100 Miles in the Speedland RX:LDVL: My Shoe of the Year

I don't say "shoe of the year" lightly, and I mean it. After 100-plus miles in the Speedland RX:LDVL, this is the trail shoe I keep reaching for.

What it is

The RX:LDVL is Speedland's newest trail model and a meaningful evolution of the line. It takes the RX formula — the modular, "two shoes in one" approach Speedland debuted on the road with the RX:FPY — and builds it for the dirt. The name is a nod to the Leadville 100, and the whole shoe is built around long-distance mountain efforts: precision fit, real responsiveness, and a ride that holds up when the miles and the vert start stacking.

Underneath it's a supercritical TPEE midsole with a grippy PU-based outsole, so it's bouncy without feeling vague, and it bites on the descents.

The carbon plate is included

This is the part I want to lead with, because it changes the value math. Speedland's whole thing is a removable, rigid carbon plate you can drop in for race-day stiffness or leave out for a softer training feel. On some of their shoes the plate is a $35 add-on. Here it comes in the box. For a $299 shoe that's a real difference — you're getting the full modular system, not a base model that nickels-and-dimes you to unlock its best feature.

In practice it means one pair covers daily trail miles and race day. Pop the plate in when it counts, run it soft the rest of the time. For anyone trying to justify a premium trail shoe, "I don't need two pairs" is a genuinely strong argument.

One BOA, done right

I'll admit I went in skeptical of the single BOA dial — some of Speedland's shoes run dual dials, and I wondered if one would be enough. It is. The Li2 dial micro-adjusts on the fly, tighter or looser by the click, without ever popping it out to release tension. The fit is that locked-in, painted-on feel Speedland is known for, with zero heel slip and none of the pressure points or loosening laces you fight in traditional trail shoes. Dialing it in mid-run, especially as your feet swell deep into a long effort, is genuinely useful.

100 miles in

The thing that earns the "shoe of the year" call isn't any single spec — it's that the shoe has gotten better the longer I've run in it. It's surefooted on technical ground, it's comfortable enough for the long days, and the modularity actually delivers instead of being a gimmick on a spec sheet. Premium materials, premium build, and at 100-plus miles mine still feel dialed.

Worth it?

At $299 it's not an impulse buy, and Speedland's sizing and no-custom-insole quirk mean this is a try-before-you-commit kind of shoe. But if you're putting in serious trail and ultra mileage and you want one shoe that trains soft and races stiff, the RX:LDVL makes the case as well as anything I've run in this year. Mine isn't leaving the rotation.

Break free.