NNormal Kjerag Shoe

In truth this is a 4.5 star review, but then again I always have some minor gripe for any shoe. The Nnormal Kjerag is an awesome, relatively simple race-oriented trail shoe. This shoe is exceptionally responsive, runnable, and made from top end materials—the plush tongue and stretchy upper stand out to me. The outsole is sort of the standard Vibram trail running shape/design and has held up in my recent runs through deep mud and slippery boulder fields. Given their lightweight build, these shoes are not quite as tanklike in techy terrain as some others, and I would say they run slightly long (I now see a few comments recommending downsizing 1/2 US size).

Have these been updated with the minor updates NNormal made, including the laces and tongue? Especially interested for the White/Grey, thanks.

i've already reviewed these shoes here (can find that lower down the page). this is just a comment to address an apparent change in sizing for anyone who bought & wore the early version of this shoe.

i purchased a US size 10 a few months after release, and that shoe required quite some breaking in around the midfoot before becoming perfect for my flat-ish wide-ish foot.

after 2000km in that pair, i recently bought the same shoe (same color, same size). to my great surprise this new pair felt obviously too big. the midfoot was wider, my toes had too much room up front, and i had heel slippage (didn't experience this at all in my first pair).

so, i decided to size down a half size to US 9.5. and lo and behold these fit exactly like the US 10 used to in the earlier version kjerag. in short, if you're rebuying this shoe, don't be surprised if you find yourself downsizing for the model in current production!

Hi, I wear a male US size 9 in my salomon sense ride 5 to get a nice snug fit. I've heard the sizing is very much similar to salomon, so I'm wondering if I should size down or just stay with my salomon size?
Thx!

I wear a US size 9 in the Salomon S/Lab Ultra 3, and the fit is perfect.

Does the Kjerag have a similar fit in the forefoot and toebox? And what size would be best?

It is possible to put an insole in the shoe or would that ruin the shoe?
If so which size would you recommend I wear a 45 EU for my road shoes?

Male, and I measured my feet to be 10.2 inches. Normally at 9.5 in Hokas, Nikes, and Nordas. Prefer a snug fit. What size do you recommend?

I initially bought these at skyrun then returned them because the midfoot felt too narrow. Then, as fortune had it, my local gear shop had a pair of the same shoe, same size, discounted as they are gearing up for winter. So I tried them on again and, lo and behold, this time the midfoot felt fine. Maybe it was a difference of color (these were black, the pair I bought at skyrun were grey)?

In any case, I started running them the same day and have put down ~100 miles and 25K+ ft vert in 10 days with them. What can I say? They are almost perfect shoes for my purposes, style, and preferred way of experiencing mountain running.

They are wonderfully minimal with a very comfortable, lightweight upper that conforms to your foot with the right adjustment of the laces. The heel hold is so secure that I've simply never felt anything like it after years of running in nothing but various iterations of Hoka Torrents. The lack of insole makes the running feeling direct and energetic, as the midsole is also perfectly firm yet bouncy, energetic, and still somehow soft.

You can often forget about the shoes entirely while running, such is their lightness and great grip in almost all conditions I've run in. Sure, during very technical fast descents with lots of sharp rocks you need to be more careful than when running in big marshmallow shoes - but I think that ups your skill and game as a runner anyway.

I took them on a very gnarly day of running mixed with high alpine scrambling on tough rock that normally destroys my shoes in one go. The kjerags came through with minor scratches to the foam but nothing underfoot and nothing on the upper. In fact, I've tumbled pretty hard while wearing them, slide across dry dirt and rock, and they were unscathed - so I'm very optimistic about long term durability and getting maximum mileage out of them.

The only cons I can think of are related to the protoype-y feel of the overall fit. They definitely seem like an awesome, near perfection V1 of a shoe that could use refinements. Areas of improvement (for my foot anyway):

- the arch support is a little overly pronounced and prescriptive which is maybe a consequence of a somewhat narrow midfoot. it would be great if this area was more neutral and slightly more accommodating by about 1-2mm.
- toebox shape is strange. It's great around the big toe and middle toes but tapers off sharply toward the pinky toe, resulting in my small toes hitting the front on descents even with a full thumbnail width in front of my big toes to the bumper.

My footshape is wider across the toeline (most salomons are too constricting for my feet) and hoka-wide at the midfoot, narrow at the heel and low-ish volume overall with a low instep.

If you like feeling a high degree of connection with the trail, and are a high-cadence mountain runner with a well-established midfoot or forefoot strike, you will probably REALLY get along with these shoes. And come to think of it, they run road wonderfully and make long road to trail transitions quite enjoyable too.

Hoping that kjerag v2 will smooth out some of the rough spots in this shoe and deliver the holy grail i've been waiting for - the kjerags are so close!

Hi, I’m wondering what size to pick for the Kjerag. I mostly wear US size 10 with Nike.

I've been running in the Kjerags for over 3 months and put over 400 miles on two pairs.
I've used them for training on trails and even road as well as in two ultra events, the San Juan Solstice 50 and the Hardrock 100. I used the same pair for both ultras and never changed out of them. After all this all I can say is the hype is true. I'm not a Kilian fanboy, but these are the best all around trail running shoes I've ever used in 20+ years of running. Protective enough, but still great ground feel, energy rebound, and unbelievably light. This combined with being more durable than any other running shoe I've seen. It's wide enough for swollen feet in an ultra, but still has great foot lockdown. It's in a league of its own! As far as sizing goes, go down a half size from your regular US size no matter how you plan to use it or how wide you think your foot is. I don't even know what could be improved on this shoe without changing it in a negative way. I hope they keep making it for a long time.

I recently purchased the Kjerag as my speed shoe to compliment my Tomirs and found them to be an awesome addition to the quiver, especially on long runs. I bought the same size as my Tomirs (10, for reference I wear a 28 F1Lt and 27.5 Tecnica Pro Tour) and they have been my agile, light, "race" shoe. The cushioning is minimal but definitely there. The toe box is narrower than the tomir, but not narrow enough to cause pain, just a more precise feeling. I have no experience with carbon shoes but find this shoe to be more energetic feeling than any of my other non carbon shoes.

This has become my dedicated long run and speed attempt shoe and I am happy for it.

Sizing question. Female, foot measurement 10 inches. I comfortable wear the shoes noted below, meaning there's a little bit of wiggle room for my toes. What size is recommended for the Kjerag?
- Inov-8 TrailFly Ultra TMG 300, women's 9.5
- Altra Olympus 9.5
- Salomon Speedcross 5 Wdie: size 9

Hi I wear a 12 in almost all la sportivas, 11.5 in dynafit and Salomon, and some shoes I can get away with an 11 (Hoka torrent). When I have to upsize it is for width. Should I go for 11.5 or do these run particularly big or small

Are these sizes US men's sizes? I'm an 8.5 in most women's shoes (Hokas, etc), and am trying to decide what size to try of the NNormal Kjerag.

I am trying to figure out the best fit for NNormal Kjerag. I prefer a reasonably tight fit that is good on a steep terrain. I wear size 45.5 (US 12) in most La Sportiva shoes, although with some La Sportivas I had to size up to 46 (e.g. Karacal). I wear size 46 (US 12) in Dynafit. I wear size 11.5 (EU 46) in Hoka, and that is usually fairly spacious, good for longer ultra distances. I wear size 11 or 11.5 in Salomon depending on the model. For example it is 11 for S-lab Ultra 3 but 11.5 for S-lab Pulsar. I'd say that Salomon 11 feels a bit on the tight side and 11.5 feels a bit on the large size.

What NNormal Kjerag size would you recommend? I would want these shoes to be comfortable for 50k to 100k distances. All examples given above are reasonably comfortable for 50k but perhaps would be too tight for 100k (with the exception of Hoka).

I asked a few other people and they mentioned that Kjerag was true to size, but the suggestion above on this site is to go half size down.