Gear Review: Merrell Siren Sport & Siren Sport Gore-tex XCR Trainers (Ladies)
Disclosure: The shoes featured in this review were owned and paid for by my wife. We have no relationship with Merrell. Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.
We do quite a lot of walking, both when at home and when away in the motorhome. As we live in the centre of a town, everything is within walking distance and so everything gets walked to, instead of driving.
This is doubtless good for our health but does result in a fairly high level of wear to our footwear. As a result, we have both taken to wearing good quality trainers the majority of the time – the shoes are designed for the use they get and are far more comfortable than anything else we’ve tried.
My wife’s trainers of choice are Merrell Siren Sports. These are classified as ‘approach shoes’ (whatever that means…) and come in two versions:
They are pretty much the same as each other except the GORE-TEX XCR has a layer of goretex built into the shoe, making it waterproof and (probably) a bit warmer in cold weather. The standard Siren Sports are not at all waterproof, something which is worth remembering.
The two versions also come in a range of different colours, all of which are pleasingly tasteful and feminine – not jarringly trendy and youth-oriented like many trainers.
Both versions of the Siren Sport feature Merrell’s women-specific Q-Form insole, which is meant to provide support and ‘stride centering’, as well as an underlying air cushion. Despite the jargon, the result is (according to my wife) the most comfortable and supportive shoes she has ever worn. She is so keen on them that she has just bought a GORE-TEX XCR pair to use this winter to avoid getting wet feet in her standard Siren Sports.
Update: My wife has just bought a third pair of Sirens that she saw discounted to keep in store for when the original pair wears out!
Here’s what she has to say about them:
- Very rounded toes so good for wide/flat-footed people
- Very lightweight
- Very supportive insole. It took a couple of weeks for this to feel normal coming from less supportive shoes, but the Sirens are very comfortable and supportive
- The laces are very easy to adjust and go a long way onto the body of the shoe, allowing you to tighten all over the foot
- The mesh over the body of the standard Siren Sport does let everything in – sand, water, etc.
- I have done many miles in these and they are outstandingly comfortable – no aches or pains after a day’s wear
- The GORE-TEX XCR version of the Siren Sport is much stiffer than the non-goretex version – something we’ve noticed with other shoes, too
These comments and recommendations are straight from the horse’s mouth and are the result of months of regular wear and miles of walking in a pair of Siren Sports. Merrell does seem to have a good reputation and we would recommend trying them for fit if you are looking for a walking trainer that is comfortable and supportive.
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