If you are in the Pure Flow and like it a good trail option is the Pure Grit. Of the trail shoes you mentioned the Pure Grit is liked by more trail racers than the others based on the Leadville Marathon count I did in June. Now based on your list, I'd start with the Kinvara and Nomad or Peregrine for trail before the other two options. Fit and Feel of the Saucony is more in line with the likes of most.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

I would buy the shoes that fit the best and not worry about sticking with the same brand.

With that said I have run in all three of those brands.

This is what I've used:
Asics - DS Racer and Hyper Tri for racing and Fuji Racer for trail racing
Saucony - Fastwtich for longer racing and Type A4 for shorter racing
Mizuno - Rider and Sayonara for training, Hitogami for long racing. A while ago I use the Ascend for training on the trails, I don't know if they are available anymore.

I'm using Asics Hyper Tri as a race shoe. I'm leaning toward the Saucony's or Mizuno's. Mizuno doesn't seem very popular. I know Gomez loves them, but you never hear much about Mizuno. How did you like the Hitogami's?

I think I'm going to roll with Asics based on feedback and research. More triathletes used Asics in Kona (17%). Some of my favorite triathletes are in Asics such as Frodeno, Potts, and Jorgensen. I'm already racing in the Gel Hyper Tri. The Super J-33 2's look ultra light and probably would be good for most training up to at least 13.1. The DS Racer looks like a solid race shoe like the Hyper Tri. It is very light. As well, I like that the Fuji Racer is light (Under 9.0 Ounces) and has a perforated sock liner for drainage. Unless I just hate the fit, I think I may go that route. The only one I question is the Fuji Racer, since I'm not familiar with Asics as having a popular trail shoe line.

I'm a little sour on Asics at the moment. I bought the Nimbus 17 Lite Show and within 60km of use the graphics were falling off the inside of the right shoe. They're back in Auckland being looked at just now, and perhaps I'm being a little fussy, but I don't expect that with a pair of shoes after 4 or 5 runs. I hammer my Newton Fate and they're still in great condition.

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Surprised there were so few Mizuno (5%), since they're one of the better running shoe companies. Why is this?

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

I was told by an Asics Rep that the DS Racer and the Fuji Racer are built on the same last so if one fits, the other will too. The Fuji Racer is a really light trail shoe and I do not use it as an every day trail shoe. I've used it at Triple T for the last 2 years to protect my feet from stomping on the rocks on the fire road so I have ran long on it.

The Hyper Tri fits similar to the DS racer and it's the only shoe I've been able to run a 10K in sockless.

I really like the fit of the Hitogami, I've had the origional and am currently breaking in a second generation for Challenge Florida. The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't have any drain holes like Asics shoes I use but I know how to fix that.
I use the ladies models in the Mizuno shoes cuz I like a narrow shoe but that is a personal preference.

I've been moving away from Saucony only because there are many good choices in the Asics models, I still use them on occasion.

jaretj