The Merrell Agility Peak 5 is the latest version of the brand’s popular do-it-all trail shoe. Updates include an increased rocker design for a smoother ride, a sculpted heel cup for non-slip comfort, and it shaves a few grams of weight when compared to the Agility Peak 4.
It’s a shoe that’s designed to tick a lot of boxes when it comes to heading off-road, combining a healthy stack of FloatPro midsole foam for a comfortable ride with a generous layer of Vibram Megagrip outsole rubber for grip and durability.
Tom and Kieran have taken the shoe out on a first run to get some early thoughts on the ride.
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00:00 – Intro
00:18 – Stats
00:28 – Design
01:14 – How’s the Fit?
02:34 – The First Run Test
09:20 – Early Verdict
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They told me for the Run testers with Another first run review in this video I'm going to be looking at the Merrell Agility Peak 5. let's take a look The Merrell agility Peak 5 costs 140 Pounds or 140 weighs 280 grams and 9.9 Ounces for men in a size 8. the drop is Six millimeters and the lugs are five Millimeters The Merrell agility Peak 5 is the latest Version of the Brand's popular do it all Trail shoe updates include an increased Rocker design for a smoother ride a Sculpted heel cup for non-slip comfort And it shaves a few grams of weight when Compared to the agility Peak form it's a Shoe that's designed to take a lot of Boxes when it comes to heading off-road Combining a healthy stack of float Pro Midsole foam for a comfortable ride with A generous layer of vibrant Mega grip Outsole rubber for grip and durability The upper is made from an engineered Mesh and TPU and includes an SBR mesh Collar and tongue to improve the fits And minimize water absorption there's Also a protective toe cap Flex connect Dual directional Flex screws in the Midsole for a natural ride and a rock Plate to protect the feet from pointy Things So it fit for me in the agility Peak 5 Is very comfortable uh I'm a size eight This is a size eight in the UK thing
About Meryl shoes is I've always found Is that comfort and fit has is just Great I've never had any issues with a Merrell shoe they're the sort of shoe That you can put on and for the first Run it just feels really comfortable I Think that's really one of the big Things about Meryl they're just very Comfortable from me off um and that's a Really nice thing to have when you're Doing trail shoes because sometimes Trail shoes can be a little bit Uncomfortable can take a little bit of Time to wear in not like that with the Agility Peak 5 it's um very comfortable And I definitely won't cycle up or down In this shoe there's plenty of space in The forefoot and it nicely holds your Foot in place in the midfoot as well so Yeah I will stick to my size in the Agility Peak 5. so when it comes to fit Around in the UK and a half in this Agility Peak five and I would recommend Going true to size I found that to be Perfect really that's my regular shoe Size I got good lockdown across the Midfoot from the lacing there's plenty Of hold in the Hill from the nicely sort Of ample padded heel colors that we've Got here quite a plush kind of heel Collar in here just about enough room in The toe box decent bit of width going Into that kind of from that midfoot into The forefoot and yeah overall I
Recommend going true to sizing these the Fit was pretty much spot off So my first run in the agility Peak 5 Was a 20 kilometer run which was around The South Downs um and some road as well I was a big fan of the Jersey Peak 4 I Just think it's a very it was a very Good versatile road to Trail shoe which Just really tipped a lot of boxes the Jersey Peak 5 is pretty much the same Sort of thing I think there's some minor Updates around it I didn't really notice Any anything major On The Run what I've Found is that like the agility Peak 4 It is a really good shoe if you just Want one Trail shoe to do lots of Different things so maybe you're not Racing you don't want the lightest shoe In the world Um it's just very very comfortable to Wear the run that I did uh started off There was 5K on road Um at the start and at the finish and I Was actually a little bit worried when I Took it out the box because these uh Lugs on the bottom they do look a little Bit Um more aggressive than what I'd Normally like from a road to Trail shoe I did worry that over the course of the The road sections it was going to be a Little bit hard a little bit Uncomfortable it's actually quite soft For outsole so the the midsole is is
Very comfortable for a trail shoe very Uh it's not soft but it's quite balanced Midsole that outsole is actually fairly Squishy Um it's it's a relatively soft outsole Rubber so on the road it felt fine and I Could have gone a lot longer with it I Think it would be an all right shoe to Go up to maybe 10K on the road on if you Had to Um maybe on harder ground as well if you Were running out on compact Trails or Rocky Trails or things like that I think It would do a very good job on those Because it does have a nice soft feel to It on the muddy section so it wasn't wet When I was doing my first run it's quite Dry at the moment and on the South Downs Um I found that it worked really well Um when when it got a little bit softer On the ground the outsole really kicks Into gear nicely I feel like there's a Lot of grip on there I did quite a few Inclines and declines felt absolutely Spot on for them very Um solid look on it very very nice bit Of outsole stickiness and just felt very Comfortable to be honest I didn't really Think about the shoe when I was out Running in it it just sort of did the Job and I didn't I didn't really notice A lot about it which is I really think That's what Meryl focuses on and and Where they fit into the market they're
Just a very accessible shoe they don't Have amazing Technologies and things Like the agility Peak 5 where you really Notice it it's not like there's a plate In it it's not trying to do anything Like it's just trying to be a really Solid Um reliable comfortable shoe that Anybody can pick up and go yeah that was An absolutely great run Um and I didn't have any issues with my Shoes at all I found it very comfortable The midsole is nice and balanced as I Said uh on the road it's just soft Enough to feel like it's minimizing the Impact Um and feels a little bit like a Roadshow in that sense Um so it's nice and comfortable plenty Of cushioning in it for a trail shoe Um but it's not too soft that on the Softer muddy sections and grass it Becomes a problem So it feels yeah pretty versatile pretty Good and I really enjoyed that that First run in it the upper felt great There's this really nice gusseted tongue Section the whole of the tongue section Is connected to the inside of the shoe Feels very comfortable and held holds Your foot in place like a sock-like feel But with a lot more reinforcement than You might get from a normal sock upper It's not a particularly fast shoe but it
Equally it's not particularly slow shoe Either it sort of sits in that middle as Being a nice balance Um so I could pick up the pace nicely When I was running out on the trails Today it didn't feel like it was Sluggish didn't feel heavy Um and I definitely say it's such shoe Wear if you wanted one Trail shoe you Could pick this up and you'd be very Happy so for my first run in the agility Peak five I have just done around about Two hours or about 12 miles on a mixture Of terrains I had some compacted Forest Paths throughout the New Forest here in The south of England went across some Grassland into some of the marshes as Well got a bit buggy and a bit wet in Places but also had some very sort of Firm ground as well plenty of road miles In that as well so a really good mix Good testing terrain for what is a Rototrail shoe And a good amount of time on feet as Well overall I'm really impressed with These I think the out-of-the-box comfort Is really solid they feel really snug There's a nice amount of kind of Plushness from the heel collars they Have nice cushioned footbed they've got A gusseted tongue which might not be to Everyone's liking but I quite like the Way this pretty padded but not overdone Tongue kind of wraps over the top of the
Foot and takes away any lace pinch holds Your foot nice and snug and secure in The shoe as well locks it down really Nicely onto that kind of midsole bed but The thing I really I think I really like Most over it was this kind of big stack Of foam that you've got underfoot there Was plenty of soft cushioning but it Wasn't overdone I still felt nicely Connected I felt they cope really well With the road sections You know some trail shoes that can feel Heavy they can feel a bit sticky they Maybe feel a bit firm which means that The road and the firmer ground can be a Bit harder but actually there's a lot of Nice response from these shoes on those Firmer sections and actually on the road They handled again some seriously Referral shoes Road control shoes but They handled as well as some Road shoes I've run in recently You've obviously got a bigger stack so You do wonder about kind of stability How that was going to hold up and we Were moving on some quite a testing Ground you know it wasn't particularly Tricky and Steep and downhill and two Kind of Stony but on the uneven bits That I ran I think the stability was There not as stable as some other firmer More ground connected shoes things like The innovates that you might try out but I think if you're looking for something
That's going to offer a good amount of Cushioning with a balanced amount of Stability then there's agility Peak 5 For these first miles that I've done Have been a really good shoe for that Kind of slow clip long Pace I think I Was moving somewhere between nine and a Half minute miles up to 11's roughly Speaking on quite tired leg so I wasn't Moving particularly fast these did Really well soaking up the impact but Yeah really I still felt quite connected I'm really impressed actually this is Probably one of the first Merrell shoes That I've run in a long time where I've Thought yeah I'd really like to put that One back on and go again and do more Miles the other thing I think was in its Favor on the wet bits you know you've Got these quite deep lugs Good kind of aggressive grip pattern and When we got into the marshy bits and the Soggy bits they coped very well as well And then when you move back onto the Firm it's actually I didn't find them to Be too grippy and too sticky So when you're moving across thermal Ground on the roads they were okay you Didn't feel like you were being pulled Back too much so overall for that first Run miles yeah pretty impressed with the Merrell agility Peak five a shoe that I Think my instinct is that I'll be able To do long miles and long hours on foot
On mixed Terrain So my early verdict on the Merrell Agility Peak 5 is that it's it's a great Shoe I really like it I think it's a Really good rotor Trail shoe it's a lot Of nice points to it I think it's solid Grip I think it's very comfortable I Think it feels like there's a nice Turnover in it you can use it for road To Trail this is a sort of shoe that if You're going out to do all sorts of Trails it will do a perfectly competent Job it's not going to be the fastest Shoe in the world it's probably not Going to be the best on really technical Terrain but for most things it does a Really good job and it's it's just a Solid shoe it's a sort of shoe that you Buy and just have in your collection for Ages and you can use it whenever you Want I think it's a short shoe that I Take away with me if I was going away to Like the peak districts or something and I just wanted to tick off loads and Loads of miles I didn't know what the Weather was going to be like every day And I just wanted something solid and Reliable that was really comfortable as Well probably even use it for a bit of Walking as well because I think it's Fine for that it feels very secure very Sturdy Um and very stable as well which is sort Of thing you want just a solid good shoe
That I don't think anybody would be Annoyed with this shoe my really quick First run verdict on the agility Peak Five I have to say confession I found a Lot of metal shoes to be a little bit Cumbersome a bit hard bit basically a Bit firm and they're just not as Finessed I think as some other shoes but You get out there some of the good road To trail shoes this one fresh out the Box has done a sterling job it's really Quite impressed with it I thought it had Good cushioning reasonable amount of Stability I like the way the upper's Held I like the detail that they've got With the tongues I also think the Padding here you're getting a nice plush Ride and this is a shoe that I think Would be a very happy shoe based on that First 12 miles and two hours that I Would tackle Ultra Trail mixed terrain Ultra Trail in particularly if you're Looking kind of flatter or rolling Ultra Trail where you might be moving through Villages and towns and doing good Segments on the road as well for the New Forest where I ran in this where the Trails can be compacted and you're it's A bit more groomed it's not quite as Technical you're not going to run over Lots of tree roots lots of bits and Pieces like that if you're sticking to The trails this was a perfect kind of Shoe for that kind of terrain so if
You're running I guess on you know part parts and those Kind of things I think this will do a Good job it also handled really well on The road so yeah fresh out the box two Hours the agility Peak five for me I was Quite impressed and I'm looking forward To putting in more miles to bring you The full review but from that first run So far it's a thumbs up that's it on This first Rune review thanks a lot for Watching don't forget to like subscribe Click that little bell and if you're Going to catch and Below you can find a Link to our podcast which comes out at The end of each month and we talk about Lots of things from Super Shoes and Carbon paint shoes to all the other bits Of Kit we've tested recently thanks a Lot for watching catch you next time Foreign