büite hardloop Trail Runners – Reviewed & Tested

Stacks on stacks. Tim’s been tearing up trails in trail running shoes from a brand new Aussie brand who reckon size actually does matter.

First things first, how the heck do you pronounce that name?

The word is ‘büite’ it’s a South African Afrikaans word that basically means ‘outside’. You pronounce it like ‘boy-tah’ and then immediately start quoting Blood Diamond and District 9. It’s great. Although büite outdoor is straight out of Melbourne, one of their founders is South African, which is also why you get a little side profile of Table Mountain on the toecap of each shoe.

But enough about that. What’s their first shoe like?

Well, it’s called the hardloop, which is a Dutch/Afrikaans word that means ‘run’, while also having some great trail running connotations in English. It’s a chunky boi, however, in a move that’s becoming increasingly common from small, indie running brands, they wanted to do things a bit differently.

What’s resulted is a shoe with a 35-37mm stack height (they increase with the size of the shoe) that still feels responsive and agile in technical terrain. Thick shoes are becoming the norm for trail runners pushing distance in ultras and on long weekend trail runs, but this has often come at the sacrifice of any kind of trail feel or agility.

The side profile of Table Mountain or ‘Hoerikwaggo’ adorns the shoe

Why am I the right person to do this review?

Fair question! I’ve been trail running for seven years now and many would agree that I’ve made it part of my personality. I’ve competed in a bunch of half marathon trail races, and a few marathon and 50k events. Through We Are Explorers and my poor wallet I’ve had access to dozens of pairs of trail running shoes, so I’ve built up a pretty good understanding of what’s hot and what’s not. I wouldn’t advise uttering the phrase ‘it’s just a shoe’ within earshot.

Quick Specifications

Weight: 350g – US 9
Stack height: 35mm/29mm to 37mm/31mm depending on size
Drop: 6mm – all sizes
Price: $300

Performance

The büite hardloop has a subtle rocker to the sole (meaning they come up at the toe and heel), huge lugs, and a tapered toebox. They look fast and about as close to a trail version of a modern ‘supershoe’ that the road marathoners are using as I’ve seen.

They feel fast on firmer surfaces, the rocker slightly rolling you forward, but it’s not so intense that it feels weird on more technical trails. The North Face Flight Vectiv had a more aggressive rocker (and stiffer construction) that felt like it reduced how much grip you could get onto the dirt, the hardloops doesn’t have that issue.

The hardloop features just enough rocker to propel you forward, but not enough to get in the way

I was expecting these shoes to feel a little boaty and offer minimal trail feel, but I quickly realised the supercritical EVA foam isn’t too soft, it feels responsive and I knew what was beneath me. Supercritical just means that gas has been injected into the foam, which helps make it lighter. The büites aren’t breaking any records – at 350g for a Men’s US 9 they’re actually on the heavy side – but they don’t feel heavy, which is what really matters.

And they’re stable, impressively so. I had a few bad foot placements that were leading towards a roll, but was able to save them. That’s super important for a thick trail shoe, as the consequences of something that’s unstable or too soft can be pretty dire.

The drop from heel to toe is 6mm, which is an underrated sweet spot in my opinion. Much lower loads up your achilles, much higher can feel unnatural. Goldilocks eat your heart out.

Grip

The grip is a proprietary blend and it performs admirably, but not quite to a Vibram standard over slippery rocks. In thicker mud and dirt the 5mm lugs tuck in beautifully to the soil, but on the road I found their winged design a little too flexible and could feel them deforming under my feet when I changed direction or speed.

Beefy lugs grip well and shed mud nicely, but the wings are too flexible in my opinion

The Tuning Fork

But what the hell is going on at the back?! That’s the ‘tuning fork’ technology which büite developed for the shoe. They wanted the shoe to be adaptable over rough terrain and encourage people to engage in what they call ‘heads up running’, but a thick sole and responsive foam wasn’t making that possible.

The tuning fork adapts to rough terrain by allowing individual parts of the heel foam to compress more than others, creating a self-centering effect (think about how a mountain bike tyre deforms over rough terrain.

The ‘tuning fork’ is unlike anything I’ve run in previously

I loved it on fast descents where I could rock back onto the heels and let the shoes do the work a bit. Elsewhere I couldn’t really feel it working as I’m normally landing on my midfoot.

Durability

A shoe designed for bulk miles has gotta be durable, right? Mostly the büite hardloop excels here, their tough toecap, ripstop nylon upper and even the lugs I complained about are all looking just dandy after 60 odd km on trail.

The only disappointment has been the inner soles, which had their fabric come loose after getting wet precisely once. The inner soles really soaked up water too, as did the foam around the heel of the shoe, which made the shoes heavier and left them feeling permanently wet. I’d love to see this tweaked as it was the only major weakness I uncovered on the performance side.

The inner sole was the only part of the shoe that didn’t feel super tough

Comfort

The büite hardloop leaves my feet feeling amazing. It’s that simple. The mix of foam and rocker feels really dialled to the action of running. The footbed is pretty unobtrusive and the webbing holds your foot nicely in place – it feels like my feet muscles don’t have to work as hard.

Big rubber is a treat for the feet

I’m a US 10 or 10.5 most of the time but as a tiny new company büite had to forgo half sizes. I ended up with a US 11, the biggest shoe I’ve worn since I bought half price DC skate shoes at Surf Dive’n Ski in 2007 (they slapped, btw).

Yet they still pulled on with a confident ‘thuck’ and my big toe ended up 1.5 fingers from the end. The width around the front of my fairly narrow foot was just fine, but I ended up having to pull the laces quite close together – I reckon this shoe favours a higher volume foot. I also used the lace lock hole to hold the heel in place, but that’s becoming quite standard for me with thicker shoes.

I just wish the toebox didn’t taper in so much. I found the outside of my big toe was rubbing on the side of the shoe. Not badly, but juuust more than it should. I’d love to see a slightly rounder toebox to allow the toes to splay out properly.

Design

This’ll be polarising. I love them. The black is trendy, the pink is bold. There’s an element of street style to them like the New Balance Fresh Foam X Trail More v3s but they’re actually good for trail running.

I really like the contour detail on the sides of the midsole, the brand name on the side, and the cute little logo on the tongue which I think is founders on a clifftop.

I will say that they don’t look so good when they’re wet; the fabric stays matte and the reinforced TPU parts go very shiny. I’m getting the feeling the hardloop was made for desert runs.

I feel like there’s a rather large missed opportunity to create lace storage in the tongue under the large logo fabric. This would tuck the laces safely away while creating a clean look, something that the bit of elastic halfway up the laces doesn’t really achieve.

Overall I reckon they’re pretty hot, but I’m excited to see what they can do with a slightly less moody colourway.

Sustainability

I actually had to ask büite about this one because it wasn’t mentioned on their website, but I was sure sustainability was on the radar when the shoebox I received was also the box it shipped in, and it contained no plastic apart from some stickers. It also contained some delightful smelling perfume, which was a nice change from the ‘fresh out of the mould smell some shoes come with.

The innersoles of the shoes use recycled EVA, the print dyes are water-based, and basically nothing came with the product that wasn’t recyclable or the product itself. büite also highlighted the reduced impact of their low production volume and durable shoes, which is arguably one of the best ways for a brand to reduce impact.

I’d love to see more initiatives in this space as the company grows, particularly things like recycled EVA and rubber in the midsole and outsole, but it’s a great start.

A light footprint is an especially important criteria at We Are Explorers

Final Thoughts

I’m pretty damn impressed by büite. For an independent Aussie brand to produce a shoe this good on their first take, while challenging some of the big players with their own R&D, is impressive. At $300 they’re getting toward the pointy end for trail runners, which is why my expectations for durability and sustainability have been high during this review.

Yet despite my criticisms, I’ve found myself gravitating back toward the hardloop for long runs in nature. The kind where I want to look around, get immersed in my surroundings, and go all day. I’m excited to see where they go from here.