View Full Version : The old Hardrocks reborn?
I heard a rumor last year that the Montrail Hardrocks are going back to the Pre-Columbia version. The latest version of Hardrocks (2009) appear to be radically different than the ones many of us liked in the past..or even vs the 2008.
Anyway, this info was posted on trailforums:
Maybe hope for Hardrock fans?
I sent a letter very similar to my post above to Montrail (Columbia Sportswear) customer service. I just received this response: "Thanks for your interest in Montrail and your inquiry regarding the Hardrock.
"Next spring Montrail will introduce a new style called the AT Plus which will be similar to the older Hardrock style.
"Thanks for your interest in Montrail. Best Regards, Joe Web Customer Service
"Montrail, INC. 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 1005 Richmond, CA 94804
800-330-6800 www.montrail.com
"Please consider the environment before printing this email"
spirit4earth
11-02-2009, 11:28
I hope that's true! I buy older Hardrocks whenever they're on sale because I like them so much. The new ones look flimsy.
Old Grouse
11-02-2009, 11:33
I have zero complaints about the 2008's but would be happy to try the retros.
Jester2000
11-03-2009, 12:50
I spoke to a Montrail rep in August, and they were, at that time, planning on it. Just to be clear: what they are planning is releasing a shoe that follows the design of the pre-2009 shoe (the 2009 shoe was a redesign radical enough that they almost renamed the shoe).
As I've noted before, people who think of the "good" version of the Hardrock as pre-Columbia (suggesting that it was Columbia that made the shoe bad) should note that the Hardrock was introduced in 2005 and Columbia bought Hardrock in January 2006.
The redesign, then, is not "pre-Columbia," but rather "pre-2009."
The redesign, then, is not "pre-Columbia," but rather "pre-2009."
I dunno...the 2006, 2007 and 2008 versions made by Columbia had mixed reviews.
That's why I feel comfortable saying pre-Columbia as the 2006+ versions have had quality issues as reported by others.
Many people on the PCT in 2006 (the first Hardrocks made by Columbia...the white and blue versions as opposed to the original grey and blue with yellow soles) cursed them.
The design may have been the same, but the quality seems to have suffered for some once Columbia started making them. (For the record, I never had trouble)
Jester2000
11-03-2009, 14:44
I dunno...the 2006, 2007 and 2008 versions made by Columbia had mixed reviews.
That's why I feel comfortable saying pre-Columbia as the 2006+ versions have had quality issues as reported by others.
Many people on the PCT in 2006 (the first Hardrocks made by Columbia...the white and blue versions as opposed to the original grey and blue with yellow soles) cursed them.
The design may have been the same, but the quality seems to have suffered for some once Columbia started making them. (For the record, I never had trouble)
I think it's a perception thing more than anything else. Remember, Columbia bought Montrail in January 2006. Spring preorders for '06 Hardrocks would have been placed by outfitters in August of '05, and production of the shoe would have happened in Fall/Winter '05. Then hikers hear that Columbia has bought the company, and everyone assumes that a big corporation is going to ruin the shoe, and that becomes the perception. Even though they're hiking in shoes produced before the company was purchased.
The faulty perception continues to hold, particularly in light of the fact that so many hikers don't know how the industry's seasons/production/ordering works, and do know that Columbia bought Montrail but don't know when. Thus I have people calling my store all of the time wanting pre-Columbia shoes, some insisting that '06 was the last good year, others saying '07, and still more saying '08.
For the record, if you bought Hardrocks in '05 or Spring '06, you were hiking in Hardrocks made by Montrail when they were an independent company. If you bought them after Spring '06 but before Spring '09, the only design change was the color.
If you bought them after Spring '06 but before Spring '09, the only design change was the color.
And being made by a different company. :)