What is the BOA lacing system? How dialling in the fit of your trail shoes could help to improve your performance (2024)

Tying your shoes laces is one of those things you learn as a kid and, once you’ve mastered it, seems pretty straight forward. That is, until you get into trail running. And you discover there are a number of different ways to lace your trail shoes to provide the optimal fit for comfort and performance on challenging terrain.

And now some trail running shoe brands are offering options that do away with traditional laces entirely, instead using the BOA® lacing system to allow the wear to dial in their fit – literally.

What is the BOA lacing system?

BOA lacing is a fastening system which uses super-strong lightweight laces, with low friction lace guides and micro-adjustable dials. The technology was created in 2001 by Gary Hammerslag, who – having moved to Colorado and started to snowboard regularly – used his background in the medical device field to develop a lacing system to improve the fit and performance of his snowboarding boots.

The technology has since been developed for use across a range of footwear, helmets and braces. And it’s integration into trail running shoes is on the rise. By allowing for micro-adjustment, the system said to give a far better fit than traditional laces, by conforming to the midfoot and locking in the heel without constricting the forefoot.

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What are the benefits of the BOA lacing system for trail runners?

Aside from never having to stop and re-tie your laces (or risk a cartoon-style comedy shoe lace trip) again, opting for a trail shoe with a BOA lacing system can have a range of benefits both in terms of comfort and performance.

Reduce blisters, pressure points and numbness

While we might tend to focus more heavily on features such as drop, stack height, grip and energy return when picking out trail shoes. Getting the right fit for your foot shape is key to avoiding potential run-ruining discomfort. And how you tie your shoe laces can have an impact on how ‘locked down’ your foot feels in your shoe.

Trail shoes that are too loose can leave you feeling unstable – particularly on rocky, slippery or cambered terrain. Not locking the shoe down tight enough can lead to your feet shifting around in your shoes. This can cause chafing, blisters and bruising to the toes as they slide into the front of the shoe with each step.

But on the flipside, lacing your shoes too tightly over the top of your foot can compress the nerves and tendons at the front of the ankle leading to numbness and tingling in your feet.

By allowing for micro-adjustments via the dial, trail shoes with the BOA® fastening systems might be the answer to get a goldilocks-style ‘tight but not too tight’ fit.

Efficient fastening in a range of conditions

The simple push/pull/twist design of the BOA® laces makes it easy to adjust how tight or loose your shoes are without having to lose time on the side of the trail lacing and unlacing your shoes. It can also be useful for runners taking on multi-day extreme ultras such as the Winter Spine or the Dragon’s Back where you’ll likely be contending with cold, wet conditions that will leave your fingers far from dexterous.

Can fastening your shoes properly improve your running performance?

BOA have developed their lacing system for running shoes with extensive testing, creating a system where the laces wrap over the midfoot and ensure the heel is locked down. Working with elite athletes for over 800 hours of testing, the findings suggested that the BOA® fastening system could achieve:

• A 1.5% increase in speed, with the same level of exertion
• A reduction of up to 7% in ankle rotation velocity (offering improved stability)
• Up to 9% more efficiency when changing direction, facilitating better acceleration and deceleration.

How to use the BOA lacing system

Trail running shoes with BOA laces typically use the L-Series fastenings. The L6, L5 and L4 fastenings feature single direction tightening – simply push down to engage, turn to tighten and pull up to release.

The Li2 fastening is multidirectional – once you’ve pushed it down to engage you can turn it clockwise to tighten and turn it anticlockwise to loosen, without having to pull up to completely release the fastening.

Which trail running shoe brands have adopted the BOA lacing system?

Once most often associated with snow sports boots and cycling shoes, an increasing number of trail running shoe brands are now using BOA lacing system technology. La Sportiva have used it across their Cyklon, Jackal II and VK models. The Scarpa Ribelle Run Kalibra ST and Kalibra G trail shoes use it. Adidas have integrated BOA into their Terrex shoe models. And relatively new kid on the block Speedland have made BOA fastenings a feature across all their trail shoes.

It’s not just trail shoes either – you’ll find BOA on New Balance’s track spikes (good news if the Paris 2024 Olympics has inspired you to work on that 100m sprint time). And Under Armour have also introduced BOA fastening to their SlipSpeed road running shoe – which also features an interesting “convertible” heel design.

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Quick-fire recap