La Sportiva Prodigio Review
Today we have our La Sportiva Prodigio review, from a brand that makes everything for runners, walkers, climbers or anyone else that wants to get into the hills. The La Sportiva Prodigio is the latest trail running shoe in their range and is designed for all the way to ultramarathon distance on hard packed trails. It’s not a grippy muddy fells running shoe, they are comfortable and durable enough to be worn all day on harder trail surfaces, whilst versatile enough to be used as an everyday training shoe on mixed terrain.
That La Sportiva ‘Solid’ Feel
La Sportiva running shoes have a very secure, stable firmer feel to them. This is a very distinctive ‘La Sportiva feel’ and despite the midsole of the Prodigio being made from a new foam called X-Flow Foam, which is a super critical foam designed to give a high level of energy return, there is no mistaking that the Prodigio is a La Sportiva shoe when you put it on. This feel comes from the shoes having a firm solid base with a stable feel and a secure fit. La Sportiva is based in the Italian Dolomites where the tracks and trails that head up into the hills are often loose rock and on a camber. A feel for the ground and a shoe that is flexible enough in the forefoot to take the curvature of the terrain is essential to maintain a good level of traction and allow you to be nimble enough to skip over obstacles and negotiate broken ground.
Midsole Feel
Despite the high level of cushioning the Prodigio isn’t a ‘road shoe in disguise’, but a highly cushioned trail shoe. The super critical midsole aka X-Flow is 34mm thick in the heel and 28mm thick in the forefoot. Unlike a lot of highly responsive and high energy return road running shoes, the Prodigio midsole isn’t soft. This is because it needs to provide a good level of underfoot protection from rocks or thorns and partly because you need to feel what you are standing on, so you can react to it. A firmer midsole also gives the shoes a higher level of stability. The fact that the Prodigio feels firmer and more responsive doesn’t mean that it doesn’t ‘feel cushioned’. On the contrary, I barely felt any impact with the floor. There’s a bit of spring from the midsole and the progressive rocker gives the La Sportiva Prodigio a nice smooth ride, even on tarmac.
Initial Stiffness – Don’t Be Put Off
As well as the very distinctive feel to the fit of a La Sportiva shoe, for me they’ve always got more flexible over time and more comfortable too. This doesn’t mean that they are uncomfortable initially, quite the opposite. They may just start stiffer and start to flex. Critically they flex where your foot does, which gives them a very light and nimble feel once worn in over one or two runs. This is very much like running shoes of the 1980’s used to feel. The EVA midsole used to compress and take the shape of your foot. La Sportiva have managed to maintain this feel to their shoes even as the foams in the midsoles have got more durable and more cushioned. As the X-Flow foam isn’t an EVA based foam like La Sportiva use in their other shoes, I was expecting these to feel different. Fortunately for the La Sportiva fans they don’t. They wear in just the same as other La Sportiva running shoes.
My initial run in the La Sportiva Prodigio felt a bit stiff and firm and was almost a bit disappointing. On my third run the shoe had transformed! The forefoot was a lot more flexible and the shoes felt lighter on my feet. Now I’ve done over 100 miles in the shoes they have become exceptionally comfortable just the same as the La Sportiva Akasha and La Sportiva Jackal did. The difference is that the La Sportiva Prodigio does provide more underfoot protection, both at the heel and under the forefoot, than the EVA midsole foam used in the Akasha and the Jackal.
Heel & Upper
The heel cup is half plastic and comes around your heel and helps hold your heel onto the midsole. The heel tab is a touch higher than on most other shoes, as is the cuff of the shoe. This helps pull the upper in around the heel to give a secure fit and reduce the chance of any slippage, even when you are running up hill for long periods of time. The padding at the heel and around the cuff is light but adequate. Like on most trail shoes, the padding has been kept to a minimum to prevent the shoes from absorbing water. The tongue comes up high around the ankle to seal the gap between the shoe and your ankle to reduce the chance of debris getting in. The tongue is lightly padded but soft, despite it’s plastic-like appearance. The tongue is gusseted and doesn’t go as low into the laces as on many shoes to prevent debris from getting into the shoes. The upper is made of a two layer mesh. It is open on the outside to help with breathability and has smaller holes on the inside to help prevent grit and sand from getting in the shoes. The inside of the shoes is completely seamless and made of a very soft smooth material to reduce the chance of anything rubbing as your feet expand on longer runs.
The laces thread through tapes at the base and up the shoe with two holes at the top. One of these holes is an additional hole should you feel the need to make the heel fit a bit snugger. You can either thread the lace through this additional hole or butterfly lace the shoes. The laces themselves are thin with a little bit of stretch.
The 6mm heel to forefoot drop makes the Prodigio suitable for a heel or forefoot striker. A men’s UK8 weights 270g, which is light for a shoe with such a durable midsole.
Width
LA Sportiva running shoes are usually a narrow fit. The La Sportiva Prodigio offers a snug fit at the heel and the upper pulls in nicely around the midfoot but then there is a much broader forefoot than on other La Sportiva shoes. They aren’t as broad as some of the rounded toe box brands like Topo Athletic or Altra but there is more room than many others. The big toe line is straight to allow for a strong push off and there is enough room in the toe box to allow your feet to spread unless you have exceptionally broad feet. Reviewing the La Sportiva Prodigio felt similar to the La Sportiva Jackal in terms of width.
The base of the upper is protected by an overlay that runs around the shoe and opens out to form the toe bumper. The toe bumper is easily compressed and remains flexible, unlike some shoes that require a tonne of protection against tree roots and rock.
Outsole Grip
The outsole rubber is La Sportiva’s Red Cross. This is designed to offer a good level of traction on wet surfaces like rock and wood, but remains very durable. In my experience this rubber is about the best you get, considering a super sticky rubber would be softer and wear down quickly on the terrain the Prodigio is designed for. The lugs are shorter at 3.5mm deep and shaped to offer a smooth ride on majority firmer surfaces. It wasn’t designed for traction on greasy or muddy terrain.
The winter has been very wet in the UK, so the fields are water logged and around me, all the non-surfaced tracks have a thin film of mud on top of them that is very slippery. I find that when the lugs have been rounded off, like on the Prodigio or the Topo Ultraventure 3 for example, they don’t offer traction on this terrain. The sharper lugs like on the La Sportiva Jackal or the VJ MAXx2 do a little better.
A longer stud would be better now in all this rain, but on the firmer tracks and trails and/or tarmac sections when the ground dries up and the sunshine arrives, this won’t be a problem and the well-cushioned Prodigio will come into its own.
EU Size / UK Size
In my experience, La Sportiva is one of the smaller fitting brands. They offer every Euro size to ensure you can find a good fit and the EU conversion leads to ‘+/plus’ sizes in UK sizing. For reference I size as follows:
- New Balance, Hoka, Scott, Karhu and Inov-8 – UK11.5
- Brooks, Saucony, Topo Athletic, Altra and NNormal – UK11
- La Sportiva – I need UK 11.5+.
Summary
The La Sportiva Prodigio is a very well cushioned ultramarathon-distance-suitable running shoe designed for harder tracks and trails. For everyday runners and La Sportiva fans not planning an ultra any time soon, they are cushioned, comfy and versatile enough for harder trails and road-to-trail use, with a smooth ride that gets better over time. Ideal for mixed routes in the summer when everything has dried out.
Other Considerations
VJ MAXx 2: Similar midsole which has a similar responsive feel but, it isn’t as thick so doesn’t offer the same protection for Ultra’s. The 4mm lugs provide better traction on some soft ground or hard packed trails with a layer of slippery mud on top.
https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/vj-sport-maxx2-review/
Altra Mont Blanc Carbon: A broad rounded toe box promotes more foot function. The midsole has a much softer feel and the shoes are more flexible. Which gives a more natural feel to the ride. There isn’t as much feel for the floor and the traction is of a similar level. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/altra-mont-blanc-carbon-review/
Brooks Caldera 7: These have a softish feel to the cushioning with some ground feel. They don’t feel as nimble due to the broader base. The traction is better in soft ground but, they do feel like a road shoe with some grip rather than a dedicated trail shoe. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/brooks-caldera-7-review/
Topo Athletic Ultraventure 3: A broad rounded toe box offers room for your feet to spread and function in the shoes. The cushioning level is high but, there isn’t any feel for the floor. The grip is of a similar level to the Prodigio but feel more sketchy due to the lack of feel. Great for road to trail use as they feel really comfortable on long easy runs. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/topo-athletic-ultraventure-3-review/
Scarpa Spin Planet: Better traction on softer ground but not as cushioned or smooth on firmer tracks and trails. The toe box is roomy. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/scarpa-spin-planet-review/
NNormal Kjerag: 3.5mm lugs designed for hard packed, dry trails offer similar poor traction on the silt covered hard packed tracks that we currently have in the UK. The Prodigio midsole has a similar firm feel but, is more flexible in the forefoot and a lot smoother on hard packed ground. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/nnormal-kjerag-review/
New Balance Hierro v8: Like La Sportiva shoes the New Balance Hierro v8 has got more flexible and smoother the more I have run in it. There isn’t the same underfoot protection as the Prodigio offers so the Hierro wouldn’t be the shoe to choose for Ultra’s but offers good cushioning for everyday mixed runs or Marathon distance trails. The grip level is better on slit covered hard packed and some slippery single track. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/new-balance-hierro-v8-review-fresh-foam-x/
Hoka Tecton X 2: The split carbon plate gives these shoes more spring but there isn’t the same feel for the floor or flexibility. So, you feel like you are riding the shoe rather than running. The traction level is similar to the Prodigio. The fit is much narrower with less room in the toe box. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/hoka-tecton-x-2-review/
Hoka Mafate Speed 4: 6mm lugs gives these a good level of traction on softer ground. The thick midsole takes away the feel for the ground so you really have to trust the shoe. The thick soft midsole and rocker means that you don’t have a flexible nimble feel like you do in the Prodigio. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/hoka-mafate-speed-4-review/
Karhu Ikoni Trail: Designed as a road to trail shoe the midsole isn’t quite good enough for Ultra’s but, functions as an everyday trail she suitable for some road on the way top the trail. The grip level is good and will cope with some mud. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/karhu-ikoni-trail-review/
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