Lowa Men's Ronan GTX Mid Hiking Boot

I purchased two pair of boots from Lowa. The Ronan GTX and a pair of Ticam GTX boots. I am a 'casual' hiker and backpacker. Although I don't do it more then a dozen or two times a year at most, I've been hiking and backpacking since I was 4-5 years old. The vast majority of my experiences have been in the US Rocky Mountains and the Utah desert. While my days of 80-90 lb packs are over I still carry a 30-35 lb photo pack occasionally. I need a boot with good ankle support, a stiff sole to protect the bottoms of my feet from the sharp, jagged broken rock and a sticky, aggressive, self-cleaning sole.I spent a week or more reading reviews on everyone's boots, not just Lowa. Always there was a sticking point. Quality, sole, whatever. I was pretty excited - ok, as excited as you can get buying shoes - to find everything I was looking for in a boot. Well, everything except price. For this much I expect a boot to last for a long time - which is what I expect these to do based on the reviews.The rubber soles are soft and sticky. Very soft. Expect the soles to go long before the rest of the boot does. I expect this because I've always bought soft sole boots, but I know based on reviews that some people freak out when the sole is half gone in a year. The Ticam doesn't appear any different.One of the primary reasons I bought the Ronan is because Lowa said the upper was stiffer. Not having experience with its counterpart, I can't speak for that. It IS stiff. A lot stiffer than my last two or three sets of (non-Lowa) boots. As with the soles, I'm good with that. My sissy ankles thank Lowa. :)The rock on the 'trails' - and I use that word loosely - I hike is covered in loose broken and crushed granite, coarse sand and pea gravel. Hence the wish for an aggressive tread (and good ankle support). Why is it SO HARD to find a boot with a deep, aggressive tread anymore? It never used to be this way. Now almost everything looks like the sole is for a basketball court. :( If I could make one change to the Ronan and Ticam it would be to deepen the tread another 1/8". Neither are bad, but neither are as deep as I'd like. Both self-clean well so I have no complaints there. There's very little that qualifies for mud here and what little there is isn't sticky. Both kick out the slush and snow very well, though.Because both are heavier boots meant for lite or moderate backpacking, the soles are stiff. While the Ronan is not as inflexible as the Ticam, it is considerably more so than any normal hiking/trekking boot I've tried. If I remember correctly Lowa said suitable for lite packing - 20-30 lbs. Within my experience that sounds about right. These would almost certainly be too lite with a 50 lb pack for my tastes. The sole does a good job of protecting the bottoms of my feet from pointy rocks without a pack. I really don't expect this to change by adding another 20-30 lbs to my back.Both the Ronan and Ticam have removable foot beds. Great feature for some people. I see no need to change from Lowa's beds right now. That may change in the future. I'm just glad the option is there and most certainly has value.There is one feature that the Ticam has that the Ronan sorta has that I wish more boots incorporated. The Ticam has mechanical cam locks to lock the laces and separate adjustment of the lower and ankle lacing sections. On the Ticam that is the last pair of 'eyes'. On the Ronan it is the first set of U hooks. The Ronan shapes the inside of the U with a grove that compresses the lace when it's pulled into the U hook. Its not a positive lock like the Ticam, but it works reasonably well so far. It also shows me that Lowa seems to have a tendency to pay attention to the little details. Anyway, this is a very nice feature if you like to lace the bottoms tighter, tops looser or bottoms looser and tops tighter. I like the latter and having this ability without having to exercise convoluted and irritating lacing tricks is almost enough by itself to make me buy Lowa.Sizing seems to be pretty close to what it should be. These are just a touch narrow in the toe box. I thought about bumping up a size in width, but I'm afraid that may be too much. Unlike the Ticams, I do not have any intention of wearing a heavy weight sock - or even a medium - so I can't take up the extra space with sock. I'll see how it goes and it may well be that they'll eventually stretch out. Possible sizing issue aside, I WISH these had the same amount of toe box area as the Ticams.Overall the Ronans are a comfortable, well fitting boot. I haven't found any strange hot spot causing seams, etc. Nothing seems to be flexing in the wrong place. The sole is stiff enough to protect the soles of my feet. Overall, pretty nice and I look forward to putting a lot of miles on these boots. :)Now, I've seen several reviews and several questions regarding the Ticams and the lighter boots. The Ticams are much heavier and much stiffer. Unlike the Ronan and other equivalent or lower level Lowas, the the Ticam has the cam lock lace system as well as a tongue stud for lacing. Different tread but apparently the same tread compound. The Ticam and Ronan have different finishes. The Ticam is a hard waxed leather. The Ronan is almost a suede. The Ticam has quite a bit more toe box area and a wider toe box. Both my Ticams and Ronans are size 11D and side by side that's obvious. The Ronans with a relatively thick liner and ultra-lite smartwool sock are comfortably snug. The Ticams are still quite loose. What I would expect comparing these two shoe designs. The Ticam design expects the wearer to be wearing a mid or heavy sock and liner I would expect so sizes are adjusted appropriately. The Ticams have by far a more 'molded to my foot' feel than the Ronan producing a more comfortable boot even with the extra weight and stiffness in both the sole and upper.I like a solid heavy boot even for light hiking and backpacking so the extra weight of the Ticam doesn't put me off. As much as I hate to say it, if you don't mind the weight, stiff sole and upper and the extra cost, I would choose the Ticam over the Ronan. The Ronan is a nice boot and I certainly don't plan to send it back. Its impossible to drive in a Ticam and I need a multi-purpose heavy boot for use 4-wheeling and the Ronan will do very well for this use. But, specifically for heavy hiking and light/mediumish pack weight backpacking, I suspect the Ticam will be my choice.

I bought these in November of 2015 because I couldn't find this style in the women's. I purchased US size 9M and they fit perfectly (usually wear 9-10 in women's depending on the brand of shoe). I use these boots for everyday wear during winter. They give me nice traction on the slippery surfaces and keep my feet warm. I've hiked in them as well and love how tall and supportive they are. The black color does make them warm in the UT summer sun. Over all I love the design/style and the fit. I'm glad I went with the men's because I think the women's boot would have been to narrow for my wide feet. My husband has the same size of foot as I do and he owns a pair of Keen hiking boots, he tried on the Lowa's and loves them as well and was very impressed by the quality of these boots.

Purchased Lowa Ronan GTX Mid hiking boots through Amazon. Boots arrived in a few days, very fast. Boots were true to size and very comfortable. One attribute they have that is taking some time to get used to is their light weight. I had been for years using some heavy duty backpacking boots (Montrail Moraines) which were very comfortable and heavy. The old boots had metal shank and lowa'sLowa Men's Ronan Gtx Mid Hiking Boot have nylon shank, I believe. I notice this difference when I walk over rocks. The Ronans feel the rocks more, not desirable, but is an unfair comparison since the heavy duty backpacking boots are designed for different purpose. Walking over sharp rocks is still very confortable and a good tradeoff for their light weight. Even though they are very light, they have excellent ankle support, one of the critical requirements I had. First boots I bought online and feared having them not fit correctly. They fitted perfectly and would recommend them to anyone considering purchasing these boots.

My feet measure 10 1/2 U.S. Regular. Purchased 10 1/2 size.The shoes fit comfortably with medium weight smart wool socks. There is about a thumbs width space between the end of my big toes and the front of the boot. I can move my feet Slightly from side to side in the boot, as well as having enough wiggle room to flex my toes. The uppers fit snugly around my ankle and hold my foot in place well. There seems to be enough room for aftermarket inserts too. I've only tried mine with an arch insert and the fit was still fine. The boot is very lightweight. The color is darker than the Amazon picture.

So, on the face of things, you're probably thinking that this is basically the same boot of the Renegade, right? Wrong! I like the renegade, it's comfy and it fits nice. The Ronan fits badly, it's too tight through the toes and midfoot, and the pressure it put on the back of my heels was insane. It was like the boot was built for people without heels (like THEY ever go hiking). Also,the way the laces press into the tongue is unbearably painful. If you look at the renegade, there's a nice piece of leather running up the tongue of the boot, protecting the top of the foot from lace pressure. On the Ronan, they got rid of that piece. Also, these boots just aren't handsome like the renegades. You can't really see it from the picture, but the tip of this boot flares out like an elf's shoe. It's really dumb looking.I got this boot 60 percent off thru this little one day sale they had on them. I still returned it. Even if I got the boot for 10 dollars, it wouldn't be worth it. Do yourself a favor, and check out the Lowa Renegade. It's basically the same boot, but SO much better.