Article by Sam Winebaum
Brooks Hyperion Max 2 ($180)
Introduction
Sam: The Hyperion Max 2 is the Brooks entry in the higher stack height, supercritical foam and flexible plate powered uptempo “super trainer horse” race, a very active category indeed we will compare options in at the end of the article.. V1 was a fairly traditional in construction and ride with a firmer DNA Flast foam and considerably lower stack height.
Here, Brooks boosts the stack height 4mm at the heel and 6mm at the forefoot using its new DNA Flash v2 foam (as in the Hyperion Elite 4). It now comes in at what I might call a mini max stack height of 36.25 mm heel / 30.25 mm forefoot. I see it competing with shoes such as the Endorphin Speed, Boston 12, and Mizuno Neo Vista among others, all shoes with similar stack height and a more flexible plate.
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Pros:
Versatile uptempo longer run focused daily trainer: Sam
Responsive quick returning and forgiving cushion: Sam
Linear, consistent directed ride: Sam
Guided rear and midfoot stability (and upper support), without overdoing it: Sam
Rolling, moderately plunging, and lively toe off, flexible Speedvault plate & Rapid Roll: Sam
Upper built for performance and security: Sam
Cons:
Slightly heavier than expected for stack height and materials at 9.25 oz / 262g US9: Sam
Snug midfoot hold may challenge broad feet: Sam
Most comparable shoes
Mizuno Neo Vista
Adidas Adizero Boston 12
ASICS Magic Speed 4
Stats
Approx, Weight: men's 9.25 oz / 262g US9
Sample Weight: men’s 9.03oz / 256g US8.5 (Prior Version men’s 7.32 oz / 206g US 8.5)
Stack Height: men’s 36.25 mm heel / 30.25 mm forefoot (6mm drop spec)
Prior Version Stack Height: 32 mm heel (measured) / 24 mm forefoot (spec 8mm drop)
Platform Width: 80 mm heel / 75 mm midfoot / 105 mm forefoot
First Impressions, Fit and Upper
Sam: A simple light gray main color with bright splashes of pink at the collars and orange on the midsole with black and orange pink highlights the Max 2 is a sharp looking shoe.
Tha high midsole sidewalls through the center of the shoe hint at a directed guided and stable ride on the medial side with the lateral side (below) stepped to allow for some give and indeed the Max 2 is notably linear and supported through the midfoot while the support does not impede forward motion as I often find in Brooks’ GTS Go To Support models.
The engineered upper’s mesh is densely woven with a touch of compressive stretch to make it very secure.
The stretch knit tongue is a yet more compressive made up of the tongue and rear angled gusset straps all one piece of the same material. On the inside of the upper there are knit-in bands of support of what feels like a less stretchier fiber than the main upper mesh
The midfoot lockdown is notable for its snug yet comfortable hold. In fact I ran a ways with an untied lace and didn’t even notice it. There is no need to lace this shoe tightly as I found out on my first run lacing them too tight at the last lace holes and getting some bite. The laces are the now more commonly seen in race and performance shoe, the ridged edge type
The heel counter is close to fully rigid. The collars are well and deeply padded with padding wrapping forward to lace up. Impeccable heel hold here.
The toe box is comfortable and given the slight stretch moderately broad.
Such somewhat stretchy compressive uppers some times interfere with my bunion but not so here although this is not likely a shoe for very broad feet. As with the midfoot inner slightly denser blue knitting reduce the stretch of the gray mesh and give some structure.
The toe bumper is stiff and vertical giving the toe box good structure and height without interfering or pressing on the toes.
The breathability has been adequate during my test runs in high humidity and warm temperatures.
The fit is true to size (US8.5) for my narrow to medium volume feet with unlike many shoes no difference in fit between my narrower right foot and wider left foot.
Midsole & Platform
The midsole foam moves from nitrogen infused DNA Flash to a new flavor with DNA Flash v2, the same foam used in Brooks’ newest Hyperion Elite v4. This foam is said to be “10% more responsive” and this clearly felt. The original Flash was quite firm with a very sharp short rebound sensation.
While clearly not a super soft, low density supercritical foam, the new foam is considerably more pleasant and has more rebound sensation while remaining stable and very consistent in feel. For sure the Max 2 has a far more comfortable protective and dynamic ride than Max 1 due to the new foam but also to more of it.
The Max 2 gains 4mm of cushion at the heel and 6mm at the forefoot moving to what I might call a mini max stack height of 36.25 mm heel / 30.25 mm forefoot. The platform width is a middle of the road 80 mm heel / 75 mm midfoot / 105 mm forefoot with the relatively narrow heel and midfoot not getting in the way of transitioning off the heel at any pace
Its plastic Speedvault plate is redesigned.
The combination of foam, plate, and end of the front rising midsole side walls give the Max 2 a snappy flex point quite far back, at the middle of the “Brooks” logo with in front of that the profile almost rigid, amplifying the rocker.
The overall rocker design is called “Rapid Roll” and I think it is apt, to a point: a long smooth roll, not race shoe explosive, sharp and “quick” but consistent and a plus in the mix with the new foam By not making the shoe rigid through the midfoot the Max 2 flex profile allows for the best of 2 worlds: an easy enough transition off the midfoot at slower paces and a decisive rocker off the front as the pace picks up.
I would add that the rising midsole side walls provided top of platform stability and what I would call arrow-like alignment in the path of travel. While similar in appearance to Brooks Guide Rails (GTS), and are even higher rising, these sidewalls guide but in no way are “felt” as are the more rigid firmer than midsole foam medial inserts are on Brooks GTS shoes.
And by stepping them down then up on the lateral side the sidewalls play far better, flow better for me with the foot in motion than GTS shoes do. A GTS version of the Max 2 is also available but I can see few actually needing it.
Bottom Line: The Max 2 has a midsole suitable to any distance or pace run with deep cushioning, a lively training energy feel, moderate and effective plate propulsion, and enough flexibility to accommodate almost all paces.
Outsole
The outsole has a conventional layout for a super trainer/ racing shoe with a large full coverage forefoot and 2 rear pads. Plenty of durable rubber here. Miles so far are to limited to comment on long term durability but generally Brooks durability is very good.
The pattern focuses on a smooth lay down and toe off and this is what I experienced.
The underside of the shoe highlights its at the ground stability yet smooth transitions with broad rear “rails” of foam, a deep decoupling and a weight savings central groove. The outsole is segmented with cut outs to increase the shoe flexibility while with its stepped type profile to increase traction. Traction on dry road and hard packed granite dust has been excellent.
Ride, Conclusions and Recommendations
Brooks in recent years had many trainers (Ghost and Glycerin come to mind) focused primarily on “step in feel” and comfort on foot rather than performance. On the other hand, prior Hyperion went completely the other way with firm quite harsh rides on more minimal stack heights than their competition.
Here Brooks delivers a high performance super trainer that is all business, has a modern foam supercritical foam with a pleasing feel and near max cushion height, a friendly effective plastic plate and an irreproachable secure if a bit heavy upper.
The Max 2 is a shoe for long miles at moderate to faster paces and is not ideal, but is usable, for “jogging” as the heel feels a bit blocky to me at slow slow paces (11:00 miles and slower), so it’s not the ideal recovery run shoe.
As the pace and distance picks up, the geometry and materials really come to life. The cushioning is energetic yet consistent, the sidewalls kept it notably aligned and stable in the direction of travel without forcing the support as Brooks GTS does. The toe off, aided by the Rapid Roll, well some roll if not super rapid while the somewhat flexible plastic SpeedVault plate kept things smooth and lively.
At 9.25 oz / 262g they are not the lightest in their class and I wish and I think they could be lighter and my only negative.
I see the Max 2 as a near ideal long, faster run and long tempo shoe, a solid and stable race option for the 3:30 and up marathoner. It is clearly also a pretty much ideal more max cushioned daily trainer if you want the cushion depth, a secure more performance focused upper and a stable neutral platform.
Sam’s Score: 9.3/10
Deductions for weight, at 8.5 oz US9 they would be in line with higher stack competitors. A lighter upper may be in order here.
😊😊😊1/2
5 Comparisons
Index to all RTR reviews: HERE
Brooks Hyperion Max 1 (RTR Review)
Sam: Plateless, at a considerably lower stack height (30/22) with the older firmer Flash v1 foam the Max 1 was to its credit 1.7 oz / 48g lighter. Even by 2023 standards it didn’t deserve to have “max” in its name, Max 2 does. And for those who miss that kind of ride and profile the Hyperion 2 (RTR Review) with its similar to Max 1 31.5 / mm heel / 23.5 mm forefoot and considerably lighter weight than the Max 1 and Max 2 becomes the more classic lower stack perfornace trainer in the Brooks line, sharing very much up to date Flash v2 with the Max 2
Brooks Ghost Max 2 (RTR Video Review)
Sam: Brooks' other big trainer is considerably plusher in fit and softer in ride. Higher in stack at 39mm heel / 33.5 forefoot it is 1.5 oz / 42g heavier. It is clearly the big stack, easy days, recovery runs and walking shoe option with lots of friendly cushion and comfort from Brooks while Max 2 is the performance option.
Mizuno Neo Vista (RTR Review)
Sam: Lighter in weight, considerably higher in stack the Neo Vista also has plate, in its case fiberglass reinforced plastic. Its ride is a little softer and it is easier to turn over at slower paces than the Brooks. While very stable its stretch knit upper is not as secure as the Max’s as the pace picks up. Overall, I find the Mizuno more versatile and pleasant to run but lags the well aligned and more decisively energetic Max as the pace picks. Both true to size with broader higher volume feet likely happier in the Neo Vista stretch knit upper.
ASICS Magic Speed 4 (RTR Review)
Sam: As with the Neo Vista the Magic Speed 4 is considerably higher stacked than the Max at 42.5 mm heel / 34.5mm forefoot and weighs almost 1 oz less at 8.13 oz / 230g US 8.5, a weight for such a big stack height that better puts it in better contention as a long race shoe than the Brooks. Both are reasonably priced for state of the art plated trainers ($170 ASICS, $180 Brooks). The higher forefoot stack and carbon vs. plastic plate of the Magic Speed 4 make it a stiffer firmer shoe upfront but a more responsive one. For training purposes the Brooks has a wider range of paces, is slightly more stable and is more pleasant to run and roll through given its non totally rigid plate but not quite as decisive. Both fits are true to size for me with the Magic Speed 4 toe tox lower volume than the Brooks.
Adizero Boston 12 (RTR Review)
Sam: All the things I say about the Magic Speed 4, I can repeat in a comparison to the Boston 12 although the Boston 12 is closer in stack height to the Max 2 and has some front snappy flexibility, as does the Max 2, which the ASICS lacks being a rigid carbon to the Boston's somewhat flexible Energy Rods.
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Tester Profile
Sam is the Editor and Founder of Road Trail Run. He is in his 60’s with 2024 Sam’s 52th year of running roads and trails. He has a decades old 2:28 marathon PR. These days he runs halves in the just sub 1:40 range if he gets very, very lucky. Sam trains 30-40 miles per week mostly at moderate paces on the roads and trails of New Hampshire and Utah be it on the run, hiking or on nordic skis. He is 5’9” tall and weighs about 164 lbs, if he is not enjoying too many fine New England IPA’s.
Tester Profile
Sam is the Editor and Founder of Road Trail Run. He is in his 60’s with 2024 Sam’s 52th year of running roads and trails. He has a decades old 2:28 marathon PR. These days he runs halves in the just sub 1:40 range if he gets very, very lucky. Sam trains 30-40 miles per week mostly at moderate paces on the roads and trails of New Hampshire and Utah be it on the run, hiking or on nordic skis. He is 5’9” tall and weighs about 164 lbs, if he is not enjoying too many fine New England IPA’s
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