ZoomX Invincible Run Flyknit 2

I do all my running in Nikes. They have been good to me, especially the IR1,2, and 3’s.

If you're looking for a comfortable speedier shoe, I've been using the Nike ZoomX Invincible Run for over a year now - incredibly plush cushioning but still responsive enough for tempo days. The thick stack height gives you that bouncy feeling without the harshness of a plated shoe. Feels like running on pillows but doesn't totally sacrifice performance.

The Invincibles are great shoes for long, easy miles in my opinion. I have over 500k of them and they still hold up. Left upper is coming loose a bit from the foam, but they still feel great. However, I am thinking about with what shoe to replace them.

No experience with Evo Sl. Have 3 pairs of Feidan 5's love them that much. Very versatile and poppy. The only other shoe I stocked up on like this was the OG Nike Invincible for my easy/long/recovery runs FWIW.

Novablast 5 is a nice but lacks a rocker for faster paces. Glycerin Max has a very nice rocker, but indeed they are clunky and hence also suffer for performance. So far, my favorite shoes have been On Cloudeclipse and Nike Invincible (rip).

Superblast. I liked the invincibles too, despite their built quality being shitty.

I dont know what the trendy version is (if it's the throwback version, i think that's just colors). I'll lay out all the shoes I have/had so that the context and vocabulary maybe make more sense. I'm 49M, 185lbs, started running around 5 years ago, half marathon races usually between 2:05-2:15, my short run (under 6 mile) paces when actually trying to be quick-ish are between 8:00-9:30, best single mile was 7:00. I actually dont actually care much about pace, i tend to keep myself in z2/z3 (even in races I tend to do nose-breathing only until the last mile or two). Recent Max HR 184 (i think i got to 192 when actually trying a few months ago). Apple health says current vo2max 45 (i dont intentionally do vo2max sessions so i don't know what that might look like). 1- Adidas Evo SL: they make me fast, feel pretty firm but still comfortable, somewhat unstable but I'm not really afraid of twisting an ankle. When I'm done with next marathon, I'll do speed/pace in these. They really do make me faster, I'm surprised by the pace after the runs (i only look at the watch/data when I'm done, i dont manage HR or pace or anything, I just run how i feel). 2- Asics Superblast 2: firm, seem pretty quick. Haven't taken them super long distance but feel consistent throughout the run. I think these will be my main longer distance training and race shoe. 3- Asics Novablast 5: at first feel springy, on longer runs (half marathon and beyond) they seem a bit dead, and I think also past a few hundred miles they lose the snap. I had the 4's, I think the 4's might've actually felt better to me. They just felt fast and springy in the beginning, now I think not really so much. I might give these up, but also thinking whether the 4 was better for me. 4- Asics Gel Nimbus 27: (I also had the 25 and 26). These shoes seem to go forever, not springy but roll forward. Plenty of cushion, never seem to bottom out. I've done a few 20+ mile humid/hot slogs in these, they seem fine. Yes they're soft but I never feel like i'm losing stability. They do feel a little tall (high stack and pretty extreme rocker), I wouldn't want to turn lots of corners in them. I assume these are good for heel strikers. 5- Saucony Tempus: this has the least cushion of any of my shoes, they're stable, I wouldn't think to take them more than 10 miles. These are the most connected I feel to the ground, I mostly used them for hill repeats, fartleks, etc. They also breathe very well. 6- Saucony Ride \[edit: i think the 27\]: kind of like nimbus, feel like they go forever, but the fit is a little loose and the upper mesh gives a little too much for me, so on long runs i felt like my toes were gripping inside to avoid slipping. They're now a walking shoe for me, but the midsole (paint) looks chewed up so i deinitely would NOT buy colored sole version again, i probably wont buy again anyhow. \[edit: they dont roll forward like the gel nimbus, i assume much less rocker\] 7- Nike invincible (i think 1 & 2, or 2 & 3): felt like trampolines in the beginning, then after a few hundred miles were basically dead. Also had quality problems, i'm not going back to these. Shallow in the toe box, i got dead toenails from long runs despite feeling like a good fit with enough space up front. Not buying these anymore. 8- Asics Kayano (i think was the 30): the fit was terrible for me, the shoe felt like a slab of rubber/foam without any thought of actual running (the midsole might be similar material to gel nimbus but superflat for stability). These shoes felt like they're made for old people with wide feet who dont want to run.