Merrell Moab Speed 2 Review

The only thing that slows down the Merrell Moab Speed 2 is that it's not waterproof. If you can get past that — and if you're looking for a hot-weather hiker — this might be the shoe for you. On several summer hikes on days that pushed well over 90° Fahrenheit, our feet stayed surprisingly cool in these shoes. We have to say, though, one thing that doesn't show up in our testing metrics is style. In person, our testers were impressed by the sweet lines and aggressive, sporty look. We even had one normally stoic and quiet hiking buddy comment, “Whoa, that's a good-looking shoe.”

Comfort

While most modern hiking shoes have improved greatly over the years and are comfortable out of the box, we found the Merrell Speed 2 to be remarkably comfy. In fact, the soft upper with easily adjustable laces conformed so easily to our lead tester's foot that he reported there's nothing to break in. “If you have the right size,” he noted, “I can't imagine anyone having issues with this upper.”

Meanwhile, the FloatPro Foam midsole and insole combine to provide a soft, comfortable ride. It's not as plush as the thickest soled shoes we've tested, but we had no problems putting in a 6-mile day hiking on packed dirt trails in these shoes. Interestingly, the Merrell website says this shoe runs slightly small, but in our experience, it runs slightly long. It's not as wide as the classic Moab 3, but we still recommend trying your normal size first with this shoe.

Support

The support features of this shoe are a bit more nuanced than many. If we start with the sole and midsole, it's quite flexible from the forefoot in a forward-back motion, which lets us scramble up very steep rock slabs with ease. The midfoot to the rear is much stiffer due to the FlexPlate shank. The result is that our heel strikes felt secure and predictable, even when stepping on uneven rocks or tree roots on the trail.

Where the support starts to fade is on steep lateral traverses — instead of going straight down a slope, think of moving sideways and down a slope at the same time. In this situation, the soft upper just doesn't have enough strength to hold our tester's feet strongly to the footbed. The problem is that this lets your foot move out over the edges of the side lugs, reducing traction, confidence, and control.

Our narrow-footed tester found it comfortable on moderate trails — actually, he said, “insanely comfortable” — but he had to ratchet down the laces quite tightly to get the needed support for steeper, more technical descents. Basically, we love this shoe's support for nearly all trails and some relatively simple off-trail exploring. We don't believe it has the upper support needed for any moderately technical alpine travel, though.

Traction

Merrell says its Vibram TC5+ outsole is formulated exclusively for Merrell, so we haven't run into it specifically on other shoes. We can say it's super grippy on anything dry. It stuck to boulders and held well on fallen logs we probably shouldn't have been walking on. On wet rock and stream crossings, we found that we could still slip, but no more than average for this class of shoe.

One of the biggest benefits of the fairly aggressive 4mm lugs is their innovative placement and shape on the sole. When climbing straight up, the front lugs caught with the traction of a bighorn sheep. When descending straight down, our heels were just as surefooted. Better yet, in forest duff and even mud, the soles shed debris very well. At the end of many hikes, we take off our shoes at our vehicles and bang out any mud or debris. The Moab Speed 2 seemed to shed it for us before we made it across the trailhead parking lots.

Water Resistance

The Speed 2 shoes are not waterproof and lack any sort of waterproof membrane. In fact, the uppers are so porous that they were quick to saturate our socks when we walked across a dewy meadow in the morning. And stream crossing? Forget about it. Find a log bridge or hop rocks.

To be fair, Merrell makes a Speed 2 option with a waterproof Gore-Tex liner, so if you like the shoe but really need it to be waterproof, that version might be something to consider; however, the upper is less airy and meshy, so its hot-weather performance likely won't be able to compete.

Weight

We tested a size 14, which is fairly large and obviously heavier than smaller sizes. At just 1.89 pounds per pair, the Speed 2 is the lightest size 14 we've ever tested. More importantly, lightweight shoes can make hiking feel easier and more pleasant. Taking a few steps in a heavy shoe isn't that big of deal for the first mile or so, but as the miles add up, repeatedly lifting heavier footwear can tire you out faster. These shoes are so light that it was almost fun to clamber over alpine deadfalls.

In general, lightweight shoes sometimes don't provide enough cushion or support for carrying heavy day packs or fast packing. As long as you're staying mostly on trails, we were impressed by the stability — and cruisability — delivered by this lightweight wonder.

Durability

The biggest drawback to the Moab Speed 2 is its likely long-term durability. Because the upper is so lightweight, it's not suitable for bushwhacking through forests where sticks are constantly grabbing, poking, and scratching up the sides of the shoes.

As long as this shoe isn't constantly scraping against stones or brush, we feel pretty good about the long-term durability for price and weight — but we still rank it for versatility over all terrain and conditions, which is why it scores so low in durability despite the decent build quality. But yes, if you're staying on simple desert trails, durability wouldn't be on our radar. But if you explore off-trail quite a bit, just know that you might wear through portions of the upper much sooner than leather shoes or typical waterproof options with heavy-duty synthetic uppers.

Should You Buy the Merrell Moab Speed 2?

We can easily recommend the Moab Speed 2 for nearly all dry climate, hot-weather hiking. Our feet ran the coolest in these shoes on hot days, making them perfect for those who hike desert trails or want a lightweight option for summer hiking. Because they're not waterproof, they're not good for hiking in wet forests and they're even pretty bad for cruising through a grassy meadow with early morning dew. But for dry, hot days? The Speed 2 is our first choice.

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