Can This Swiss Activewear Brand’s Innovative First Shoe Change the Trail Running Game?

Most off-road footwear design focuses on traction, which makes sense because being able to “grip” the trail is essential to staying upright. But as important as the relationship between outsole and ground is, what about the connection between your foot and the shoe itself?

Backed by a long history of producing high-performance socks, the Swiss company X-Bionic may be ideally qualified to address such a question. And as the 26-year-old brand makes its US debut, that’s exactly what it aims to do with its first pair of shoes.  

X-Bionic places such a high value on the interplay of foot, sock and shoe that socks are literally part of the product package. That means the X00/C TerraSkin is not just a shoe — it’s a system.

X-Bionic

X-Bionic X00/C TerraSkin System

• $300 at X-Bionic

Socks education

In addition to performance base layers, the 26-year-old Zurich-based brnad is heavily invested in socks, with more than a dozen X-Socks in the current lineup just for running. So before we even get to the sock-shoe-ground connection — or what the brand calls “skin to trail” — let’s dig into what makes the socks special.

The X-Socks created for the TerraSkin system boast five unique details. The most distinctive is the “suppronation bandage,” which is such an unusual phrase that I Googled it and then watched X-Bionic’s explanatory video.

X-Bionic

It is essentially an ankle wrap built into the sock, which they say “triggers an active correction of the foot muscles,” encouraging your foot to get stronger rather than active as a crutch that weakens it. 

Additional details include “air cool stripes” that improve breathability, a “toe protector” for a bit of extra cushion at the front, an internal “heel cage” to lock in the rear of the foot and protect the Achilles tendon and “Gripfix yarn” to enhance the connection between sock and shoe.  

Ground and pound

All that sock tech drops neatly into an 11.25-ounce shoe with six notable attributes, three of which are pretty straightforward and three much more progressive.

Regarding the former, there’s an open cell footbed to keep your feet cool and dry, an obligatory high-rebound EVA midsole and a grippy outsole called Spinweave for sticking to uneven terrain. 

Regarding the latter, there’s the Skinknit upper, a tongue-free wrap that envelops your be-socked like a warm hug. There’s also a flexible carbon plate, a fairly recent trail shoe staple that provides explosive energy return as you bound through the forest or up the hillside.

X-Bionic

Most intriguing of all is something called Speedframe, which is almost like a basket around the lower half of your foot that brings the upper and sole together while boosting stability and control. 

The sum total of these shoe traits, in conjunction with the highly technical sock, is enabling your feet to engage with terrain more precisely, with less slippage, even when things get rocky.

As X-Bionic’s head of marketing activation, Patric Matuszis, explained to me while I was checking out the shoes firsthand at a showcase yesterday, the idea is that, especially on steep downhills, you can spend less time stressing over where every footstrike lands and more time simply enjoying the descent.

X-Bionic/Steve Mazzucchi for Gear Patrol

Similarly, X-Bionic CEO Max Lenk sees it helping you master the trail like, say, the Specialized Stumpjumper 15 Comp Alloy we covered earlier this week might. 

“In the same way that a mountain bike provides perfect balance on technical downhills, we wanted to emulate that same confidence in trail running,” he says. “TerraSkin was born from that idea.”

Stay tuned for more news on these shoes, once we’ve had a chance to properly put them to the test.

Availability and pricing

The TerraSkin system is available now for $300. If the mismatched pink/black/white colorway is a bit much for you, relax. There’s also a more traditional black/white version.

X-Bionic

X-Bionic X00/C TerraSkin System

• $300 at X-Bionic

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