There is more than one way to skin a cat, or so I am led to believe, personally I have never tried and being a bit of a softy nor would I want to. However, the analogy which means that there is more than one way to solve a problem seems to ring true when dealing with the issue of energy return in trail shoes. A case in point is this, the new flagship shoe from Scott Sports, their futuristically named Ultra Carbon RC. A shoe that has jumped on the “energy return” band wagon with style, sophistication and a significant serving of science.

Energy return? You may well be thinking “what’s the big deal?”. If you are, please allow me to enlighten you, as we all know running long distances takes up a shed load of energy, most of which is directed into the ground to propel us along at varying speeds. Slow, in my case, much faster in others. It stands to reason therefore, that if you could somehow recycle a portion of this energy and utilise it more productively, other than it merely dissipating through the sole of your trainer, then it must be a good thing.

A tree stump with a man standing on it showing off a pair of black and yellow trail shoes, with woods around and in the distance behind the legs you can see a lake and mountains

Whilst energy return can manifest in different ways, (I’m not a scientist, merely a geek, so I’ll spare you the lecture), for the purposes of this review we shall focus on just the main one, this being kinetic energy return. Or putting it simply, converting energy to help the motion of your leg lift your foot back up again, once it has hit the ground. Which should, in theory at least, mean that you use less energy in one stride and therefore you are able to run further or faster or preferably both.

So how does it work? There are few ways manufacturers have gone about it, first up is by adapting the foam in the midsole, the bouncier it is, the more energy return you get. Second up is the outsole design if it’s curved like a rocker, it can add a bit of forward momentum creating a feeling like you are being propelled onwards; next up is utilising a rocker plate in the midsole (same propelling principle) and lastly you can have any combination of these you like. Scott’s Carbon RC uses a “Carbitex gearflex” carbon plate neatly sandwiched between two layers of kinetic foam in the midsole to provide a bounce and rocker, as an energy return solution.

This approach is not new; you will recall that Nike were the first to pioneer controversially this technology with one of their road shoes, but does it work on the trails? In short, yes it does and actually very well indeed. Because it is a semi solid plate that’s doing most of the energy “grunt” work, it is marginally more effective on softer terrains than merely a foam only solution. You do get a sense that the shoe is actually helping you move forward, and it stands to reason that the faster you move the more it seems to help. In all the marketing bumf that Scott have sent they do state that this shoe is designed for “smooth, fast summer trails” and whilst I have only tested it in winter it does excel on the more compact surfaces.

Grip wise this shoe is really very clever, the lug design on the outsole works well to act as a brake whilst descending and due to the spacing of the 4mm lugs it has the added benefit of shifting crud away easily. Terrain wise, I have run on snow, Pennine mud, moorland, technical trails and a sticky quagmire of a canal path, the Carbon RC gave me confidence and was comfortable throughout. One issue I did have was that it took a few miles to break in, the ankle cut away was a bit high for me and my ankle bone rubbed on the upper, however after 15 miles or so this disappeared.

Setting that aside, this shoe feels exceptionally comfortable and super responsive, there is a good amount of flexibility in the upper and the tongue gusset does a fab job of keeping debris out of the shoe carcass. An additional benefit of the Carbitex plate is it also doubles up as a rock plate providing a good level of protection from the sticky up bits that always seem to rise from the trail when you are at your most knackered. It’s a mid-weight shoe, 300g although it feels a lot lighter and has a 5mm drop which should be manageable for most people.

Looks wise it is a thing of beauty, whilst I profess to not caring about what my trail shoes look like, I am sucker for something that is aesthetically pleasing and the styling on this shoe is very sophisticated indeed. From the moment the box arrives you know you are in for a treat, with its sleek, 007 style packaging, featuring lots of faux carbon fibre and a matt black colour combo with flashes of yellow it wouldn’t be out of place down the local pub.

Scott’s Carbon RC is very good shoe indeed, it ticks a lot of boxes and has been flexible enough to deal everything that I’ve asked of it. I like how it feels and how it looks and quite frankly, apart from me needing to break it in, I can’t really find much fault with it at all. However, it does come with an RRP of £210 which is a fair chunk of cash and a significant investment by anyone’s standards. If you have deep pockets and you are serious about trail running, then you could do a lot worse than give these a run out.