1. Weight. I’ve just weighed several size 11/11.5 shoes (Walshes, Asics and two types of Inov-8s) at between 320 and 400 grams *per shoe*, with today’s still-wet Asics being predictably heavier at 430 grams each. So the large MICROspikes are more in the ballpark of half the weight of a large shoe, and I’m guessing the same might be true of the MICROspike/shoe relationship in smaller sizes. For all that (and it still sounds a significant increase on paper), I can’t say I’ve noticed the difference in practice when you’ve other things to think about apart from what your shoes weigh and won’t be flying along like you might in summer unless underfoot conditions are pretty crisp. If weight’s a real issue, you might also consider the Spikys or Yaktrax Pros, but I’m not convinced by the amount of exposed rubber on the Spikys and Yaktrax specifically state in their FAQ that they’re ‘designed only to be worn on ice or packed snow’ and will suffer from contact with harder surfaces.

2. Spiders and ‘purchase’. I know, logically you’re going to be landing on anything but your insteps (and rolling through?) when you’ve got both feet in the air at once and aren’t flat-footed, but they seem to work. However, their more limited pattern does promote a slightly more cautious approach to inclines (especially downhills), and there’s no doubt that you keep thinking about that where the MICROspikes just let you run.

Not sure whether my previous suggestion re. ‘pulling the retainers for the [Spider] strap ends down away from the buckles before doing them up’ really makes that much difference. So it makes them easier to thread when the pressure of the straps on the shoes makes them harder to adjust afterwards, but they might ultimately be more secure left close up to the buckles. Not that it seems to be an issue either way when they haven’t come undone once yet, but I’m needing to hot-knife off the strap ends to shorten them a bit when there’s far too much left flapping about even with my big feet!

While today’s attempt to provide a more ‘controlled’ test probably adds little to what I’ve already reported, it seems to confirm that 1. the Spiders are OK, 2. the MICROspikes are better, and 3. they both work and both let you run on ground you’d be struggling to run without something.