Review: Inov-8 F-Lite 240

I remember the first time I put on my first pair of Inov-8’s (195), the first thing that I remember thinking was “Damn, these fit great.”.  Despite probably being about a half size too large, the only thing I could think of was how my foot felt cradled inside of the shoe.  They weren’t too narrow or too wide; minimalistic but still had adequate support.  Since then, I’ve gone through the gamut of Inov-8’s, from 195, 210, 220, 260, 252, and even 335 before finally landing on the F-Lite 240’s.  I haven’t been enthralled about any of the shoes in between except the more recent 252 and the FastLift 335’s, which don’t count as a trainer. I wish I had just went for the 240’s earlier, but I could never find a good deal on them and none of the colorways piqued my interest.  I can’t say that even if I had gone for them earlier, that it would have stopped me from trying any of the other shoes either though.  Putting the 240’s on reminds me the most of how I felt the first time I put on my 195’s.

Looks:

Inov-8’s have a very distinct look about them that make them clearly Inov-8’s.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing assuming you like the way they look, since you’ll probably like them all.  The 240’s are no different, donning the “cage” stripe pattern that most Inov-8’s have.  Not saying the 240’s are a pedestrian styled shoe, they’re far from it, enough to probably turn all but the most daring people away; cue distinct Inov-8 look.  I went for the Black/Chili/Blue colorway, because I usually gravitate towards red/blue combos and I thought it was one of the more interesting, but not too crazy combos.  I really like that the multi colored sole pattern, as it looks hi-tech with all it’s grooves and cuts.  Laces are the same flat lace variety that you’ll find on the 252’s, gone are the squishy two tone oval laces of old.  A shame, not only do the oval ones seem to stay tied better, they definitely enhance the look of the shoe a bit as well.

Performance/Fit:

I tested these shoes on a WOD that had just about everything you can think of.  Seriously.  Muscle-ups, power snatches, power cleans, deadlifts, box jumps, wall balls, chest 2 bar pull-ups, kettlebell swings, a row, and a run.  If I’m not worrying about what shoes I’m wearing while I WOD, then the shoes pass the test, as silly as that sounds.  One thing to note is that the power snatches, a movement that I’m notoriously bad at, felt great.

As previously stated, the 240’s remind me most of my beloved 195’s. Lightweight, flexible, and agile.  The reason I stopped wearing my 195’s for my Nano’s, was because I was never sure when I’d be climbing the rope.  I’ve seen rope climbs chew up the previous model’s sole, but I’m not worried with my 240’s since now they include the Rope-Tec guard.  If you’re comparing the 240’s to Nano’s, then you’re looking at a training shoe that’s lighter, more flexible and better for running and metcon movements but doesn’t have as wide and quite as stable a platform for squatting.  Interestingly enough, although the 240’s have a 6mm drop and the 252’s have a 3mm drop; the 240’s feel more similar to Reebok’s CrossFit Nano’s with a 4mm drop.  The 240’s are part of Inov-8’s “Precision” line, i.e. a more narrow fit, but I don’t feel a huge difference in width from their “Natural” fit and the 252’s other than a little more length.  That being said, I ordered the 240’s in a size 9 and should probably have gone for an 8.5.  These shoes run about a size too large.  Just for reference, my Nano size is 9.5 and my 252 size is 9.5.  The 240’s tip the scales at 8.4oz. LIGHT.

Value/Conclusion:

As always, probably the best place to find deals on Inov-8 is The Clymb.  I got my shoes a little south of $80, much less than the MSRP of $120.  Who pays MSRP anyways?  That’s around the same price that you can find Nano’s on sale for, and the same MSRP if you wanted to pay retail on both of them.  The choice is yours, it really just comes down to the old saying:  “If the shoe fits, wear it.”.  You’re going to have to try them on to see if you like them, but I know a ton of people that hate the width of Nano’s.  So if you fall into that group of people, you might want to give Inov-8’s a shot; and the 240 is a worthy starting place.

I’m not giving up my Nano’s anytime soon, but I can rest easy knowing that I have worthy options.

Of course I pretty much pay for everything out of pocket, so do me a favor and use this link to create an account and order from The Clymb! Thanks!