Salomon Speedcross 6 GORE-TEX 20 Years Review: The Mud Shoe Turns 20

Twenty years on, the Speedcross is still the shoe I reach for when the ground turns to soup. The Salomon Speedcross 6 GORE-TEX 20 Years is a special-edition version of that mud specialist, landing to mark two decades of a shoe that arguably defined the category. Under the anniversary colourway it carries the same tooling that earned the name: a waterproof GORE-TEX membrane, deep bi-directional Mud Contagrip chevron lugs, and a snug, locked-down fit built for soft and technical ground rather than tarmac.

This is a pre-launch look. The 20 Years edition is a few days from release as I write, and I am framing it against everything I already know about how the Speedcross 6 behaves on wet British trails. If you want the wider field, our best waterproof trainers roundup sets the context, but the short version is that the Speedcross remains the pick when grip in mud matters more than anything else.

Who the Speedcross is for

The Speedcross has always been a soft-ground specialist, and that has not changed. If you spend the wet half of the year on Dorset chalk that greases up after rain, on churned New Forest bridleways, or on the peat and bog of the Brecon Beacons, this is the shoe that keeps you upright where a shallower outsole slides.

It is less at home on hard-packed trail, rock slabs and long stretches of road. Those tall 5mm lugs that bite into mud feel vague and knobbly on firm ground, and the tread wears faster if you spend most of your miles on grit and tarmac. For everyday and travel use I would point you at the Salomon XT-6 GORE-TEX or the softer Salomon XT-Pathway GORE-TEX instead.

Buy this if your problem is grip in the wet and the muck. That is what it solves, and it solves it better than almost anything.

Waterproofing: the GORE-TEX membrane

The 20 Years edition runs a full GORE-TEX membrane, the same waterproof and breathable bootie you get in the standard Speedcross 6 GTX. On the trail that means splashing through shallow running water, wet grass at dawn and saturated ground stays on the outside of the shoe. Through a British autumn that is the difference between dry feet and cold, macerated ones.

The honest limit is height. This is a low-cut trail shoe, so the membrane only protects you up to the ankle collar. Step into a bog deeper than the cuff, or take a wave over the top on the Jurassic Coast, and water comes straight in over the top of the GORE-TEX rather than through it. No low-cut waterproof shoe escapes that. For deep, sustained water crossings you want a mid boot; for showers, mud, puddles and wet vegetation, the membrane earns its place.

Paired with a good pair of merino socks, I have had dry feet through hours of wet downland in shoes built on exactly this platform.

Grip: the Mud Contagrip outsole

This is the whole point of the shoe. The Speedcross 6 uses deep 5mm bi-directional chevron lugs in Salomon's Mud Contagrip compound, a rubber tuned for adhesion on soft, loose and wet surfaces. The forward and rearward-facing chevrons dig in on both climbs and descents, and the deep, well-spaced pattern sheds mud instead of packing solid the way a road tread would.

On wet chalk, on greasy roots, on that slick clay you get in the New Forest after a week of rain, the Speedcross grips when I expect to slide. Descending a muddy downland scarp, the rearward lugs bite and give me the confidence to keep moving rather than picking my way down.

The trade-off is firm ground. On dry rock and hard trail those tall lugs have less rubber in contact and can feel skittish, and you feel every chevron on tarmac. This is a shoe that gets better the worse the ground gets.

Cushioning and fit

Underfoot the Speedcross 6 uses Salomon's EnergyCell+ midsole, a moderate cushioning setup with a 10mm heel-to-toe drop and stack heights of roughly 33mm at the heel and 23mm at the forefoot. It is a protective, stable ride rather than a plush max-cushion one, which suits uneven ground where you want to feel what is under you.

The fit is classic Salomon: snug, precise and low-volume, with the SensiFit cradle wrapping the midfoot and the Quicklace system cinching it down in one pull. It holds the foot still on side-slopes and technical descents, which is exactly where a looser shoe lets you slide around inside it.

If you have a wide or high-volume foot, this is a narrow last, so try before you commit or size with care. For most feet, I would take my usual Salomon size; the Speedcross runs true but tight through the midfoot. Each shoe sits at around 328g, which is a normal weight for a waterproof trail shoe of this type.

Colours

Special Edition

The lead and only colourway is the anniversary Special Edition, marking twenty years of the Speedcross. The shot above is a stand-in of the standard Speedcross 6 GTX; the actual 20 Years edition photography follows at launch. From what has been shown, it looks superb, and if I had to choose right now I would find it hard to split from the XT-4 OG in the pearl blue.

Specs at a glance

Pros and cons

• Outstanding grip on wet, muddy and soft ground from the deep 5mm Mud Contagrip chevron lugs
• Waterproof GORE-TEX membrane keeps out splashes, wet grass and mud
• Snug, locked-down SensiFit and Quicklace fit that holds on technical descents
• Special-edition anniversary colourway

• Aggressive lugs feel vague and skittish on hard-packed trail, rock and tarmac
• Low-cut membrane only protects up to the ankle collar
• Narrow, low-volume last does not suit wide feet

Verdict

The Salomon Speedcross 6 GORE-TEX 20 Years earns 4.9 out of 5. Twenty years on, the formula still works: deep Mud Contagrip lugs, a waterproof GORE-TEX membrane and a precise fit make this the shoe to beat when the ground is wet, soft and steep. It is a specialist, not an all-rounder, and it is worth knowing that before you buy. If most of your miles are on hard trail or road, look elsewhere. If your problem is staying upright and dry on greasy British downland and bog through the wet months, few shoes do it better.

The 20 Years edition is launching shortly and is available to order at launch via the Salomon link below. For the full field of alternatives, see our waterproof trainers hub.

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