This page is an ongoing review of the Salomon X Ultra Trek GTX Mens Hiking Boot. I have used them for almost 1,000 miles (August 2018) so far - a fair and honest review - I have bought them with my own money.
How does Salomon describe its own boot - "The men's X ULTRA TREK GTX® is a lightweight, speed hiking monster with aggressive traction and complete waterproof protection. It devours trails, helping you move quickly over hard or soft surfaces.. "
I find most online reviews to be scams where the boot might be used for a one walk or not even that and then just a ploy to sell them. So I decided to create a real review page and show how long they last.
My previous boots were -
Meindl Borneo - lasted almost 2 years around 2,300 miles and the leather split despite taking great care. Heavy boot with a wide sole.
La Sportiva Mens Trango Trek Boot - lasted 20 months and then one boot lost its waterproof goretex ability and the other boot the back of the heal failed. Heavy boot with a narrow sole - the sole was very very stiff.
What kind of use do these boots get? - I walk almost every day and walk an average of 120 miles a month. My walks are in the 1 to 6 hour range. The terrain is a good varied mix of rock, sand, mud, gravel, grass, chalk and rough ground and is flat, hilly, dry and wet. My walking tends to NOT to be on well trodden smooth tracks as I prefer more out of the way places as both my dog and I prefer seeing wildlife and a too busy path will not have much to see. I life in West Sussex in southern England so we get a good soaking to test a boots waterproofing and hilly ground to see how well it vents heat and moisture. I am 6ft5 and 18st man with size 11 UK/ 46 Euro so no lightweight to test the boots and as I am maybe 50% heavier than Mr/Mrs average - perhaps a 50% harder test for the boot... maybe. They make them in a mens and womens fit.
I purchased the Salomon X Ultra Trek GTX Mens Hiking Bootson 20th January 2018 and have used them almost every day.
The first 120 miles of use - about 28 hours of use - February 20th 2018.
First impression is of
lightness - they seem surreaslly light compared to the Meindle or La Sportiva.
An inspection shows that they are nicely made and feel like a quality product.
With other Salomon boots I tried the neck of the boot was a very tight fit to
get my foot into but the Salomon X Ultra Trek GTX Mens Hiking Boot is nice and
open and my foot easily slides in. Easy to lace up and the fit is snug and yet
light - like comfy slippers. The first walk in the boot was a pleasure - no
chaffing and just the odd sensation of comfort from the flexibility of the boot.
The boots have 3 lace eyelets for the ancle - so plenty of support.
Flexibility ... Other hiking boots seem to think a rigid sole is good but I
wonder about this. Our feet are designed to flex and a rigid sole boots
inferferes with this. The rigid sole's lack of flex also gives you less grip.
The Sportiva boots sole was so stiff that on ice or slippery South Downs
chalk/flint the sole's rigidity allowed only a couple of contact points and
hence minimal grip. The Salomon boot's sole flex and hence have more contact
with the ground and so more grip - seems the obvious best option - flex is good!
Maybe more flex places more stress on the materials and they fail sooner - maybe
thats why boot makers make them like that.
So after 120 miles/28+
hours of use ... my thoughts so far. Very comfortable, totally waterproof, the
goretex vents sweat perfectly - no damp socks on even the briskest hacks up the
Downs (~200m climbs). The pattern of grip on the sole and the flex of the sole
give me more grip than anyother boot I have used. Some iffy tracks that I used
to brace myself for slippery issues are no issue with these Salomon X Ultra Trek
GTX Mens Hiking Boots - I am impressed. A four hour hike in sleet, hail,
horizontal rain, mostly fllooded ground and wearing waterproof trousers that
drained water onto the boots .. just to test the waterproofing further produced
perfectly dry socks. The Sportiva did not do that when they were new. I clean
them after every walk - gentle brush and hose off mud and have proofed them once
with a goretex friendly Nubuck proofer.
Weight - each boot is almost 300g lighter than the Meindle - so 600g a pair.
600g is about 1.3lbs - does not sound like much - but noticeable on a walk as
you have not lifted an extra 1.3lbs off the ground for thousands of steps.
Would I recomend them - Yes. Would I buy them again - Yes.
No sign of any wear on them - so I shall keep using them every day and update
the page as the use and miles increase. My only suggestion for an improvement is
the laces. They are tough and I do not see them failing, but the feel of them is
of a slightly harsh material compared to the soft quality of the rest of the
boot - nit picking really - but worth a mention.
The review continues ... how long will they last ....
March 2018
All performing well and nothing has failed.
We had some snow and this gave me the chance to see if a lightweight boot gives
you colder feet than with a heavy boot.
No cheating with thick winter socks - just one pair of normal socks and off I
set for a nine mile (about 14k) walk.
The snow deadens the sound, so a tranquil walk and much
wildlife to get close to and see and stand and spectate.
A flask of Ovaltine (a hot milky malty traditional English winter beverage) came
along with some fruit cake - so further stops to make a very unusually snowy
English walk a little more enjoyable. Accordingly the average pace is down to 3
miles an hour – and all the better for it – important to mention as any boot
will stay warm on a fast pace.
With the boots holding some snow on its surface for most of the walk my feet
stayed warm and excellent grip on the snow and ice.
So with normal socks and a slow pace with a fair bit of standing about in
freezing temperatures – these boots remain an excellent choice.
March 24 2018 - 240 miles/ 60+ hours of use
The weather has been ranging from just under freezing to go for a walk in just a shirt warm and much rain has been falling - which means almost every walk is muddy.
The boots still feel like comfy slippers and yet grip the feet really well with not discomfort. The goretex works the best of any boot I have used as I have yet to see any sign of mositure on my socks even after a 700+ft climb going at a good hack. No sign of any wear on any parts. The soles seem to clear mud really well and when your whole foot vanishes into deep sticky clay type mud - not much seems to stick to the outer part of the boot.
240+ miles and very impressed.
March 30 2018 - one of the laces has failed - the outer material has snapped.
The laces always felt "cheap" compared to the rest of the boots. Dissapointing to have a failure just over 2 months into the test.
I will contact the shop that sold me them and report back on their customer service. The outer layer of the lace has snapped, just leaving the inner core.
The dealer I bought them from (extremegb.com) arranged for Salomon to send me some new laces. When they arrived they were not the same as the original and seemed even poorer quality - not good. I went to my local Cortswold Outdoor shop and bought a good pair of laces.
April 2018 - A total of 480 miles walked
Another 120 miles of mixed hiking with the hound in wet and dry condidtions and the boot still supremely comfortable.
The folds in the outer material where the boot bends with your toes are now deeper, but not cracked and the boot remains waterproof.
May 2018 - A total of over 600 miles walked
Quite a few 6 hour hikes have pushed the mileage for May to close to 200 miles and I have now used these boots for over 600 miles - still very confortable.
One of the new laces snapped in the same way as the original set, so it obviously was not just poor quality laces. I had a very close look at all of the eyelets that the laces run through and some of them (they are formed in metal) have sharp square edges that must be cutting into the lace each time you pull them tight to do them up. I used a set of very small fine round files to remove the sharp edges from the metal eyelets. Hopefully this will fix the issue.
June 2018 - A total of 780 miles walked
The UK heatwave continues and I have walked about 120 miles in June - down a bit as I have also been mountain biking. No more issues with laces and still very confortable. Even though it is very warm - high 20's centigrade and into the 80's Fahrenheit - the goretex seeks to vent the sweat and moisture well. When I bouught the boots the maintenance instructructions were a bit unclear so I contacted Salomon for clarification. They did not have any suggestions themselves (rather odd?) but instead pointed me at the web and confirmed I should use these and they have been used a few times each month.
July 2018 - A total of 900 miles walked in 6 months
The boots remain the most confortable boots I have owned in 30+ years of hiking and this has contributed to the high mileage! They are truely excellent.
Sadly the deep creases in the outer material in both boots have now turned into cracks. This failure seems more than skin deep as the waterproof goretex has also failed at this point and water can now get in. We still have high temperatures so a leaking boot is only an inconvenience, but once the winter arrives they will need replacement.
I started this review to see how long a pair of the these would last and with the cracks and waterproofing fails - I think we can say that they have failed and should be replaced. I think a pair of expensive boots should last more than 900 miles and 6 months use. The soles remain like new and show little sign of wear.
I have decided to continue with the test as they remain very comfortable, the dry weather means that the goretex failure is not a show stopper and I shall continue using them to see how the rest of the boot stands up. I shall ask Salomon for a comment and will publish their feedback when I receive it.
August 2018 - Over 1,000 miles of hiking since January 2018
The cracks seem to be growing, but the rest of the boot is still surviving well.
September 2018 - Over 1,200 miles of hiking since January 2018
The boots remain very comfortable but the cracks continue to grow. The weather continues to be very dry so no water about to see if it gets in the cracks.
September 2018 - Over 1,450 miles of hiking since January 2018
The weather has turned wet and the cracks have grown and
now it is wet the boots are letting in water and need to be replaced.
I have regularly treated them with the products Salomon suggest so this is the
end of the line for this pair.
I do not think a pair of £100+ boots should fail in less than 9 months and regular use of just over 1,400 miles.
The question you have all been asking me about is what Salomons customer service is like - well not too good so far.
Despite sending high res photos, they emailed me and
asked me to send them back and said they would only address the matter if it
turned out to be a manufacturing fault!
I get the impression they want to escape from their legal obligations and
standing 12 month warranties.
They said they will only take them back if I have all the original box,
packaging and tags - who keeps this stuff?
When I started this test people told me - comfortable boots, fall apart quickly and customer services not interested - that is all looking to be true.
A real shame as the boots are really comfortable.
I will keep you posted on how Salomon treat a customer.
If you want to buy a pair in black or brown and want perfect service then Amazon is best as usual and
here are the links to find either the Mens or Womens
versions -