Nike Terra Kiger 10 Review: A Decade Changes Everything

TAYLOR: They say 10 years is what it takes to become an “expert.” It’s the time it takes to gain experience, build a resumé, and acquire necessary skills in a particular area to really become a master in your field. Ten years or 10,000 hours, whichever comes first.

I believe it! I just finished a 10 year career in education and coaching. I was certainly the best version of myself toward the end of that career mostly because of the mass amount of hours of intentional investment.

Does the same rule apply for inanimate objects? No, but you get the point. Ten iterations of shoes is long enough to amass some valuable learnings and apply them. There really is no excuse for poor performance at that point.

Nike’s Terra Kiger has now come of age. It has become one of the more prominent shoes in the modern trail running timeline. That is, in part, due to the swoosh on the side, and it’s also because the Terra kiger line has been a fairly consistent performer. It is one of those shoes that hasn’t changed much from the early versions in terms of specs. It has always been and retains the stature of a light and fast trail running shoe. 

So, what’s up with v10? Well, it’s lighter. By nature, it should equate to being faster. Nike is now intentionally labeling the Nike Terra Kiger 10 as part of the Nike Trail Racing lineup as well. 

Typically, that means the latest and greatest ingredients from top to bottom. That’s not necessarily the approach being taken here. Yes, the new lighter weight and addition of Vibram is exciting! At the same time, so is the fairly standard and simple build of the Nike Terra Kiger 10. Let me tell you why.

JOHN: This year has been weird. I’m way behind miles wise from where I’m normally at this time of year. I’ve been battling a lot of injury, personal and life stuff, but I’m getting better. The Terra Kiger 10 arrived at the perfect time right before doing Holy Cowans Gap 50k with the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. 

I really enjoyed the previous version but I remember it not being trail tuned for extremely technical terrain. Great shoe, but I remember liking it more on easier stuff. Holy cow, Cowans Gap is not easy. It’s as Pennsylvania as it gets with rocks, brutal climbs and lots of wetness. Perfect conditions to review! 

Is this shoe a Kiger or a Liger? Wait what? I don’t even know, I’m tired let’s hit it!

What we like about the Nike Terra Kiger 10

TAYLOR: Many of my all-time favorite trail shoes make the list because of the fact that they are fairly simple in design. The same goes for the Nike Terra Kiger 10. It boasts a design that has largely stayed the same with slight adjustments from year to year. 

With this version, one of those tweaks was the upper. It has a durable, lightweight, breathable, and well-structured engineered material that is similar to the premium Matryx found in many shoes. There’s also similarities with the Powerwire in the La Sportiva Prodigio Pro and the dual-warp upper on the North Face Vectiv Sky 2. It is one of those uppers that embodies the best of all performance worlds. There was no underlayer of mesh. That worked out just fine (with the exception of the occasional debris). This construction alone tells me that Nike is serious about making the Terra Kiger 10 a stripped down ready-to-race ripper. 

Another perk of this upper material is that it mapped to the foot beautifully and doesn’t have flex enough for that to change. The fit is very conducive for comfort and performance. A couple of iterations ago, Nike broadened the Terra Kiger’s forefoot which made the overall shape more of an hourglass. That remains in the Terra Kiger 10. It’s a fairly standard width these days. The midfoot does slim up a bit to promote a nice foothold. Towards the heel, the fit relaxes a bit– and this is where one of my favorite features shows off.

Again, simplistic design wins over with a nicely cushioned and structured heel formation. Both the collar and counter comfortably and securely locked down my heel. It’s a huge deal that I didn’t have to completely wrench on the laces to make this fit possible (typical of many low-profile technical racers). It was simply ready to rock.

The tongue is a minimal semi-gusseted racing style tongue. It laid flat, never bunched. Because of the stellar fit, as mentioned, I never had to cinch up the laces extremely tight. So, this low-profile tongue really worked for assisting with fit and comfort. 

As for the EVA-based Cushlon 3.0 midsole, it wasn’t my favorite in terms of comfort, but that’s actually one of the reasons it performed so well on moderate to technical terrain. This was part of the Vomero 17 recipe and I can only find it in some other budget shoes on Nike’s website. 

The overall stack is at 29/24mm (5 mm drop). It’s in the mid-to-low range of stack height. It also feels medium/firm underfoot, mostly protective with a little bit of give. With the help of a forefoot rock plate, the midsole offered appropriate protection from the trail while allowing some ground feel while remaining rigid enough to feel in control. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love with the underfoot sensation, but the control aspect is key for light and fast pursuits on more technical terrain. 

What I am in love with is the brand new outsole! We know all too well of the years of train wrecks because of Nike’s atrocious outsole rubber in wet conditions. We make it a point each year to remind our readers of the horrors of previous Nike outsoles, and how our longtime reviewer Matt broke his forearm (and was never able to get proper surgery on it, thanks Covid) from slipping in these things.

So, so, so many people completely wrote off the Terra Kiger because of the outsole alone. That’s no longer the case. Vibram Megagrip is now on three of their trails shoes: Terra Kiger 10, Zegama 2, and Ultrafly.

It’s another one of those highly dependable yet simple ingredients that makes all the difference in performance. The lugs are fairly shallow at 3.5 mm. They still performed really well on a variety of terrain and conditions. We’ve had a wet spring here in the Colorado Rockies which allowed me to really test this outsole. It checked all of my personal boxes. The only trouble I really got in was when soft ground conditions were deeper than the lug itself.

JOHN: So, I was pretty shocked about this shoe out there. I was genuinely worried with how much rain we’ve been getting in the Mid-Atlantic, a soup of mud and slick rocks and on and on, not to mention doing this race with a lingering injury. What could possibly go wrong? 

I don’t even know where to start here so I’m just going to let the buckshot fly! The Terra Kiger totally exceeded all my expectations. The 11.5 size fit my foot perfectly giving me just enough space. The Vibram grip helped keep me upright, the Cushlon 3.0 midsole made the rough PA trail feel comfortable even on jagged rocks. I didn’t feel anything poking my feet or causing issues. My biggest like on this shoe was how my feet were pretty much wet all day for the duration of the 50k but I had no foot problems, ie. blisters etc. Holistically I fully believe Nike has done incredible work here. PA has crazy, extreme, soul crushing uphill, terrifying technical downhill, trail sections that look like creek beds, rocks, roots, and you name it. Through it all this shoe was outstanding. 

I beat the absolute hell out of the shoe in every way possible and I’m pretty shocked Nike delivered the way it did out there! I’ve never really considered Nike as a shoe I’d wear on a technical 50k but because I got them a few days before the race, I thought it would be a great way to test them and I’m really happy it worked out! 

Also, I don’t want the look of this shoe to get lost here. This may just be the best looking shoe I own. I love the swoosh coming at each other and the holograms. The shoe reminds me of the movie The Predator. This shoe is just as badass looking as the Predator, high technology but equally tough. It also changes color from black to a purple color in the sun, similar to Predator. It’s almost like the design team made the aesthetics of the shoe to look as if it can bend and maneuver itself through any situation, and it totally did out there at Cowans Gap State Park as it helped me get to the finish! 

What we don’t like about the Nike Terra Kiger 10

TAYLOR: If you’ve read this far, there won’t be any surprises here. 

The main issue I had with the Nike Terra Kiger 10 was the midsole choice. I may sound a little hypocritical here because I did say it was actually a fine choice for control and protective purposes. I stand by that! At the same time, there have been other shoes in the same category that were able to leverage their more advanced foams and yield a similar result with more comfort. Namely, The North Face Long Sky 2, Merrell MTL Long Sky 2 Matryx, Norda 002, and Brooks Catamount Agil. 

In all fairness, I will say that the Nike Terra Kiger 10 does best of this group at filtering out underfoot invaders because of its rockplate and midsole density. 

Overall though, its lack of comfort will limit this shoe compared to others in the same category. For me, the zero to two hour mark will be plenty long in the Nike Terra Kiger 10, whereas I can go for a handful of hours in many of those other options. 

The last nitpicky complaint would be lug depth. The Nike Terra Kiger 10 is a shoe that I would throw on for the moderate to technical trail days. It’s not comfortable for road or easy terrain. So, why not bump up that lug depth? Give me four or five millimeters to play with. Even though the rubber gripped wonderfully, the areas I would seek out in this shoe are also more likely to need that extra clawing power. I’m hoping that’s in next year’s plan for subtle improvements. 

JOHN: I don’t have much to say here, and after looking over my review for the Terra Kiger 9, Nike really made the 10 a superior shoe. I don’t like that it went up in price by $20 but if you look at the 9 vs the 10 there’s absolutely no comparison. The addition of Vibram outsole alone radically improved the shoe and the Cushlon midsole helped, too.  I guess you could make the case that this is not as much of a beginner friendly trail shoe. Someone wanting to run less technical trail may not like all the features but I would counter that the Terra Kiger 10 is good for all situations from a local easy trail to running Cowans Gap! 

Would I wear the Terra Kiger 10 on faster runs on easier surfaces? No. If you encounter road or fireroad on the trail the Kiger is fine but I would only use this shoe on actual trail (if possible) and use a road shoe or road to trail model on road heavy courses.

Oh, one really silly nitpick: I like the heel pull tab on the 9 over the 10. That’s it!

Final Thoughts on the Nike Terra Kiger 10

TAYLOR: Are you familiar with restorative conversations? The basics are that the wrong-doer comes to terms with their actions and intentionally tries to repair the harm that they caused. In doing so, trust is built and all parties can grow because of it. 

The Terra Kiger 10 is Nike’s manifest restorative conversation. I’m going to ignore the fact that it took years of crying out, but here we are now. The fact that this shoe has a Vibram Megagrip outsole shows that they recognized their fault and made appropriate steps to fix it. 

Runners can expect a similar low-profile secure fitting package that the Terra Kiger is known for. Now it is lighter, better fitting, and grippier than it has ever been. I love that their improvement plan was not an “all costs” approach because it really is the simple things that make the biggest difference in the Nike Terra Kiger 10.  That will all equate to higher performance on every level – especially on those shorter and faster pursuits.

JOHN: Wow. Nike you absolutely blew my mind with this one. I totally had nightmares the night before the race. I thought I was a fool for taking the Terra Kiger 10 on this race, but what an amazing surprise!

Just an incredible update and I’m pretty sure since I’ve been at BITR it’s the best update I’ve ever seen. If you are a Kiger fan and been wishing it were more beefed up look no further. Again, I think the only big thing I think that may deter some is the Kiger 9 had more of a road shoe feel. Even when looking at both shoes side by side it’s a wild change, and some who used it for rails to trails stuff might not like the progression.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this is not a West Coast shoe. It helped me tackle the rugged East Coast trails here and I’m really happy Nike gave the Kiger this rugged update.

You can pick up the Nike Terra Kiger 10 for $160 from Nike by using the buttons below.

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