Terrex Agravic Speed 2 vs S/Lab Genesis 2

The Terrex Agravic Speed is adidas at its most stripped back on the trail: a lightweight trail racing shoe built to move fast over shorter, sharper terrain. At 240g it sits firmly in the fast-and-low camp, and there is no carbon plate here, so what you get is a direct, ground-feel-forward ride rather than a propulsive rocker. That is the point. This is a running shoe for runners who want to feel the trail and react to it, not float above it. The 8mm drop keeps you in a familiar, slightly heel-biased position that most road converts will get on with straight away. We rate it as a proper trail race and tempo tool: skyrunning, shorter ultras, hard hill efforts and race-day on technical ground. If you want more shoe underfoot for long days, the roomier Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra is the natural step up. For fast trail work, this one earns its keep.

The S/Lab Genesis 2 is Salomon at its most race-focused: a lightweight trail running shoe built for short to mid distance racing, from a sharp 10k on the fells to a technical half or a fast 50k. At 249g it is genuinely light for a shoe with a 31.9mm heel, and the low 7.8mm drop keeps you connected to the ground so you can read the trail and react. There is no plate here, and that is deliberate. This is a shoe about precision, grip and control rather than pop off a carbon spring. You get a snug, locked-in Salomon fit and aggressive traction that bites on loose, wet and steep ground. In our view it sits at the premium racing end of the market, and the price reflects that. If you want a plated trail racer the Hoka Tecton X 3 is the obvious rival, but for pure connected feel and grip the Genesis 2 is hard to beat.