Sometimes a little lightness goes a long way. Particularly when it comes to shoes, ensuring that your feet aren’t being weighed down can be a freeing feeling and leave you better equipped to hot-foot it to your next adventure. That’s where these shoes – the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker 2.0 Gore-Tex trail hiking shoes – come into play. 

Packed with the lightweight tech that we’ve come to expect from Terrex’s range of shoes, the Trailmakers offer an alternative way of hiking. While, naturally, they don’t bring the same kind of ankle support as a full-length boot, they’ve got the same chunky soles and clever waterproofing that you’d want from a go-anywhere set of shoes. It’s all wrapped up in some funky colourways that mean you wouldn’t mind wearing them in a more casual setting – which is something you can’t say for a lot of ‘traditional’ hiking boots. But should you be considering them and can they bring a worthy challenge to a regular set of hikers? We’ve been trying them to find out. 

Sphere Score

For

• Lightweight
• Gore-Tex means that they offer good water protection
• Solid colourways to choose from
• Lots of cushioning 

Against

• Lacking ankle support. 
• Quite firm around the ankle area
• Reasonably stiff for the first few wears

Tech specs 

• £100 
• 346g (UK size 5.5)
• Continental rubber outsole
• Gore-Tex membrane 
• Water-repellent finish
• Bio-based EVA midsole

What do the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker 2.0 have to offer?

Similar to other Terrex offerings that we’ve tested, the Trailmakers put an emphasis on keeping your feet as light – and as dry – as possible. It’s why they come in at just 346g for a women’s size 5.5 and, thanks to a full Gore-Tex membrane and gusseted tongue design, they should help keep the worst moisture on the outside. 

Outside, we’ve got a fully synthetic upper with a smoothed-off design and this has been given a water-repellent finish to enable water to bead away easily. Then, there’s a bio-based EVA midsole, underpinned by a Continental rubber outsole. We’ve seen plenty of tie-ins between the tyre manufacturer and Adidas and this latest Trailmaker is an extension of this. Underneath, you’ll find reasonably chunky lugs and a cool split-colour design which gives a flash of colour on every step. 

When it comes to colourways you’re in luck, too. These women’s Adidas Terrex Trailmakers can be specified in one of four different sets, with ‘our’ mix of burgundy, ‘silver dawn’ and ‘pink fusion’ looking particularly sharp – even when you’re around town or the city. Switch to the mens’ and you’ve got four more shades to pick between, too. 

Adidas says that each pair of Trailmakers contains a ‘minimum’ of 20 per cent recycled and renewable material, adding to their green credentials. And while they may not be same in quite the same type of leathers and fabrics that you’d find on more ‘traditional’ hiking shoes, they should still take a beating – just as we’ve found with other Adidas shoes. A downside with this type of construction is that there’s no scope for recrafting – once the soles are worn out, they’ll have to go. 

Wearing – what are the Adidas Trailmakers 2.0 like?

Let’s get the obvious out of the way – a pair of shoes like this simply isn’t going to offer the same level of ankle support as you’ll get from something like the Terrex Free Hikers we’ve tested. However, the rest of the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker is well equipped to take on a challenge and we found that for most occasions it provides all of the usability that you could need. Sure, that ankle support isn’t quite there, but the shoe itself is cut reasonably high to make up for this. Incidentally, that ankle area feels quite reinforced and, as a result, is a little tough to break in during the first few wears – it has started to ease up as we’ve spent more time in them. 

As is customary with Adidas shoes we’ve got a lavish amount of sponginess housed within the soles. Sure, it’s not quite Boost-levels of cloud-like cushioning, but it still does a great job of taking the sharp edge out of impacts and helping you to ‘spring’ onto your next step. Not only is this great for the trails, but actually gives you a little extra push when you’re walking on flat, level and relatively unforgiving pavement. 

The Gore-Tex membrane also means that the Trailmakers can take more of a beating weather-wise than you might think. The reinforced toe cap combines with the treater uppers to provide a decent barrier against the rain and, during our time with the shoes, there hasn’t been even the slightest suggestion of a damp foot. Naturally, of course, you’ll have to make sure that you don’t head in the direction of any overly-deep puddles, but then you could say that of any shoe. 

When it comes to the Continental sole it feels like things are tried and tested. The lugs are nicely spread out and quite long, too, so you get a decent level of purchase on even slippery surfaces. As we’ve found on other Terrex shoes, the soles can be caught out by slippery rocks and stones, so you do need to take a little extra care if you’re by the seaside when wearing them, but through mud, the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker sheds grime off nice and quickly so you’re not left stomping around with extra earth clinging on for the ride. 

To finish

If you’re fancying a substitute for a traditional hiking boot, then the Adidas Trailmaker 2.0 isn’t quite it. Naturally, they’ve not got the same ankle support and can’t offer a similar level of robustness Nor the ability to resole them once they’re tapped out. However, that’s kind of missing the point; these shoes, with their Gore-Tex membrane and rugged soles, are a far better-equipped choice over a ‘standard’ trainer and are great for making light work of those quicker scrambles. 

They’re a great way of upgrading your day-to-day shoes, too, and give you the added peace of mind that your feet aren’t going to get soaked during a downpour. So if you’re heading on an adventure – be that through the countryside or along the high street on a soggy Saturday – the Adidas Terrex Trailmaker could be well worth the upgrade.