GoLiteFootwear shoes

GoLite apparently licensed out their name to New England Footwear who now produces a shoe with their branding. I saw them in the latest issue of Backpacker magazine and due to their cost I thought I would give them a try. Note that GoLite products in general are very low end on the pricing scale but in my experience their quality is mid rage and their customer service is great - we shall see if the licensed shoe line holds up to that standard. So here is my mini review of the GoLite Mens XTComp shoes.



Below is a link to the shoes I ordered (link working as of 3-24-14). I purchased them in charcoal/navy color scheme as I'm not into yellow shoes. The purpose of these shoes is to be light hikers during the summer. My TheNorthFace (I hate typing the The) Goretex shoes are much too hot for mid summer day hikes so I needed something for dry day hikes.

http://www.golitefootwear.com/product/mens-xtcomp-shoes/

So far I have only worn them to work and not on an actual walk as thanks to the stupid weather I am still wearing TheNorthFace (argh) shoes.

Build quality is pretty good at a 37 on a 1-50 scale. Fit - which is usually the worst thing about buying shoes on line - is about right. Sadly I am smack between a 9 and 9.5. Opting for 9.5 these are a little sloppy and the laces aren't capable of cinching the shoes tight, but it's better than over tight footwear.

The good:
Price - $69.99 for this color
Initial build quality - they are Chinese but so are 99.9999999% of the shoes out there
Comfort - so far, so good. Can't wait for the first actual hike though
Apparent grip quality - they seem sticky and have a nice tread
Design and color


The bad:
Laces - they seem a little slick
Size - while not their fault, I really need a 9.25 size
Fit - like I mentioned they are a little sloppy. I'll work on the lacing to fix it hopefully.

Other item of note:
I did get a personal email from the customer service manager after my order shipped with a tracking number. Much appreciated.