LALO Tactical Crosstraining Fitness Sneakers and Running Shoes Go Even Higher-Tech! (Videos!)

By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com

June 21, 2019

Last year, DefenseReview (DR) published a couple of pieces on LALO Tactical high-performance crosstraining fitness and running shoes with reactive-propulsion soles and ceramic-coated SuperFabric toecaps (see here and here). The second DR piece was on what were then prototype designs for the LALO Tactical Bloodbird and Grinder. Well, This year, LALO Tactical showed their improved/upgraded products at SHOT Show 2019, including their latest Bloodbird and Grinder crosstraining fitness shoes and Zodiac Recon and Zodiac Recon AT (All-Terrain) running shoes, and they looked good.

The LALO Tactical Bloodbird now sports a brand new woven upper with woven-in venting technology and a midfoot strap on both the lateral and medial sides to provide additional stability during workouts. The Bloodbird also features an oversized arch area called the “Stability Arch”, which “gives you better ground contact when you’re lifting”, says LALO Tactical CEO Jay Taylor.

The LALO Tactical Grinder has a little lighter-weight upper than the Bloodbird, and only has a medial midfoot strap, but it has the same LALO Tactical Stability Arch. The Grinder dropped approximately 1 ounce (1 oz.) from the previous version. The Grinder works a little better than the Bloodbird for lateral movement and agility work, according to Taylor. Taylor told DR that the Bloodbird and Grinder are both “super-comfortable everyday shoes” for just wearing casually around town.

For serious running, LALO Tactical has the Zodiac Recon and Zodiac Recon AT (All-Terrain) running shoes. Regarding the Zodiac Recon, “what makes it special is there’s a big midfoot platform that when you land on the thing, it forces your foot to land underneath your hip. We use a dual-zone EVA, so the EVA in the rear foot is slightly softer than the EVA in the forefoot, which sits in a stiffer frame. So, when you step down on it, you get a lot of cushioning, but still, when you rock to the forefoot, there’s a lot of performance at toe-off. It’s quicker to get off the foot,” says Taylor.

The Zodiac Recon AT all-terrain/off-road running shoe sports a more aggressive tread pattern than the standard Zodiac Recon running shoe. The Zodiac Recon AT still comes with a dual-zone EVA mid-sole and EVA-frame outsole with the aforementioned more aggressive rubber pod for superior traction. The Zodiac Recon AT is “still fully drainable through the midsole, [with] a hot-melt construction to give you stability in the upper. And, you’ll see a fairly large heal counter is what makes the shoe unique, so it stops your heal from sliding side to side”, Taylor told us.

Defense Review is very impressed with the LALO Tactical performance crosstraining fitness and running shoes, but we haven’t gotten a chance to run them at the range and around town yet. Hopefully, we can remedy that soon. Perhaps we can even get a pair into DR writer/contributor and chief new-product tester Jeff Gurwitch’s hands for some hands-on testing, perhaps even on video.

In the meantime, enjoy the two videos DR shot at SHOT below.

Company Contact Info:

LALO Tactical
2150 W Washington #208
San Diego, CA 92110
Customer Service Phone: 619-876-5256
International Sales Phone: 619-876-5256 Ext. 105
Customer Service Email: websales@lalotactical.com
International Sales Email: sales@lalotactical.com
Website: https://lalo.com

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All embedded DefenseReview.com (DR) photos and videos were shot with an Apple iPhone 6s Plus smartphone still/video camera.

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