I haven't tried many but the Kiprun KD900X.2 was a shocker for me. Accessible plated shoe at 120/130 euro. Fast, very light (my US 9 is around 900g), comfortable at all paces. Maybe a tiny bit unstable in tight corners, but that's the only complaint I have. An absolute gem for that price.
Other than that I'm enjoying the Nimbus 27 as always, but preferred the 26.
I'm a Wave Rider aficionado but didn't dig the 28s. I actually think 27s were better
I believe the last two Asics Nimbus iterations use Asics grip, which is very, very durable and the Nimbus is a very heel strikers friendly shoe.
Maybe it's just me but I found Mizuno's latest outsoles to be less durable than in thepast. Both my pairs of Wave Rider 27 and 28 showed signs of outsole wear before 400km, and before I could notice a drop in cushioning and response from the midsole.
I have not tried the new models yet, but owned a lot of Wave Riders (from 22 to 28, skipping the 26). To this day, the Wave Rider 25 is still one of the best pair of shoes I have ever run in (owned two pairs). The 27s were amazing as well, but I'm not thrilled about the 28s to the point I'm questioning whether buying the 29s when it will be time to get new daily trainers or not.
Saucony Tempus is often cited as the fastest shoe for overpronators. Worth checking V2 that I believe came out last year
I'm a long time Wave Rider fan, so I totally feel you coming back to the Inspire after trying other brands. Mizuno's quality is really, really hard to beat and, although slowly, I think they are doing a good job at making both models lighter than the past.
Edit: grammar
I currently have too many shoes and not enough time to run. So calling them a rotation is probably stretching the truth. Hoping to get back into heavier mileage in the next couple months when I will make use of the rotation more.
Long runs/recover: Puma MagMax
Daily/Tempo: Evo SL, Velocity Nitro 2 (about to retire at 400 miles), just ordered Neo Zen 1 on discount to replace VN2, still occasionally dust off some WaveRider 27s and Neo Vistas that are over 600 miles
Threshold/Intervals: Deviate Nitro 2 (about to retire at 420 miles), Brooks Hyperion Tempo (never really enjoyed them, likely to retire soon), Streakfly 2
Race: Metaspeed Sky (likely to retire soon) for 10K+, Streakfly 2 for 5k
I don't love the Streakfly 2s and actually think my Achilles troubles that started last summer might have been caused by them (or more accurately by me doing too much in them). Would like to maybe find some Adios for cheap to use for workouts and 5ks and some Deviate Nitro Elite 3s for 10k + races.
Wave Rider 27 - easy runs \[I must retire them, can you recommend something similar?\]
Boston 13 - speed work
Zegama 2 - long runs \[my long runs are on the trails\]
You’ll find that every brand’s wide sizes are wide in different places. Stores typically don’t carry a lot of wide sizes, so be prepared to order a bunch of shoes to try on and return most of them.
I have a duck-shaped foot (normal heel and midfoot, very wide forefoot), so I’ll give you what’s worked and not for me.
My rotation:
- Mizuno Wave Rider 2E - higher drop but specifically made with a normal heel and wide forefoot (I’ve been told I have a Mizuno-shaped foot).
- Topo Athletic Ultrafly Wide - I’m on my second pair. Love this shoe. Had to get it in a wide size since the midfoot runs a little narrow, but their regular width shoes are plenty wide in the toebox.
- Hoka Speedgoat 4 2E (half-size up) - My trail runners. Love them so much I bought 3 pairs. They got way narrower with subsequent generations so I don’t know what I’ll do in another 300 miles.
Saucony Peregrine wide - My other trail runners. Saucony used to make wide shoes for brick-shaped feet, but their newer shoes fit my duckfoot way better.
Shoes I returned:
- Altra everything - I am used to zero-drop shoes, so that didn’t bother me. But their rubber just goes dead two miles into my runs, and it felt like running barefoot. If you want wide toebox, Topo is a better run IMO
- Hoka Clifton - Not wide enough. Hoka has wide sizes, but the shoes run narrow so a 2E is more like a generous D. I occasionally run in 4E Bondis, but they’re a little too max-cushioned for me.
- On Cloud something - they have one 2E shoe but they run really narrow. Returned them instantly.
- Brooks Ghost - They got really narrow, even in a wide, which is a shame, because I wore out some Ghosts back in the day.
One more note:
- ASICS and New Balance make several models in wide sizes. Haven’t ran in them, but I appreciate having options.
Top Road Running Shoes on Reddit
1
ASICS
SUPERBLAST 2
71% positive of 805 users
Marathon workhorse, but loud and clunky at slow paces.
IacoMaic
