Article by Sam Winebaum
Atreyu Base Model v2
Atreyu shocked the running industry in early 2020 with a low cost, very light, high performance trainer The Base Model which had a simple effective design with no frills (but great looks) . Our testers, including me, loved the concept and ride (RTR Review) that was fun and surprisingly durable. They followed the Base Model in 2021 with The Artist (RTR Review), a $100 carbon plated super shoe. Full of spunk, passion, and careful attention to the essential details Atreyu is on the map!
I just received a pair of Base Model v2 for test. I planned on running them today but massive wildfires smoke here in Park City made that impossible so for now will give you my first impressions. I have them on foot and jogged a bit to get a feel for the new supercritical EVA midsole. First the details.
Stats
The weight is 5.87 oz / 164 g US8.5 so a US9 should come in about 6 oz or 170g. This is a slight weight of gain of 6g over V1 and is largely due to the inclusion of a TPU sockliner instead of the prior EVA. Michael Krajicek, Atreyu founder, tells me this choice was made to make the sockliner stay truer to form over miles and to add a little pep and resilience to the ride. The upper also has more overlays. Regardless this is super light for a shoe with a stack height of 25mm heel / 19 mm forefoot, 6mm drop which remain about the same but am confirming.
Midsole
The midsole is now a supercritical chemically modified EVA processed with CO2. You may immediately say wait that is how Skechers Hyperburst is processed but here it is a less bubble focused final midsole foam as Hyperburst is. The feel walking around and jogging a is closer to FuelCell as found in the New Balance RC Elite 2 and Rebel v2, so bouncy and energetic, as opposed to denser and springier as Hyper is. It is clearly more energetic than the Base Model v1's midsole was just walking around and jogging a bit and somewhat softer as well but not mushy.
Upper
The upper is now a thin very pliable mesh with the structure, which was somewhat lacking in v1 provided by external thin solid overlays which wrap the midfoot in a saddle and then extend lower down through the collars to rise up and wrap the rear. There is also an internal heel underlay and some suitably dense padding of the collars . As before there is no plastic heel counter.
The fit is very secure while at the same time light on the foot. I noted some difficulty pulling them on as while super thin and pliable the overlays do not stretch. A good thing as this is what provides the security from mid foot to rear. The fit remains true to size for me with the toe box soft mesh and very pliable toe bumper very comfortable and so far appearing to be secure. There is decent room for splay,
Outsole
Of course need to run them when the smoke goes away and this article will be updated with our testing results.
The Base Model V2 will release late September and be available for $85 by single purchase as Atreyu will be retiring their subscription model.
Update: I took them for a first run in wildfire smoky Park City and the ride and fit did not disappoint with a lively softish and energetic rebound and secure upper. In the video below I get into all the details and compare to Rebel v2, Razor 3, and Puma Liberate Nitro.
Tested samples were provided at no charge for review purposes. RoadTrail Run has affiliate partnerships and may earn commission on products purchased through affiliate links. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content
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1 comment:
How would you compare the sole to the ZoomX sole? More/less bounce ... more/less soft?
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