Brooks Cascadia 20 review: Trail running legend finally gets to grips with muddy trails

The Brooks Cascadia is synonymous with trail running, as it is the world’s longest-running trail shoe franchise. With the first iteration released more than 20 years ago and designed with trail-running royalty Scott Jurek, the shoe has undergone multiple iterations to meet the growing demand for fast-paced adventures over rough terrain.

I was a bit late to the game – my first foray into the Cascadia experience was last year's Brooks Cascadia 19, which I wore in Chamonix while covering the UTMB finals. But I loved it so much I’ve been wearing it off and on since then.

Sometimes, it can be hard to see why a brand releases an update, but in the Brooks Cascadia 20, it’s clear the goal is to make a shoe that better meets the demands of the trail. To that end, just a few key changes amount to significant upgrades.

The Seattle brand has finally traded its TrailTack Green outsole, which was pretty reliable on a variety of surfaces, for Vibram Megagrip, widely considered the best outsole for trail.

The brand has transitioned to the new DNA Loft v3 foam, which is lighter and more abundant than ever, while the dramatically reimagined upper creates a snugger, zero-slip experience on the trail.

Is it enough to make the leap from my beloved 19? I’ve recently run 50k in them over four trail adventures to find out, and this is my honest opinion.

Brooks Cascadia 20 review

Price and availability

The Brooks Cascadia 20 is available in men’s and women’s sizing with five different colourways for each to choose from. After the bright splash of the canary yellow 19s, the brand has gone for more muted tones, though men’s colours are a little bolder.

I tested the white/blue/black colourway, which is the brightest for women, a little bit too much like toothpaste for my taste, and stains very easily on muddy days. I’d recommend trying a darker colourway like Peppercorn or Grey, and you can browse directly on the brand’s website, where the shoes are priced at an MSRP of £140.

That is really quite a reasonable price tag for a legacy shoe from a big brand. It’s never been the most technical shoe out there, but it’s highly versatile, one that you could wear on gravel days, a bit of road and even some muddier trails. It’s the same price as the Hoka Speedgoat 6, another jack-of-all-trades trail shoe that you can wear for hiking as well as running.

Design and materials

The big story in the design of the Cascadia 20 is the transition to a Vibram outsole, with confidence-inspiring lugs that have proven themselves on many a great trail shoe in recent years. The chevron lugs have tiny teeth that really increase grip, and though there is some foam on display, the coverage is quite good.

Even though last year’s Cascadia 19 introduced DNA LOFT v3 foam, the 20’s midsole has been upgraded with the DNA Flash v2. This foam is stiffer and feels similarly bouncy to the Loft v3. Once again, the stack height steadily creeps up, this time to nearly 38mm under the heel, while Brooks has kept the 6mm heel-to-toe drop that was introduced last year.

While the Cascadia 19’s upper was criticised for being a little too warm and thick, this one is thinner by comparison, with bigger ventilation holes in the outer mesh, though it's still a fabric construction. There’s a decent amount of reinforcement around the heel and toe without being too rugged.

What’s more pronounced is the huge change in the shoe’s profile. The 20 is distinctly narrower, has shaved a good amount of real estate off the toe box and is built to deliver a better lockdown fit. The tongue isn’t fully gusseted but stays in place, and there’s a big heel pull tab and lace garage for convenience.

You might think all of these updates result in a lighter shoe, but it weighs in at exactly the same weight as the 19s: 235 grams per shoe for a women’s UK 4.

Performance and comfort

When I first wore the 19s, I remember being a bit worried that they weren’t high-volume enough for my high arches, but after one run, they broke in nicely. With the 20s, I had the same fear about the fit, and even after 50k, they haven’t loosened up as much as I would like.

The result is that even after several long runs in these, I can feel a little pressure on the top of my foot. Overall, the design is noticeably narrower and shallower than the previous shoe, and Brooks has trimmed a sizeable chunk off the toe box. At about the 10k mark, I start to get hot spots on my toes.

The upside of this new design, however, is that the shoes do offer a better lockdown fit, with no slippage at all on the inside of the shoe. I’d still like my foot to sit deeper in the shoe, but I can’t really fault the fit around my heel.

The upper fabric construction isn’t as thick as the 19, which probably makes the shoe a little less sweaty, but it isn’t thin enough to cut down on protection.

I’ve had plenty of opportunity to test these shoes out in muddy and slick conditions and, unsurprisingly, they’re a great match for Scottish trails in autumn. I’ve been running a lot on a long, quiet trail that doesn’t see much footfall and is very overgrown in parts. It takes me across mud, wet leaves and grass, and I’ve had no problem keeping my footing.

The lugs aren’t too aggressive, so they might struggle on really muddy slopes, but for gravel and rolling hills I’m confident in their abilities. The lug design does seem to pick up a lot of mud, which hasn’t impacted their traction but does mean I need to be careful to take these off before entering my house.

I’ve got them completely soaked on several occasions running in the rain and through wet grass. They drain well, but they do take several days to dry out, even stuffed with newspaper.

The new midsole is really quite plush and very stiff, so it doesn’t give me any trail feedback whatsoever. But the upside of that is that, when I have to run sections of tarmac, the shoes don’t feel heavy. Overall, I’d say they feel similarly springy to the 19s, but personally I prefer a little more flex in the sole.

Verdict

It’s hard to deny that the Cascadia 20 has some significant design upgrades: it’s lighter, grippier, and has a more secure fit than its predecessor. However, this model is a good lesson in the value of trying shoes on before you buy, as the updated design doesn’t work for my foot shape as well as the Cascadia 19, which I’ll probably continue wearing. For other runners, this shoe will be the upgrade they’ve been waiting for.