The Mesa Trail II is a barefoot trail shoe: a wide, foot-shaped toe box, a zero-drop platform, and a thin FeelTrue rubber sole with deep lugs below and a slim foam layer above. What you get is grip, a little protection, and the ground — and, with no midsole foam to break down, a shoe that outlasts a cushioned trainer.
It suits you if you already run barefoot-style and want short, easy trail runs where feeling the terrain is the point. If you are new to it, build in over a season and keep a cushioned pair meanwhile.
It is not a shoe most runners should race their first mile in. A zero-drop sole with this little underneath loads your calves, achilles and feet in a way a cushioned trainer never has, and the adaptation takes months rather than weeks. It is not a long mountain-day shoe either.