Scarpa Spin Ultra - Women's Review

The Scarpa Spin Ultra stands out for its outstanding stability and performance over rocky and unpredictable terrain. The wide fit accommodates all types of feet, while the ample cushioning provides sufficient protection for the long haul.

Performance Comparison

Foot Protection

This shoe offers excellent foot protection in the form of super-responsive cushioning, a hard toe cap, and a TPU insert that acts just like a rock plate. The underfoot cushioning is stiffer and quite responsive. In conjunction with the rock place, the cushion offers excellent protection from sharp roots or rocks that might directly impact the sole of the shoe. The integrated TPU plate does a great job of dispersing this impact, which adds to the shoe's protection.

The burly toe cap also does a great job protecting feet from unsuspected stubs on the trail. The mesh has two layers that keep out small clay and sand particles while running in desert environments. Around the Achilles is a harder overlay that provides additional support and protection to keep the shoe from deforming. Overall, we are impressed by the protection of this shoe all the way around.

Traction

The Spin Ultra utilizes a Vibram rubber outsole with roughly 40-ish lugs that are well-spaced apart. This shoe performs best in dry conditions with trail surfaces littered with loose rocks, dirt, or fine debris (like sand or clay). The lugs aren't super deep, but the pattern offers a decent level of stability. This shoe does not perform well over super sticky and soft surfaces like heavy mud.

Designed for the alpine environment, the Spin Ultra does indeed perform best here. We tested it while running up several trails, but one of the most varied provided us with the best comparison. When running up to 12,000 feet on the Bridge of Heaven trail in Ouray, CO, we encountered huge snow patches that required some serious snow travel, traversing over loose rock and treading over packed dirt. In all conditions, this shoe did okay. It is on par with the Topo Athletic Ultraventure 2, but neither shoe matched up with the higher ranking competition.

There was a little slippage on the steep snow slopes. While it can certainly get you through these conditions, it doesn't perform as well as those with longer lugs. That said, over rock-laden surfaces, it sticks wonderfully.

On steep trails, it does a great job of avoiding slippage, both on the way up and down. The wider lugs provide an exceptional level of surface area, while the sticky rubber does a great job hugging every particle of dirt for enhanced friction and, thus, traction. Overall, this shoe performs well on most surfaces.

However, while testing over a trail on a super soggy day, we learned that this shoe becomes quite slippery when laden with mud and doesn't do the best at shedding mud well. To be fair, this is true of most of the shoes in this review. However, as a result, it's not recommended if you're going to find yourself running through mud fields with a clay-based (super sticky) composition.

This shoe is truly built for the surfaces you'll encounter when you travel to and get above treeline. It's perfect for the rock scrambler who finds themselves on technical rock trails or those packed with hard dirt. They perform okay for super steep surfaces but should be avoided if you know you'll be tackling soft surfaces all day long.

Sensitivity

In general, the Spin Ultra allows you to feel most of the trail but is not as sensitive as the Salomon S/Lab Ultra 3. We are happy to report our feet felt fresh when trail running in the alpine environment, even after 18 miles on super-tenuous and technical terrain. We could undoubtedly detect undulations when running over rocks, but we couldn't feel everything underfoot.

This lack of sensitivity makes it an excellent option for alpine running over super long distances. Our feet didn't receive the brunt of the impact, but we could still feel the trail enough to change our positioning, which increased the stability of our body on the trail. Overall, sensitivity is what it should be for a shoe built for ultra-distances. The Spin Ultra is a wonderful option if you like more protection and less sensitivity.

Stability

Wowzers. The stability is grand, and it earns high marks in this category, on par with top scorers Salomon S/Lab Ultra 3 and Hoka Torrent 2. Take this shoe over all sorts of terrain with confidence and ease. It sidesteps nicely and is a more rigid design. Over time, the shoe packed out and became less stable, but that wasn't until we had put almost 500 miles on it.

The combination of bomber foot protection with a little bit of sensitivity adds to the stability of this shoe. The toe box is surprisingly wide, while the shoe's rise feels relatively low. When running over super rocky terrain with fixed and loose rock, the Spin Ultra seemed to remain laterally intact, without falling to one side or another. The sole is relatively stiff, with the cushioning absorbing and distributing the impact shock well. You'll feel close to the ground while the shoe helps to keep you upright.

Comfort and Fit

This shoe offers a good comfort level for simple wear around town and while crushing it on the trail. The fit is wide around the ball of the foot with a well-encapsulated heel cup that keeps your shoe on, even when hiking up or sprinting down. The toe box is also wide, allowing for some wiggle room and greater comfort for the long haul. It doesn't squish the foot, and size is true to fit. It has a neutral fit with a 6mm heel-toe drop.

The midsole is constructed with 2D EVA-CM foam that is harder than softer foams and feels like it bounces back quite efficiently without being springy. The cushioning underfoot is ample, with your foot molding into the midsole after just a few runs. Overall, the comfort of this shoe is impressive.

This shoe is considered neutral with a forefoot profile in terms of fit. The toe box allows some level of toe splay, while the widest part of your foot fits nicely against the sides. The outer mesh is pretty flexible here too, so if your foot is wider, it will push into the sides and allow some give. There is a bit of support around the arch, and the shoe pinches in here, offering a more narrow fit, which prevents foot slippage. The heel cup is bomber and keeps your foot in place, with the more rigid construction around the back.

The tongue detaches from the shoe's interior, allowing you to adjust it easily. The material itself isn't the softest out there, but it's reasonably comfortable. The collar is well padded and comes down just far enough to give room for your ankle bones. The lacing system features wing-like structures that do a great job of completely wrapping the foot without making it too tight. Some of our narrow-footed testers mentioned that it was a little roomy and wasn't narrow enough for them, so if you prefer a tight-fitting shoe, we'd recommend trying it on before you buy.

Weight

This lightweight shoe weighs in at 9.7 ounces for a size 9. It's not the lightest out there, but it sure isn't heavy either. It is not waterproof but does wick away water from the upper, making it absorbent for wet weather.

Should You Buy the Scarpa Spin Ultra?

We are excited about the Scarpa Spin Ultra. Designed for running in the mountains, it offers excellent stability when treading over super technical and rocky terrain. It's not the best for soft and sloppy surfaces, but our testers are thrilled with its responsive ride and overall comfort. The price is high, but this is one to consider if you need an ultra-stable trail runner that can perform over short or long distances.

What Other Trail Running Shoes Should You Consider?

After 500 miles of adventures, we noticed the interior of the Scarpa had completely packed out. The lugs are pretty burly, but after this mileage, on mostly rocky surfaces, they were quite worn down. If you're in the market for a lightweight shoe that boasts excellent stability, you might be interested. However, if you generally look for greater durability in your shoes and want something a little more flexible and versatile, it may not be worth the price. If you want a more durable and budget-friendly shoe, we recommend you look at the Merrell Antora 2, which is one of the lowest-priced options we tested. If you want a more aggressively treaded shoe, the Salomon Speedcross 5 is also less expensive and scored higher in other metrics as well.