this summer I switched to Oboz hiking shoes. They are pretty sturdy and last in my case about 6-7 weeks. But I have to say I use and abuse shoes on my daily hikes to the lava.
I really like the Oboz Luna, Pika and Sawtooth shoes. REI often has them on sale.
For regular hiking purposes they should last for quite a while
I used to hike in Salomon trailrunners or the XUltra shoe. But the quick lace system is the silliest thing ever. They get loose all the time, rupture pretty fast and make it really unsafe for my purposes to use. UNless Salamon comes up with regular laces, I will never buy a pair of shoes again.
I too have a pair of Salomon X Ultra 2 low hiking shoes. And a pair of Salomon waterproof membrane shoes, both with the quick lace system. I wanted to love them, afterall, it's my hard-earned money (even though i got both pairs at a good sale price). But i've noticed the quick laces DO loosen a bit during the day. not much, but enough for me to notice and have to retighten 203 times a day.
The qick lace system I'd a deal breaker for me too. They just don't stay tight and it's a lot harder to do work on them in the field than it is standard laces. Particulary on desert trips, I break shoe laces all the time and have to fo emergency surgery. The less mechanical and more versitile, the better.
If anyone is interested, I saw Merrell.com has a sale going until Friday, up to 50% off some of their shoes. You can also get an additional 10% off with code "OCTOBERSALE10". I've not tried the code myself, but thought I'd pass it along on this thread in case anyone was still looking to buy a new pair of Merrells.