The first thing you notice about the Chameleon, is that it does not look like your traditional hiking footwear. The black shoe is so light and minimalist in its design that it can almost pass for a general running trainer and is clearly inspired in both look and functionality by heavy duty trail running shoes. With an up-to-date colour scheme and design, you feel like you could happily walk straight off the hill and into town in these shoes, without ever feeling out of place.

The upper body of this shoe is designed with a combination of suede leather straps and breathable mesh fabric, which makes the lightweight shoe feel incredibly protective while still staying comfortable, with hook laces that allow you to change the fit to your preferred tightness and allow for much more movement than many hiking boots.

The most interesting element of this shoes design however, is its outsole. In an effort to reduce weight while maintaining traction, Merrell have worked with Vibram to develop a minimalist-type tread with two circular chains of lugs, one on the heel and one on the ball of the foot. These lugs are layered over a FlexPlate midsole that is also specially designed to keep weight low while retaining the high performance quality. What this complex design choice basically means is that the designers have scaled down the amount of rubber on the shoe, making it much more lightweight than other shoes of this level.

Over our hike, we found this boot to be incredibly comfortable, the Chameleon has a Merrell Air Cushion that kept our feet feeling good and its cushioned heel counter kept our ankles well supported on the more uneven terrain and throughout the entire hike.

If you want a hiking shoe with a modern and minimalist look, without having to sacrifice on performance, the Chameleon is a great choice. It can be worn in both the town and the hills, yet has the technology and design to compete with the most serious footwear in the world of hiking.