Nice materials and construction quality, they remind me of my old inov-8 trailroc 245's before inov-8 started to cheap out on the quality (and raise their prices at the same time, funny how that works), must've put 1000+ trail miles on those bad boys so that's high praise. They also have a nice sturdy feeling rock plate, yet give good feedback, which again is similar to my trailroc's and I loved those shoes to bits. I have wide and thick feet, so I can usually tell right away whether shoes will or won't work, and these will definitely work. Yet they could be 1/4 inch wider in the arch/instep, and maybe a 1-2/16th wider in the bridge of the foot, however that's very nitpicky. Sole to sole with my old Inov-8's they're exactly the same width in the bridge and toe box, but about 1/4'' less in the arch, and my trailrocs were always a touch narrow for me so I shudder to think how narrow normal la sportiva's are lol. My feet hangover a bit on the arch/instep but that's par for the course, the woes of having hobbit feet... However they have a nice comfy supportive and reinforced bit for the arch/instep, so perhaps the narrow sole there won't be an issue. Comparing them to my altra lone peak's they most certainly aren't as wide, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as my lone peaks (wide btw) would twist on me, and even my big feet would shift around in them, one huge plus though is they don't have a toe box that looks like a clown shoe, +1 to la sportiva hah. My last gripe is that the shoelaces are brutally short, if you have thick feet like me you literally can't lace these up without cutting off circulation to your feet, for their price longer laces wouldn't be unreasonable... However I always save the laces from my old trail runners, so I replaced them with the sweet neon green laces of my old trailroc's, that's gotta be good luck or something. Amazing shoelace eyelet design though, they're so easy to lace and adjust, no joke it's the easiest time I've ever had relacing shoes. I went out and put a few miles on them walking around the neighborhood and they seem comfy. Nice padded upper, good toe wiggle room, and the tongue stays in place which is genuinely a first for me, they feel really solidly constructed and well designed. Can't speak to the traction or anything until I hit some varied mountain terrain but looking at the lugs I'm happy, they're more aggressive than either my lone peaks or the 4 pairs of inov-8's I've gone through, except maybe the original waffle lugs on my trailroc's, those were pretty aggressive before I wore them to nubs lol. The real test is how they hold up overall compared to my old trailroc's, because mannnnn I tell ya those shoes were the bees knees, a shoe manufacturer should just buy an old pair and steal the design, I'd shill out $150 for some without batting an eye. I've replaced them 5 times, and after a summer of hiking I wear out my new shoes (except the lone peaks, they're tough but a sub-par hiking shoe imo) and inevitably end up busting out my old faithful trailroc's for some light fall/winter/spring hiking. Sadly they finally met their maker last fall when the sole completely detached from the side material. I've been making do with my lone peaks but after nearly spraining my ankle enough is enough, they're being relegated to sneaker status. SO La Sportiva your time has come, I hope my new Bushido III's are a worthy replacement to my old faithful Trailroc 245's, the king of hiking shoes. I'll find out by the end of the summer after I've hoofed many a hill and conquered the mountains. If they are tough enough though you've earned yourself a very loyal customer.