La Sportiva Bushido III

La Sportiva Bushido III review: what runners say

Fit

Performance-snug fit, locked heel and midfoot, narrow toe box. La Sportiva runs small: sizing up recommended. Available in wide version (+7 mm circumference, +2 mm toe box height).

Feel

Low stack (19 mm heel, 13 mm forefoot) for direct ground contact. Reactive, precise ride; the firm cushioning makes itself felt on long outings or uniform surfaces.

Durability

700+ km documented before retirement. Weak points identified in testing: laces (give out around 250 km), lateral mesh (holes toward 600 km), sticky rubber zones that wear down progressively.

Best for

Technical alpine terrain, rocky trail, skyrunning, high-altitude missions. Not suited for asphalt, packed dirt, or recovery runs: overkill construction on predictable surfaces.

Weak points

Narrow upper (toe box in particular) flagged across multiple sources. Heel lockdown reported as excessive for certain foot shapes. Laces are the most cited structural weak point: durability falls short of the rest of the shoe.

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