However, what it does show is that despite the comfortable, easy run feel to the shoes you definitely can run quick in them.

My longest run in the Parkclaw G 280 has been just short of 3 hours. The last few miles being on tarmac. The shoes where still very comfortable and I still had the feeling that I wasn’t aware of the shoes on my feet.

The grip has been suitable on all but the most extremely slippery moss-covered tarmac and stones. Despite not being designed for deeper mud, the flexibility of the shoe actually helps prevent clogging. I have noticed some wear on the outsole but only really under my big toe. I have a long big toe and often wear down the lugs prematurely around there so this is nothing unusual. The lugs around there are quite small anyway so they will wear down quicker than the larger lugs further down the outsole.

In summary the Inov-8 Parkclaw G 280 is a bit of a game changer. It’s such a versatile shoe that it can be used on all types of trail terrain competently as well as tarmac. This could make it the perfect shoe for those who run on a variety of terrain and just want to have one running shoe. They could be the perfect running shoe to pack on your holidays when space it at a premium and you just want one shoe to cope with all your running. For Park Runs it will be great, it’s practically in the name. I’m a fan!

Other Considerations

Inov-8 Parkclaw 260 Knit: Despite the name being the same these are a very different shoe. They have a firm responsive ride and aren’t as flexible or grippy. So, would be best used for road and hard packed tracks:
https://www.northernrunner.com/inov8-m6/parkclaw-t136

Scott Kinabalu: The eRide rocker in Scott shoes gives them a smoother ride on the road and hard packed tracks. The rocker does stiffen up the midsole which reduces the effectiveness of the shoes as the ground gets more broken. The outsole lugs are durable and grippy in the wet:
https://www.northernrunner.com/search/kinabalu

Hoka Challenger: These are a complete contrast to the Parkclaw G 280. They have pillow like cushioning and rather than being nimble the shoe absorbs the lumps and bumps of the trail a bit like a Mountain Bike tyre. They feel like a well cushioned road shoe but aren’t as versatile on the trails and work best on hard packed tracks. They are available in two widths:
https://www.northernrunner.com/hoka-m92/challenger-t92

Topo MT-3: These have a broader more rounded toe box than the Parkclaw. They are designed to give your feet the space to function in the shoes. They are a lower 3mm heel to forefoot drop. Here is our review: https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/topo-athletic-mt3-review/

Altra Timp 3: These are zero drop with a broad rounded toe box. The ride is soft and pillow like. Here is our review:
https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/altra-timp-3-review/