Decathlon - Kipstorm Tempo

I’ve been hearing good things about these shoes on YouTube and other media so decided to take the plunge to cheer myself up from recent health issues. According to the reviews I read, these shoes are incredible value for money for £99 from Decathalon. They’ve been compared to the Asics Superblast/Megablast. So I went for a first run today and wow, I can understand why they are so highly rated. Just for context , the shoes in my rotation are the Superblast 2, Brooks Hyperion Max 3, Adidas Prime Strung X3 and Adidas Boston 13. The Kiprun Tempo felt incredibly bouncy, nearly on par with the X3 which cost 2.5 times the price of the Tempo. Also out of all the shoes I have, it felt like the softest, especially compared to the Superblast 2. I was just blown away by the whole package \- comfort - while it felt a little big in the toe box area, the shoe just felt comfy. \- bounce - ran at a tempo and easy pace and the energy return felt pretty good \- softness/cushioning - felt that the shoe would provide enough cushioning and absorption from 5k to maybe marathon distance. Anyway, think if you are in the market for a new running shoe, give it a try - I can’t tbink of anything else for £99 that packs a punch like this ( maybe Adidas Evo SL?)

Yes , it’s subjective of course but they feel pretty effortless in tempo runs for me. I’m thinking of getting another pair as well - can’t imagine them staying this cheap forever.

Yup - size 8 for me on all 3 shoes. But all 3 fit a bit different - best fit of all are the SB2, the X3 are a little snug at the toe box which is strange considering it’s a beast for a shoe. The Tempos fit a bit long but it’s not a major issue for me as i prefer a bit more toe space.

No reason why you couldn’t use them daily - they’re pretty comfy and for me I can use them for all paces. The colour way is a bit unusual but it looks better in person i think. It also comes in a yellow colour way which cost £120. https://preview.redd.it/xakuy4g893pg1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f75dcc670f63fdd560c259e4f051ad0a223c9191

With the Tempo, an important factor for my purchase was the price. Would I have brought them if they were the same price as the Megablast or Superblast 3? Probably not. I would have been more tempted by some of the Chinese shoes breaking into the marks such as the Dynafish Xiaonian or the Li Ning Red Hare. And I think that’s been the problem with the Kiprun. Some of their previous shoes were priced too similar to brands with better pedigrees yet were lacking in performance. On YouTube , Yowana had a pretty long video where he spent time with Kiprun in France looking at their new lines and it would seem that Kiprun are making big changes to their lines. They have a few other new shoes such as the Elite and Lab which look pretty competitive. So I think as long as they keep prices competitive and release good shoes like the Tempo, I would say that have a good chance - Decathlon is a massive retailer and with running going through a massive growth over the last few years, they could do well in this crowded market. I think the Adidas Evo Sl has been one of the most important shoes in the last few years. Purely because of the price. It showed that you could release a shoe with amazing performance at a price point lower than anything else before it. Maybe that’s what Kiprun saw and are using the Tempo as their Evo SL. Another interesting point is that awareness of Chinese running shoes has really taken off in the UK. A lot of UK YouTube reviewers have started reviewing and praising Chinese shoes such as the Xiaonian. I think once they sort out their retail/online presence here , it might be a market disruptor and make ASICS, Saucony, Hoka etc consider some of their pricing structure.

Think the Pegasus 41 are getting on a bit now - especially when it comes to the foams they use. I’ve enjoyed using the Tempos - it packs a lot of punch per £ - for me the rival some of my £200 plus shoes. Whether they are “good” or not is different for each person but all the reviews I’ve seen so far have raved about them - only concerns are the fit as for some people , they are a bit long and others have mentioned they’re not great for wide feet.

I’ve been using them for daily runs, tempo runs and slow runs and it’s handled them with ease. I’m going to take them for a 30km run soon but I suspect it won’t be a problem with them. And i think you’ll find after coming from your Brooks you will have loads of fun with them! There’s a nice bounce to them that rivals far more expensive shoes !

I have a bunch of decathlon gear and overall I am very satisfied. Recently got the kiprun kipstorm tempo running shoes, which are amazing, especially for the pricepoint.

Red hare 8 pro is heavier even though it's lower stack uses a inferior older tech foam with a poor outsole that isn't durable, was a very disappointing shoe for me.  Kiprun is faster, lighter bouncer, propels you fwd, has top tier ATPU foam and very good durable outsole and grip. It's been recently compared to the ASICS superblast which is over double the price by the run testers and both reviewers preferred the Kiprun. The two shoes are worlds apart in terms of performance and quality of build 

Nope if you go on the stats they're basically identical to a megablast, although the Kiprun is lighter both having identical 45/37 stacks and both using supercritical Atpu foams 

I went half a size down but I wouldn't recommend going down to tight in these as they're tapered and might affect your pinky. They're fine with a little extra room Infront of your big toe 

I love these and also love the Evo SL woven but finding myself actually preferring the Tempos now  I can just run faster with less effort in these and they feel great throughout the run and are so versatile for all paces and distances  Once word gets around about these the prices will go up, so I want to order another pair but not keen on the yellow colour and already have grey/pink. Surely they will bring out more colourways as most of their shoes have 4-6 colours and this only has two so far. Anybody know if more colours are coming 

Kipstorm Challenger is a great trainer for the price. Bought my second pair today.

These ones ran almost a full size smaller for me, have you tried 12?

Totally agree, I love them and think they are great value. I managed to get them for under £90. They are on sale at £99 then they had an app discount for members that put it to £91. Then with Topcashback or Discount for carers I bought a Decathlon £91 Decathlon gift card for £87ish.

Good review - totally agree with what you said. Laces definitely need a little tweak to get right but once set up they seem fine. Fun, bouncey ride for me at 80kg and seems reasonably stable - I over pronate slightly on one foot only and these didnt create any ache after a 10k run. Once up to tempo'ish they really roll nicely along. So much so I am seriously considering them for my next HM. Was going to do parkrun this morning in my EP4 but its quite wet again and thinking the Tempos will be just the job on the mix of surfaces on our local course.

You may be right. Did my parkrun in them this morning and ran it just a simple sub-threshold session and really enjoyed them. I'm far too spoiled for choice with quality shoes so have too many options for the half. Might still be the EP4 or the SB2 that I used last Oct and set a big HM PM. The other option is the Sonicblast which is getting better with every run and feels a bit faster than these, but I'm just not sure its quite comfortable enough for a half. Choices, choices!

My experience with the Tempo: At faster paces and in general when landing on the forefoot, it feels very bouncy. The aTPU feels like a slightly firmer ZoomX, slightly softer than the EVO SL. The shoe feels so propulsive when at speed.  The stability is definitely there. Lots more stable than the EVO, Vomero Plus. It feels like a light shoe, but it is undeniably a big shoe, and sometimes this is noticeable at slower paces. I find the heel to be a fair bit firmer than the forefoot, and the shoe overall to feel a bit clunky if heel striking at slow paces - not because of the weight, rather the stiff EVA bottom layer. I wouldn't recommend it for heel strikers, but maybe the foam will give in over time.  It fits very long. I always go by the JP/CM size, and this is the same as other shoes that fit me snug, yet it's very much longer - I have a full thumbs width. I had no issues with heel lockdown but I agree that laces lockdown can be finicky. I wish the tongue was a tiny bit thicker, but it's still leagues ahead of the EVO SL. 

I think they're both good shoes, but IMO the Kipstorm is better overall.  The main gripe I had with the Evo was that if I go slower I am on the very narrow midfoot/heel, which I find to be unstable. And the tongue was too short. The Tempo has a slightly better gusseted tongue, and heel and midfoot feel somewhat more stable; presumably because the Evo is a single slab of foam whilst the Tempo has a bottom cradle of EVA. At slow paces, the only advantage of the Evo is that it's a smaller sized shoe, whilst the Tempo is more of a tank (not weight, just size). When pushing the pace more, They're both equally bouncy on the forefoot to me, but the Tempo has 37 (!) mm of foam underfoot, which makes it extra protective for long runs.  I don't think either of these shoes is amazing for heel strikers, they don't roll particularly well from heel to toe. The Vomero Plus was dreamy for that. I'll write a more thorough review in a week or two. 

Avoid Sonic Blast and Rebel V5. Kiprun is probably the best choice.

Kipstorm challenger is great.