Speedland RX Sky Review: A Collab Trail Shoe With a Party Trick

Introduction

Some trail shoes arrive quietly. The Speedland RX Sky does not. It is the first shoe from Speedland we have had on test, and it also happens to be a collaboration with Danish running apparel brand Saysky, which gives it one of the more unusual looks we have seen on a trail shoe in a while.

There is no way around the first talking point: this is an expensive shoe. It was listed for pre-order on the Saysky website at £240, which puts it firmly at the top end of the trail running market. Speedland packs a lot of new features into the RX Sky to justify that figure, but the price alone will shape who this shoe is for.

Our pair in a US 10 weighed 291 g, which felt reasonable given the amount of cushioning in the midsole. The stack is deep too: 42 mm at the heel and 34 mm under the forefoot for an 8 mm drop, about as high an offset as we would want on trails. Flip the shoe over and there is a thin web PU outsole with a 3.5 mm lug pattern, and yes, the lugs look like tiny breakfast waffles. One outsole carries Speedland branding, the other Saysky, a small detail that adds to the collab feel.

Upper, Fit and Closure

The RX Sky uses a bootie-style upper made from Speedland’s space mesh fabric with strategically placed high-density fibres, aimed at balancing breathability with durability. The tongue is very thin with almost no padding, which works because there are no traditional laces pressing down on the top of the foot. There is good padding around the ankle collar and heel cup.

The closure system is the headline. You get a reverse Velcro heel strap plus a Perfect Fit wrap activated by a Boa Fit system. Boa closures have worked well for us on other trail shoes, but this is the first running shoe we have tested with a Velcro strap, and it takes some getting used to visually.

On the foot, it worked. The shoe felt super comfortable straight out of the box, ran true to size with just the right toe box length and some wiggle room up front, and the Boa plus Velcro combination delivered a genuinely dialed-in lockdown through the midfoot with a solid hold in the heel. Across 8.4 miles of testing there was no rubbing or irritation at all.

Two caveats worth noting. The toe of the shoe is very soft, offering almost no upfront protection, so stubbing a toe at speed is a real risk. And on a shoe this expensive, it is worth being aware that a Boa dial is a mechanical part: clipping it hard on rocks could raise repair questions.

Midsole and Outsole

The midsole setup is where Speedland has concentrated its innovation. The RX Sky uses AT PU foam, and inside the shoe sits a proprietary drop-in midsole that adds a deeply cushioned, very soft layer close to the foot.

Hidden inside that drop-in midsole is the party trick: a cutout area in the heel, marked with a padlock icon, where you can lock in Speedland’s rigid carbon plate system. Fitting it is simple: clip the plate in at the top of the heel, swivel it round, make sure it sits flush in the cutout, slide the midsole back in, and you are ready to run. The RX Sky can therefore be run either as a carbon-plated or a non-plated trail shoe.

Underfoot, the 3.5 mm lugged PU outsole is not built for harsh, wet, muddy winter conditions. We tested on dry trails in warm weather, which suited the shoe well.

Running With and Without the Carbon Plate

The plan for the first run was simple: run four miles without the plate, fit the carbon plate mid-run, and compare. The non-plated shoe immediately impressed. On tarmac before reaching the trail, the combination of AT PU foam and the drop-in midsole felt very comfortable and super bouncy. On the trails it kept that comfortable ride with good underfoot protection, and, importantly for a shoe this cushioned, it still felt fairly planted and connected to the ground rather than floating over it.

Once the plates went in, the character changed noticeably, and not for the better in our experience. The midsole felt a lot stiffer, arguably a little too stiff, some comfort was lost, and on rockier sections the shoe felt less stable. On compacted, stony pathways the plate delivered more spring and forward propulsion, but for us that came at the cost of the ride quality we had been enjoying. Around mile seven, with feet starting to feel numb and some discomfort on the left side, we pulled the plates back out, and the shoe immediately felt better.

If you like the idea of a stiffer, more propulsive ride on firmer terrain, the plate is there when you want it. If, like us, you are sceptical about rigid plates on uneven ground, you may find yourself leaving them in a drawer.

Buying Advice

The Speedland RX Sky is best understood as a premium, high-cushion dry-conditions trail shoe with an unusually good fit system and an optional plate. Run it without the plate and it delivers comfort, bounce, and stability in one package. At £240 it is a serious investment, but the feature set is genuinely different from most of the market. One quirk to know about: parts of the upper and the outsole glow in the dark. Whether you need that in a running shoe is debatable, but it looks pretty cool.

Conclusion

As a non-plated, deeply cushioned trail shoe, the RX Sky was a joy to run in: plush out of the box, secure through the Boa and Velcro closure, and stable despite the stack. The removable carbon plate is innovative and works as advertised, but it traded comfort and stability for propulsion in our testing, and we suspect most runners will prefer the shoe without it. If the price fits your budget and your trails are dry, this is one of the more interesting trail shoes out there right now.