Montrail Melee RIP

It was with great sadness that I recently retired my all time favorite pair of sneakers, my beloved Montrail Melees. After two and a half years of near daily use and abuse they finally succumbed to a tear in the mesh on the inside of the left sneaker. My love was so strong for these sneakers that I extended their lives (rightly or wrongly) for an additional few months by repeatedly stitching the tear shut. After kidding myself for too long, and getting rocks in my shoes whenever walking outside, I finally pulled the plug.

The Melees were my first pair of Montrails. I had been reading good things about the company for quite a while and finally bought them on sale at a local outdoor shop. While they were certainly not the best looking sneakers I had ever bought, I fell for them immediately. Light, breathable, quick drying, insanely durable and extremely comfortable, I was amazed. They were such a radical departure from the string of crappy major label sneakers I had been wearing I had to spread the word to everyone who would listen. The soles are awesome too, I bet I could probably still go for a few mile run in these today without any discomfort. In the time it has taken me to wear a pair out I would have gone through at least four pairs of Nikes or New Balance.

Impressed with the Melees I bought a pair of Hurricane Ridge with GORE-TEX for the colder months. They're great but the GORE-TEX makes them way to hot for North Carolina summers. So, to replace the Melees I got a pair of the equally lightweight Odysseys. They are also kind of ugly, but I love them now too. If you want an awesome sneaker from a really great company that will outlast any piece of crap they sell at Foot Locker I highly recommend Montrail.

Links:
Montrail Website (Warning Flash Hell)
RockCreek.com
MooseJaw.com
REI stores usually have a few models available