After my beloved Merrell Agility Peak 5s started to fall apart, I was on the hunt for a replacement. I couldn’t find them on sale anywhere so I looked for another model.
Luke from Leave the Road & Run has written a post about the Long Sky 2 and its successor, the Long Sky 2 Matryx. The Matryx version has several improvements but I couldn’t find that on sale either.
I picked up the “Tangerine” colour of the original for a very reasonable £74 (RRP £135).
Specifications
- Cost: £74 (April 2025)
- Weight: 10.1oz (285g)
- Offset: 4mm (23.5mm/19.5mm)
- Lug depth: 5mm
This is a very early impressions post after 33 miles.
Style
These shoes are a bit on the boring side after recent purchases. I have a lot of orange running gear so at least the splash of colour on the toe matches.
The profile is a bit flat and long. They don’t look very dynamic and have “Merrell” in massive letters on the outer side.
Price and function are my primary buying factors so I’m happy to live with these.
Likes
Now onto the positives, I love these shoes! They’re light, responsive, grippy and feel great.
The upper is very breathable and I could feel cool air passing over my feet. I’m going to be using these over the summer so this will hopefully make warm runs more comfortable.
They’re a lot closer to my old HOKA Torrents in stack height so I feel lighter and more nimble going over the rough terrain.
Despite the recent hot weather, I managed to get out in some rain and they performed great over wet rocks and in the mud too.
Time will tell if they’re more durable than the Peak 5s but the laces and eyelets look better.
Dislikes
The ankle is quite low and the hold doesn’t feel as secure as I’d like. I wore them for the Pentyrch Hill Race and switched to the racer’s loop. They felt a lot better and didn’t loosen at all.
Summary
I’m really happy to find another aggressive and responsive pair of trail shoes that don’t feel heavy and soft. I’ll be keeping an eye out for a pair of the Matryx version on sale.
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