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Road Trail Run Team' Discuss their Favorite 1st Half of 2025 Running Shoes: 14 Shoes and More!
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Jun 28, 2025
Six RTR Contributors share and discuss their favorite road and trail shoes of 2025.. so far. 00:00 Introductions 07:50, Sam: Norda 005, Adizero Adios Pro EVO 2, 14:28 Adam: Pulsar 4, Nike Streakfly 2, Brooks Glycerin Max, 21:20 Courtney: ASICS Gel-Cumulus 27, Adidas adios pro 4, Nike Vaporfly 4, SC Elite v5, 30:00 Jeff:: Norda 005, Normal Kjerag Brut, VJ Ultra 3, La Sportiva Prodigio Pro, Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 4, 42:40 Kurt: Salomon S/Lab Genesis, 47:10 Beto: Puma Forever Run 2, Nike Vaporfly 4, Unpause Halley Link to all RoadTrailRun reviews including most here: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/p/blog-page.html Most shoes discussed provided at no cost by brands for review SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales RTR receives a commission for purchases made through these links which helps support our channel and site.
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:08
please join us here in this recording of a fun hour some of us on the RTR team had discussing our favorite shoes of
0:16
2025 so far here's the list of the shoes we're going to cover today and you'll
0:22
find timestamp links to each contributor in the description uh this is obviously
0:28
not an exhaustive list of all the shoes we've tested it's the six of us who got together we're about 30 35 uh so we'll
0:36
probably try to do another one of these sessions okay so welcome everybody we're going to um
0:44
maybe make this a regular event i'm Sam from Road Trail Run we're going to be talking shoes what we're experiencing
0:50
i'm going to turn it over to Kurt in Belgium who's going to be our master of ceremonies and um each of us will
0:58
introduce ourselves go ahead Kurt thank you Sam for the uh for the introduction
1:03
so as Sam mentioned uh the goal is to uh have a quick round table uh and to uh
1:09
let our reviewers contributors uh yeah stand out or or or discuss about their
1:15
uh the shoe they loved in the first half of uh 2025 but before we start I think
1:20
uh Sam it's good to do a small round table uh who are you Where are you from What type of runner are you What type of
1:28
runningings do you like Quick introduction let's start with you uh Sam
1:33
okay well uh Sam um and I've been running uh I I just calculated 52 years
1:40
and I still love it um I do both road and trail i'm a little bit cautious on
1:45
the trails these days by age and an accident a little while ago in 23 but
1:52
I'm back um and uh I live on the coast of New Hampshire but we get to the mountains and the hills frequently um so
2:00
I split about half of my running road half trail with the trails more on the
2:05
moderate side most of the time also like to hike and trek so here we go perfect
2:12
perfect jeff your turn
2:17
i'm Jeff Valier i've been uh reviewing for Road Trail Run for around 10 years
2:22
now um I'm from New Hampshire originally but didn't know Sam back then but now I
2:29
live in uh Colorado near Boulder um mostly trail running for me um steep
2:37
steeper the better steeper more technical high mountains the foothills i run I
2:44
don't know 6 or 700,000 vertical feet a year i kind of don't track in miles just
2:50
uh vertical um I dabble in a little bit of road running um local 10k Boulder
2:57
Boulder every year um things like that but yeah technical trail running's my
3:04
focus um I race not too often but oftentimes the uh usually the Pikes Peak
3:11
Marathon is my main race some other little local trail races when I can but
3:17
um it's mostly just uh pushing putting together my own like um PR attempts for
3:25
you know local FKTs on different peaks and Straa segments and
3:30
things like that less and less as I get older i'm 53 now but um still try to
3:36
throw down with the younger guys so chasing comps yeah we are almost the
3:41
same age Jeff we won't give up okay nice nice nice
3:48
courtney tell us a little bit more about yourself please yeah I'm Courtney Kelly
3:54
um I am from Massachusetts so not far from Sam um I've been a runner for a
4:02
long time um I was a college lacrosse player and so kind of found running
4:08
through that and as I graduated I wanted to keep up my athleticism so um I really
4:16
became more competitive uh more recently I joined a club locally um and have just
4:24
been road racing a lot in the past I would say five years have really picked
4:30
it up a bit more so I'm 38 so kind of falling into this a little later um but
4:36
it's been really fun and I I just love shoes
4:42
still ages of time to pick up the miles Courtney if you look around you yeah
4:48
nice nice nice thank you adam let's uh please introduce yourself hey
4:54
guys so I'm Adam Glick uh I'm also originally from New Hampshire and I was
5:00
uh formerly I' I'd say a semi-professional cross-country skier so loved all my V2 max and endurance
5:05
workouts all of the hills i did a lot of mountain running and trail running in the White Mountains of New Hampshire um
5:12
and since then I now work as a mechanical engineer which is part of where my uh my love of shoes comes from
5:19
and the technology that goes into them especially with the the fun foams and plates and latest iterations in technology um but I currently am based
5:27
in San Francisco California and I do a lot of trail running on both the local
5:32
trails here and then up on some of the more mountain trails in Tahoe and Mammoth and then um I travel a decent
5:38
bit for my work so I'll I'll throw in some good trails in Hong Kong or wherever else I end up so I say
5:43
primarily trail and ultra trail but I also love uh if I'm running on road or
5:49
track which I also enjoy I'll be doing it fast so I like to testing fast super shoes and fun trail shoes all around
5:57
nice nice nice and a nice city running in Hong Kong whoa all right nice uh
6:04
quickly introduce myself um I think I'm a really rookie here in the in the room
6:10
let's say I started I met some uh Yeah almost one year ago now some in in
6:16
Shamani by coincidence when some was changing trains in Vorim and I just finished the TMB uh run or I hiked it
6:25
with my family and I run it a couple of months before um yeah and then things uh
6:31
went very fast and look now I'm a I'm a reviewer at an a big American uh gear
6:37
and and running website which is which is really nice i'm just an average runner yeah that's what I also told to
6:43
Sam in the beginning i said I'm not a top athlete but I'm a passionate uh uh runner my background lies in
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long-distance triathlon so did some iron men's a long time ago and now uh mostly
6:57
I run uh on roads because I'm forced to unfortunately we don't have the nature
7:02
that some of you have uh in your place but uh yeah I try to hit the trails when
7:07
I go to the south of Belgium i live in Belgium um and yeah on the regular times I uh go to uh outside of Belgium to
7:15
other countries to to run a UTMB race or a nice hike in the Lake District in the
7:20
UK and I'm 52 years old so uh still have time enough to test shoes and uh get
7:26
some miles uh in I would say voila nice thank you for the introduction uh let's
7:33
uh head over to the to the to the real stuff shoes uh son what is your uh let's
7:39
call it top shoe that uh you you if you think about a shoe in the for the early uh first part of 2026 Yeah what is the
7:47
shoe that stands out for you Okay i'm going to um go off script as I
7:53
usually do and focus on two shoes that um kind of share um do share similar uh
8:03
foam technologies uh we've got the Norda O5
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and the um Adidas Evo
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um the Adid Adidos Pro Evo 2 so when I say they share foam technologies um the
8:21
best of my knowledge they both have um foams that are um not compressed they're
8:27
they're molded as is and what comes out is what you get usually there's um a
8:33
smaller uh element and then there's compression um this shoe I mean I
8:40
haven't raced it yet but I've I've wound it up weighs over an ounce over 30 grams
8:46
lighter than any other super shoe that's a full stack height the sensation of
8:52
lightness on foot is just remarkable and the turnover is as well of course it
8:57
comes at a price $500 which you know is way up there the normal is this the max
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stack height that is allowed by uh athletics 40 49 40 maximum heel um is
9:13
that's what's allowed by world athletics for you know elite competitions um
9:18
what's the weight in your size The weight in my size and I made some notes
9:23
is uh 4.75 ounces in a um oh my in a US yeah US uh
9:32
8.5 so and then over here and that's because
9:38
of the foam right And of course this incredible upper but the foam right Okay then the other one is the Nord O5 and it
9:46
too if you will for its stack height takes the prize for lightweight
9:53
um but it's it gets there a little bit differently maybe um the foam is what's
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um is not as kind of airy but it's still very soft very responsive it's uh
10:05
something called AR Arnotel 100% Arnitel TPE we're not too sure what the Adidas
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has and it has a very special new uh VBR elite um outsole um the upper is daineea
10:22
which is a very very strong uh fiber that's said to be 15 times stronger than
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steel at its weight so this is a very comfortable wide toe box shoe um that
10:34
you I I've done everything in it everything from more technical trails to road running um it two for its its
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lightweight about 8 ounces uh 8 ounces yeah I think about 8 ounces or uh
10:52
228 gram comes at a price which is light y $325
10:58
so these are pinn both both pinnacle shoes if you will in terms of technology
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for road and trail and then I'll give one more shout out here to a shoe that's
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not light that I'm very much enjoying this is coming um soon i think uh
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probably July this is the Sportiva Prodigio Max so a lot of us know the
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Prodigio Pro great shoe wider platform 3 mm more stack softer core of ETP foam
11:33
with the outer carrier also super critical wide toe box this it's 10.5 oz
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which is uh 298 g so it's not light but an incredibly
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versatile shoe with a very energetic ride and great grip it's kind of the one
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shoe if you were going to go for a month and do a bit of everything hiking running um uh some racing you would take
12:01
I'm going to take along to Europe uh unusual upper the mesh the Projo has
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kind of a gridlike TPU coated um here it's it's a I think a TPE but what's
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unusual is the embroidery you I don't know if you can
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see it the embro even even in below the toe bumper and that provides the
12:25
structure and support to the shoe and you can see on both sides the medial
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side has more embroidery it actually has a double can't it'll be hard to see a double gusset to the tongue and the
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lacing um not the most breathable shoe but it's a tank that moves fast i just
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posted the review and Jeff's going to and some of the others are going to get pairs soon so those are is it then
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comparable for not comparable What is the difference with the pro version The pro version is more distance and the
12:56
maxi them for the real ultra distances uh the pro I should have brought one up the pro is a narrower platform 3 mm
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lower stack height um and it especially the pro has an not this kind of
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conventional collar it's a knit with a kind of debris collar not as much quite as much support as here this one really
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you know more conventional the other one's more for shorter distances for me
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anyway smoother terrain neither has a plate okay neither has a plate and I
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think that's a good lesson i I expect that a lot of the elites will be uh
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moving away from plates especially if it's technical if they can get the the
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full effect of the foam and the stability because there's plenty of propulsion in the Norda for example also
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no plate so okay well that that's my three for nice shoes nice shoes
13:54
expensive collection but nice shoes okay
14:01
jeff can you elaborate on your uh top picks of uh the first part of 200 2025
14:07
Sorry um could somebody go ahead of me It's We're about to get a storm here so I'm
14:13
battening down the hatches outside i'll go next do you mind if I Oh sorry
14:18
do you mind if I jump in I may have to drop it uh at once so if I can go ahead Adam go ahead okay so are we doing one
14:25
shoe or are we following As many as you want as many as many as you want okay i'll I'll shout out uh two two shoes
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here and and a little bit of a comment so the first shoe I wanted to mention I know Sam's been testing this as well is
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the uh Solomon SLA Pulsar 4 as a trail shoe so for me I think I think two
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things Sam has said one is I do not think that all trail terrain is the same and a Sam has it amazing uh and
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different there's different qualities I look for in a trail shoe but for me I feel like I've seen a lot of plated
14:58
trail shoes and some of that has been effective for me when it's a smoother flowing trail but in that case I'll
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often wear road shoes i've raced 50ks in the uh Sakin uh Endorphin Speed Series
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because there's enough flex in that plate to be able to handle some terrain and you get a very light and efficient cushion shoe so for me what I've been
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looking for in a trail shoe side is what can I use on terrain that has some technicality where I don't necessarily
15:23
want a rocker like guiding me through stride and technical terrain but I do want the propulsion of an efficient foam
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similarly I sometimes am not a huge fan of super soft foams because like I'm a I'm a slightly heavier stronger runner
15:37
i'm a little over 200 lb and six feet tall so on really soft shoes sometimes I feel like I'm just squishing the foam
15:43
and losing a lot of energy so I will often look for a foam that's very responsive and what I found here is
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Solomon made a a trail shoe that has the upper and design of their lightest
15:53
weight racing shoes like there's no extra support or stability but it's a very precise upper and Solomon actually
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made a shoe like this a couple years ago the original SLABS Sense Ultra in like 2017 or 2018 i love that shoe because it
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was just their super light racer but with a little bit of stack height and protection added so it was still low enough stack that you could have precise
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foot placement that it was really light and it was very aggressive but it had enough cushion to enable you to go
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longer distances so for me I really enjoyed the shoe because they have a layer of uh I think it's peebba foam
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some very energetic super foam on the top layer and then a bottom layer that's a little bit firmer and adds some more
16:31
stability so I have found that yeah the the red layer here is the super foam and then the white layer is the the more
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stable denser foam so what I found is uh it's a really light and precise shoe
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that runs just like a racing shoe uh but it has enough stack height and enough cushion that uh you can take it on on
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jumping onto rocks roots very technical terrain and yet like if you find like a road section in between that cushioning
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is efficient enough it it feels like it absorbs the vibration and rebounds like the more force you put into it the faster it will go so like I've ran sub
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seven pace on trails sub six on descents and it flies and yet is still really
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precise so I think for me it will probably be my go-to short distance or
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generally just fun racing and trail shoe um but I'm I'm excited to see more super
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foams come to the trails with enough density that they aren't squishy and uncontrolled paired with good uppers so
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that nora sounds like a lot of fun i think in similar veins unplated shoes but that use the best of upper
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technology and foam technology is like what I think will be really effective in trails going forward uh the two other
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shoes I wanted to shout out quickly one is the um Brooks Glycerin Max and I did
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not think I would like this shoe because it's not the latest and most innovative foam it's not very light and it isn't
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like a plated trainer it's just a a slightly like a super high stack height
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um like very cushy shoe and initially I was like this is really comfortable to walk around in and to wear like it just
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feels plush um but I think similarly it has a little bit of a rocker from the
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shape of the sole actually I'm let's see I'm wearing these today um and it also
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has as a result of that um like it'll gently rock you through a stride and it's a firmer foam with quite a bit of
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rebound so I found just as like an average shoe to walk around in but then to start running in at everything other
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than really fast paces I found it to be responsive and incredibly comfortable so just in I'm sore easy day even going
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into long run it's still efficient enough that I really enjoy running in it um and then I'll quickly shout out a
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third shoe that I I have only test ran a few times because my calves can't handle more than that which is the Nike Street
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Fly 2 uh which is shockingly light like I took out the cardboard insert from the
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shoe and I think that was half the weight of it uh it is uh basically I
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think it's built on the the last of the Dragonfly track spike just without the spikes in it um and I have found that it
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is it like you cannot heel strike in the shoe it almost looks like it has a negative drop and yet if you're up on
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your toes you're running quickly and efficiently you notice the lack of weight and the responsiveness to a
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degree even over something like a Vaporfly that might feel like sloppy around the corners of a track or under hard acceleration so for me I think it's
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a very purpose-built shoe and I would I'm not sure I would necessarily choose it over something like a a Meta Speed SP
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Sky for a 5K because uh I'm not sure my calves could take purely foroot running for 5K but in terms of a shoe for 400s
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800s miles like it's it's very fast and I'm like I've ran some PRs and shorter
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distances in it and I expect if I were racing a mile it's the shoe I'd pick up today so three very different shoes and
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personalities and I will I will yield the floor back to our other shoe fans
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nice nice nice nice in the meantime we also welcome Hberto who is uh trying to
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join so already welcome Berto thank you Adam uh really nice shoes one question
20:10
on the glycerin max uh any idea of stack height is since you say it's a max cushioned is it also around I can look
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it up it it may it may be actually uh let me check it's comparable with the
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Skyward X from Hoka which is then plated i think it's 46
20:29
4640 I think yeah it's an illegal shoe so I don't think you can race in it yeah
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it's It's very tall very plush yeah but indeed I guess also a little bit more
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heavier so like the Skyward X so not a real racing shoe of course yeah i I would say the difference between it and
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the Skyward for me is I I haven't had the chance to test the Skyward but it's not quite it it has sort of a gentle rocker from the structure of the shoe
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but for me I appreciate it as a shoe that was just comfortable to walk around and and stand in for long periods of
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time yet it still runs quite well um like it's not a racing shoe or a tempo shoe but if you if you want to turn it
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up or like not feel like you're dragging a heavy and unresponsive shoe for a long run it feels quite nice yeah nice nice
21:13
nice thank you for uh your contribution uh Adam Courtney are you ready
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Sure take the floor so the thanks uh the first shoe I wanted to
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talk about is the AS6 gel cumulus 27 um as a daily trainer I just found that
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uh it was just a great shoe all around um I could really be versatile with
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speed with it um and it was just very comfortable and it
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was a nice refreshing shoe from the Max Stock that I had been running in um and
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I know Sam you ran in it as well right Yes uh yeah um
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did you know is somebody Well you know my my feeling is my feeling is it's it's
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stable it's reliable but it's EVA i'm done with EVA Courtney
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but it's a good shoe yeah um it I guess price quality will be
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a top a topic go ahead yeah yeah um I don't know for me it was just had a
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really nice flexible forefoot um and I was coming back from an injury so that
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was I feel like it like healed my injury as I was running in it so that was a
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saver for me this spring um and the same for me Courtney i was hurt too when I
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ran in it and it was it was what I reached for when I had my knee yes so
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yep um and it's you know it's on its 27th iteration so there's got to be something
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good there right Um and so the next one I wanted to talk about was the I'm sure
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all of you agree the Adios uh Pro 4 um
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and I actually I got this shoe um back in I bought it myself um back in
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December and I was hoping to run um four mile race in it and I actually ordered
23:25
the wrong size so I ran the race a size too large um
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and I ended up returning it luckily they were sent me the size down and after I
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got the right size it was um just super responsive super bouncy um just really
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able to hit those 5K 10K pieces with no problem at all i don't know if I
23:52
would take it to the marathon um it's a little it's aggressive um but I don't
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know if I would trust it for that distance um I have the same uh I have the same
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feeling for that uh Courtney I also have the shoe i also tested it perfect for a
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10k i think wouldn't go for the marathon i'm also a little bit heavier
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not although it has a wide platform didn't give me the stability for a for a
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multi-our let's call it run it's good for a 40 minute 50 minute run but more
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can be tough how does everybody feel about the new um SC Fuel Cell SE Elite
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V5 in terms of stability or and performance
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I really Go ahead Courtney courtney you go first uh I think it's very stable um I did
24:51
have like some weird ankle twist kind of or almost rolled my ankle on a run but I
24:58
feel like that was just something else that was going on so it doesn't really it wasn't representative of the shoe i
25:05
think that it's a super stable heel platform
25:10
oh yeah there it is um and the only thing that was I think it's
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a standout shoe the upper is amazing the only part that is holding me back is the
25:23
forefoot where I feel like I just wasn't rolling through um in quite the same way
25:30
as some of the other um race shoes right now out there so
25:36
that's kind of where I stand with it i I don't I think it's a great training shoe i just don't know if I would take it to
25:42
races i agree with you Courtney i feel the same way kind of flat i think the
25:48
plate is the plate at midfoot is too high you know it gives the rear
25:53
stability but it's so high at midfoot that there's no roll into the softer foam up front it's delayed or you got to
26:01
be bouncing straight up and down sort of to make it work what about you Kurt I I
26:07
ran in them uh yesterday for the first time because I was uh facing some uh early chin splint uh injury but not uh
26:16
it didn't come true so uh I just to be careful so yesterday first a little bit did some interval strides really big up
26:24
tempo going to the four four minutes per kilometer and like you say some I think you need to when you hit the ground you
26:31
immediately have to push push away you only minimal ground contact yeah and then I think for me it g me a lot of
26:39
energy i would take this shoe to a marathon again I only did one run in it
26:45
so I cannot really compare it was only a 10k um but it gave me much more
26:50
stability than compared to the to the Adidas Addios courtney rather pick this one courtney
26:58
do you have another shoe I do my final shoe is the uh Nike Vaporfly 4 i love
27:06
this shoe um I just raced a 5K in it um
27:12
after racing in it I am a little bit edging toward it being a training shoe
27:19
rather than a racer um and the reason why is uh especially like a longer
27:26
distance like I have a 10K on Sunday and I will not run in that because my arch
27:32
gets irritated i think there's just less um through that midfoot i have a bit of
27:39
like pronation a little over pronator um so I just have to be careful with that
27:44
kind of thing and um the Pro 4 is actually similar where the arch that cut
27:50
out and kind of collap you know I collapse in a little bit more there so
27:56
it's really narrow under shoes it's It's narrow um I think it's about as narrow
28:02
as the Elite Five but it I I hear what you're saying there's not much there and
28:07
just for context of of uh viewers what what kind of time were you running for a
28:13
5K in in them Um so I averaged 611 which
28:19
was a bit slower than what I was hoping for i was for like six even or even
28:25
under so and for the international And for the international crowd what was
28:30
your time Oh uh 1924 I think excellent
28:38
and my PR is 1822 so okay we're a little little bit off but the season of
28:44
recovery over here okay um so Oh go ahead yeah go ahead oh
28:50
go ahead i'm sorry i was just going to say one more thing about the Vaporfly um I just again it's one of those shoes
28:57
where it seems to be the trend for me this season where like I'm wanting things that are a little bit lower stack
29:03
and like a little bit more ground feel and so the Vaporfly for they've you know
29:09
put a little less foam in there and it just feels very agile um
29:15
and I can hit those top speeds really easily it's so light
29:22
nice nice nice shoe i I read a lot about it i didn't run it myself but I read a lot about it on on the internet of
29:28
course but apparently it runs completely different from the the version three
29:33
can you compare it with the version three Courtney or no experience in the version three I actually skipped version
29:40
three i had only run in version two because I had heard that version three was maybe not quite the shoe that I
29:48
would like so yeah okay okay perfect all right thank you very much thank you very
29:53
much jeff is the storm gone Everything is secured outside or uh do you still
29:59
need to uh Um I got things closed down and brought in just in time we got a
30:04
pretty severe hail storm here but luckily it was only like marble to feet
30:10
to marble size so I think we're okay but the thunder in the distance it just doesn't let up it's crazy there's a cold
30:16
front coming through so um things can get a little crazy here on the front
30:22
range of Colorado yeah rapid changes so but yeah I've got a few shoes in mind um
30:30
I'll agree with Sam on the Nord 005 that's one of my favorites for the
30:35
spring um it's just it's so incredibly light and the foam is so responsive
30:43
everything that Sam said I'll back him up on that um my only complaint it's
30:50
minor but the outsole um you know it's Vebram Mega Grip but um
30:56
I think the lug pattern is a little spaced out kind of light for uh at least
31:02
the more technical trails it's good on kind of rolling buffed out trails but when it gets steep and technical um y
31:09
I'd love to see a little bit more of an aggressive lug pattern there um but yeah
31:15
that's uh one of my front runners thus far this year um another one is the VJ
31:22
Ultra 3 which is um hard to see here with the background filter but um
31:30
the VJ nice green color yeah the VJ has been uh one of my favorite brands for a
31:36
while they really focus on uh you know off-road capabilities and grip you know
31:42
they say best grip on the planet and they're not kidding about that um I think it's even a step up from Lep
31:48
Sportivo which is certainly near the top for most people um the Ultra 3 I think
31:55
strikes a amazing balance between um lightweight um technical abilities and enough
32:03
cushion to go ultra distance um I think for me you know maybe 50 miles would be
32:10
appropriate but um you know some might find it better you know be able to go
32:16
longer than that um but yeah there's just plenty of cushion it's it's super
32:21
fast super responsive it's not quite as light as the Nord5 but um I think it's a better like just
32:29
allound varied trail shoe for the mountains and tough terrain um more versatile i think it can
32:36
just um go just about as fast on you know with more protection and traction i
32:43
think it's you know faster on a wider variety of terrain than the price tech
32:48
uh Jeff that shoe um I'd have to double check i don't
32:53
recall um I think it's under $200 though
33:00
still quite high at the end yeah i mean but it's still a fraction of the Norda i
33:07
mean I think the Nord is worth it if it's within your budget but uh let's see
33:14
$190 or it was $190 yep 190 yeah and the stack height is big
33:23
3830 so that's um yes that's comparable to
33:28
the um to this to the um this lopportiva
33:34
but as Jeff says it's it's about point uh 08 ounces or 20 or plus grams lighter
33:44
lighter yeah okay nice okay yeah so that's uh one of my top
33:49
ones for um you know going fast it it's a little bit tall for like the most
33:54
technical terrain but um it still does pretty well and um even you know just
34:04
something more than moderate technical terrain you can go just full speed through it you know um so yeah that
34:10
one's one of my favorites just so much cushion protection they're fast they're light and the foothold you know it's um
34:18
it's forgiving it's not like ultra constricted and super racelike but it still has amazing foot hold so it's kind
34:25
of got a generous foot with foot foot shape with great foot hold so they
34:31
strike a really nice balance there even better than Toppo I think um
34:36
another one the normal Kurag Brute this one um it's a great shoe it's light it's
34:42
got a good um good midsole not a ton of protection but this is for like shorter
34:49
faster more technical runs but the big story here is the lugs they're like I think
34:55
they're six and a half millimeters so they're super aggressive if I'm going
35:00
to go shoot for a uh you know PR on a route that um is up and down and I know
35:07
the down's going to require traction and be like loose footing this is my shoe
35:13
here um you know it's Vibbra Mega Grip so it's got a really sticky rubber
35:18
compound but just those lugs are so toothy and massive they I I have no
35:24
hesitation and I also broke my back three months ago so I'm a little um
35:29
hesitant on the downhills more than normal um but I kind of forget about that when I'm with running in these i'm
35:36
like "All right I'm good." You know So Jeff if you say the downhill technical terrain is that still rocky underground
35:45
or is it more muddy or or or wet rocks or I have some trails around here that
35:52
are kind of like not really official trails on the map they're like routes
35:57
through the woods where it's um kind of social they call them yeah social trails
36:03
that are getting really social lately you know with Strava everybody follows and I see strangers out there that I
36:09
don't even know on my own little you know shortcuts and routes but um yeah I do those fast usually and uh they're
36:17
quite steep you know 25 30% gradient and um so yeah traction traction is really
36:25
critical for me on those especially when going quick and it was actually the Norda that I was wearing when I actually
36:31
broke my back so I haven't run in these since there's something it's just total
36:37
coincidence two years ago I fell wearing the Norda i think it was the 000
36:44
two and really banged up my knee so I don't know what it is about Norda i got some bad luck there but not your lucky
36:50
brand i I really like them though yeah I got to get back on the horse with the Norda but it's not the fault of the shoe
36:57
i was on on some ice and um I should have put on metal traction some spikes
37:03
but they were safely stored in my pack so those weren't injured
37:09
um I guess a fourth mention would be the Predigio Pro um it's just a really um
37:18
great all-around shoe they're not the best going really fast in techn
37:23
technical terrain they're a little bit u little bit tall kind of tippy but um
37:29
it's manageable um but I just love the uh really responsive midsole it's uh got
37:36
a good stack height really good for long distances um amazing traction that's
37:43
another huge plus to these lessportivas it's got really um an aggressive lug
37:49
pattern it's not nearly as deep a lugs as the um the normal Kurag Brute but um
37:58
you know it's not too far off they still no traction issues in these no matter like how loose steep and technical it
38:05
may be and Jeff we can you can see the difference between the um the wider
38:11
platform of the Max and it's also full rubber there's no there's there's rubber
38:16
all the way and it's dual density a dual kind of rubber durable heel sticky front
38:22
i think the sticky is probably the same as what you have mhm so this is a this this is definitely a more stable shoe
38:28
not as fast but stable and I have the Pulsar 4 here um all the
38:35
things that Adam said I won't reiterate i'm not um as big or powerful as a
38:41
runner as Adam um 145 lbs but um I've really been enjoying this shoe lately
38:46
too it's not the lightest out there um but it's a really good just kind of allound
38:53
fast trail running shoe um great cushion great flexibility but yet great
38:59
protection as well under foot uh my only complaint would be the lugs they're kind
39:05
of shallow and the compound is not nearly as sticky as what I would hope
39:10
like comparing to Sportiva or the normals but um you know outside of wet
39:16
terrain or the loosest terrain um these it does pretty well but yeah that's another favorite on the trail side so
39:24
sorry that was five but I can I can tell that trails um yeah I
39:33
would say I know I know previously Solomon has done soft ground versions of their of their Pulsaro sense like super
39:38
light racing shoes and I I know they went away with that with the third generation but I'm wondering like even with normal with the Kurag and Kira
39:45
Brute is there a place for giving runners the option of like a slightly heavier but grippier more aggressive
39:51
outsole for soft ground or ice or snow conditions or like a lighter faster like if your running is in all you probably
39:57
don't need those lugs and the extra weight is a real limitation so I I do wonder if it's good for brands to offer
40:04
that choice i'd love a soft ground option if they could just slap a outsole
40:09
from the Kurag Brute that would be a dream shoe so but there's a Kag Brute
40:14
which is has that outsole and is a lot lighter so I think they went down in in
40:20
outsole from uh four to three and a half for the four so maybe
40:26
might consider going back up a bit that would add to weight because rubber is the heaviest thing in a shoe i would
40:32
just add I'm guessing that Yeah for me this shoe I ran up Mount Washington in
40:39
it on on Saturday it was fantastic and we had to run down because the race was called at halfway so for me this shoe
40:47
combines kind of the heel area if you will stability of an Ultra shoe and the
40:55
cushioning also with the agility of a kind of do any kind of technical trail
41:02
front of the shoe traction aside it's kind of really interesting you can see
41:07
the wing here the the um the the the uh stability active chassis this is a very
41:14
stable uh rear of the shoe but we've got all this agility and the nice upper
41:20
that's precise it holds you well but very comfortable it's really a superb upper i That's a big highlight for me
41:27
the upper one thing I'll say about the upper I don't know if you've found this to be the case it feels pretty tall here
41:34
and like I think it's taking me a little bit of breakin period i've only have
41:40
um two runs in them so far but and they are starting to break in but it feels a
41:45
little bit tall and stiff here up at the top yeah the tongue is is very very it's
41:51
not firm but it it's high and quite substantial and then of course you've got the wing there that may contribute
41:58
to that potentially everything's pretty high you're right it's very high i think it's taken a little bit of breaking you
42:05
know it is very substantial but you know on the plus side it does really hold your foot in really well it's very
42:11
secure so um I do like that
42:16
nice nice nice shoe also from looking the red color uh flashy yeah honestly
42:23
they scream business when you're out there on the trail you better be on top of your game no posers with that shoe
42:31
yeah yeah nice i will add mine i look a little bit at the time so I will only uh elaborate
42:38
on on one shoe and uh may I call it the big brother of uh the pulsar ah
42:45
is the Genesis Slap um I used it in my UTMBB race in Tenner which is a very
42:53
specific uh trail one uh the the the surface is lava stone so it's quite
43:00
sharp and and very small rocks let's say it's not rock it's really small stones
43:06
let's say so it's a very specific um terrain and secondly the trail was um
43:13
it was quite easy it's uh 40 or 30 kilometers up and 40 down yeah but not
43:20
like this it's just 30 up and 40 down so this means at one point you're running
43:25
40 kilometers in one stretch downhill which is kind of specific let's say in
43:33
in terms of shoe decision so of course I consulted some to uh to ask his advice
43:40
on what type of shoe should I take i take I took the Genesis Y um very light
43:46
265 grams for a US 10 Euro44 size which
43:52
is quite quite uh big um I like the kind of the sock which is uh which is uh uh
44:00
which they put inside the gator yeah which was for me important to not get the little rocks into the shoe during
44:07
the during the race um I like the upper it's a very breathable upper and I also
44:13
used it three weeks ago in a even more extreme trail run that we did in the UK
44:19
in the Lake District which was uh 50 kilometers but 4,000 uh meters of
44:25
elevation which is half the Everest in in 50 kilometers which is quite uh quite
44:30
uh heavy um and we had really tough weather the weather was apocalyptic uh
44:36
rain from yeah minute one till uh after 12 hours and the shoe performed really
44:42
well because of the upper in my opinion the upper is very light very breathable so after 1 minute my feet were soaking
44:50
wet but I didn't have any blister or any little friction in my foot and I think
44:56
it's due to the upper and the the sock that is uh really put uh put inside and
45:02
the last thing that I uh that I like or no maybe two is the the enforcement here uh on the
45:09
side which gives you quite a lot of protection and stability in the heel part which for me if I look at my feet
45:16
when running on on steep terrain and terrain that is not really flat you can
45:22
have a a trail which is quite flat but if you're running on the side of a mountain you're always your foot your
45:28
foot is always twisted a little bit well these things give you quite a lot of support in the in the ankle zone that's
45:34
what I what I uh I discovered and then uh yeah the the the lacing system
45:40
i like this type of lacing system um okay I agree you have people that really
45:47
prefer to have a little bit more pressure on the forefoot and not more towards the the the ankle or or in the
45:53
middle for me it's equal all over the place of my foot so for me then the lacing system is really a really nice uh
46:01
thing to add and then of course the cushioning yeah it's uh for a long trail i think the Pulsar 4 is more for the
46:08
between brackets shorter distances like for me the uh the Genesis Slap is is is
46:14
really for the more going to the ultra ultra trails uh 50k and and uh and above
46:20
so for me this is my go-to uh trail running shoe i'm not going to elaborate
46:26
on this one it's already we spoken a lot but probably this will be my ratio for
46:31
20 the second part of 2025 if I'm again up to speed like it very much uh much
46:40
better outer soul than the Adios because the Adios you cannot use it in wet
46:45
conditions i think this one never tried didn't try but I I think you can use this one in in also wet conditions so if
46:52
you have a wet condition race I think uh the the elite will will will do his job
46:58
um so these are my two uh two picks wonderful
47:05
maybe we hear from Ombberto Bedto betto better known as Betto you there Betto
47:11
Yes I'm here sam let me just turn on the camera i'm still driving
47:16
betto is in Mexico on the border near near Brownsville i don't know where he
47:22
is right now but somewhere in that area yeah I'm right now I'm here in Matamoros by the port side to Bronzeville Texas
47:30
okay i'm always between Montter Matamoros Macallen San Antonio then back
47:37
uh uh let me start with I'm going to start with road road max cushion shoes um
47:44
nobody talks about stability from what I heard but one of my favorite from this year is uh the Puma i have it right here
47:52
sorry I was late i decided to go to come home to so I can be here uh the forever
47:58
run too here it is i don't know what is about this shoe but Puma did it really right in this second
48:05
version the upper really holds my ankle very well i don't need stability and
48:11
normally I supen it but you know when you do I do a lot of slow easy runs
48:17
around 6:30 pace some wine on my runs so this shoe really
48:25
kept my ankle like this and it really holds my my ankle and my
48:32
midoot but it still feel really comfortable comparing it to let's say the Hoka Arai 7 which I really enjoy it
48:40
feels really natural but the upper doesn't hold like this one and actually this is more reactive than the Hocas or
48:46
let's say I want to call the the Cayano it's a bit lighter more responsive more
48:52
fun more energetic i can do strides i did really a lot of strides in this shoe a lot of my long runs in this shoe and I
48:59
really enjoy it and it's an stability shoe i I think this is a stability shoe that doesn't feel like an stability shoe
49:06
i have a lot of friends right now they they asked me if I really had this shoe i told them yes i told them my
49:12
experience really works great on weight roads that what I told them they live in Mexico City so normally over there it
49:18
can say sunny all day and all of the sudden it start raining like crazy so they normally need something really
49:24
grippy and the Puma Grip really really deserves a in my top three uh this is
49:30
one of the best outs so you it was my third shoe that I want
49:37
to uh to discuss i know I can acknowledge what you say
49:43
it's um I like it a lot when I'm at the end of a a volume week with a lot of
49:50
volume over 100K i prefer this shoe a little bit more
49:55
stability a little bit more support but then I enjoy even a 50k run uh in the
50:02
shoe i know I know the cushion is for me i'm
50:07
a heavy runner i'm 90 90 kilograms more or less 200 pounds 195 pounds so it
50:15
really works for me really works for me and my friends who are lighter 70 kilograms
50:21
140 pounds more or less uh they say they really feel the energetic foam they say
50:27
I can go slow feel really stable and then boom I can go from 530 a kilometer
50:33
to four four minutes kilometers so they're faster than me obviously but they really enjoy the way it locks the
50:40
foot the midfoot especially it has a nice a nice volume up here i have a wide
50:46
foot and I normally like normal size shoes because I like it fit and they
50:52
really agree with me the the hold in here is is really really supportive
50:57
thanks to you know this little h I don't know overlays right here actually it has
51:02
no overlays in here they have like a like a overlays like like this so it
51:08
really works for me especially like you said in high volume widths where your legs are really beat up you need that
51:14
extra stability and that extra cushion it really works for me I I actually enjoy it a bit more than using my my
51:21
Brooks uh uh Glycerin Max and I really love the Glycerin Max but I you know I
51:27
think the Glycerin Max is like a Cadillac when you want something really comfortable you want to go go feel fast
51:34
powerful but at the same time very very comfortable well this shoe is like a Why
51:40
can I compare it to another car You have a car that it's comfortable and fast let's say the like you know the Grand
51:47
Cherokee SRT8 that you know you can go fast at any time i feel like this shoe really really deserves a place in the
51:53
top three of there is also a trend with shoe brands that they make a shoe um for
51:59
every type of run so typically as a runner you have to have multiple shoes for a slow recovery ride for blah blah
52:07
blah blah i think if you have a friend that asks "Yeah I I only have the budget for one shoe and I it must be a very
52:14
versatile shoe and and very uh uh adaptive." This would be my go-to pick
52:19
honestly it can handle a lot of situations let's call it like that
52:24
exactly agree agree nice shoe then I I want to talk about a racing shoe because I don't want to take too much time uh I
52:32
really enjoy that Vaporfly i actually had some issues when I was testing it i got it for testing and as a heavy runner
52:39
um I really enjoy the vapor fly because there's a point in the race where you can feel the plane even since V1 to V3
52:48
and I was expecting a lot from from the paper B4 because I really enjoyed the
52:54
ground feel I love high stack shield because it's the new normal but I really like lower
53:01
stack shield so I really enjoy the Vaporfly that is a bit lower to the It reminded me a bit of the of the 4% but
53:10
less softer because I really missed that that oper
53:15
when you do this this transition on the lateral side i really I really love that
53:21
from the 4% and this was the upper yeah
53:26
exactly let me get that paper here it is i really feel something similar but
53:33
firmer way firmer in here i think the upper is okay it's much better than the Vapor Flight 3 so much better i I didn't
53:40
like the that meat upper with a lot of holes in it but this one felt really
53:46
good felt like a training shoe but if you wanna you know compared to to the
53:51
new let's say DSL5 the Adios Pro 4 uh I
53:57
think if you're a really light runner and you do short distances the Vaprofi
54:02
is is there because I was I was comparing to the Street Fly 2 which is
54:08
an amazing shoe by the way and I can say the trick side can go from five 5k to
54:14
10k if you really have the the technique as a faster runner not me but for
54:20
example I can I did faster 5ks in this shoe in 10ks it really worked for me not
54:25
as much as some other shoes i can take it to the half marathon no issues for the marathon I don't think so i think it
54:33
will beat up my legs uh but I really love the ground feel so I have strong legs so I can go with it i I when I was
54:42
100 kilograms I run in the Boston six a full marathon so my feet can really
54:48
handle the the beups but but I think a vapor 54 it's a it's a shoe that not a
54:55
lot of runners can agree it's like the B1 or B2 but I think it has it niche it's going
55:02
to be for those faster short races for those those masses that that need something when you're going slow that
55:08
you can go you can have a smooth transition but it reminded me of the of
55:14
the four person just a bit but I missed that up i don't know why they don't bring that upper again in this in this
55:21
um new new version right But it's okay
55:26
the the prof I don't have it right now with me i really enjoyed it a lot i bought it and I think that new
55:33
aggressive toa really works a bit better than the the Ospra 3 the Ospra 3 I think
55:38
for the masses it was the go-to shoe for the marathon i have a lot of friends that had issue with the alpha fly vapor
55:45
flies and in even the sin and elites
55:51
but that should really work for them that just pro three and now the B4 for me I felt that it has that extra rocker
55:59
aggressive uh that aggressive rocker at the end of the toa i really enjoy it
56:06
i think it's better than the vapor fly don't tell Mike I said that uh but but
56:11
it but it really it's a really fun shoe i don't have the SL V5 i didn't get it as a sample i haven't bought it uh but
56:19
I'm I'm willing to get it soon and what other shoe I want to do a special mention uh Sam has I think some have
56:27
been paying attention i bought myself the on pause Haley Light i don't know if you guys know it which one is that I
56:35
can't see haley Light oh the Haley Light yeah yeah yeah i bought this shoe
56:41
because a friend of mine uh told me "Dude you got to try this shoe have you
56:46
got it?" And for me and it's a it's very hard for Mexico to get things from China so I was like "Okay I'm gonna get a
56:53
pair." So I ordered it it arrived i saw it in the box and I was like "Nah later
56:58
later later later." It took me months to get it out of the box as soon as I got this thing out of the box I was like
57:04
"What the hell was wrong with me Why haven't used this thing earlier Well it's been a long time since I since
57:11
I broke 20 minutes on a 5K this shoe i tried the same course with a Vaporfly
57:17
fail completely fail i tried it with Endorphin Elite almost broke 20 in the
57:23
same course same race same weather conditions i used it again broke 20
57:28
again so there's a there's here in Matamoto there's a 10K there's a limit of 10Ks here in Matamoro not many
57:35
there's one that it's we we do a lot of highways it's 10 highways during the 10K
57:40
but nine I have to be exactly nine highways so a lot of elevation gain i
57:47
did 41 minutes in this shoe so I was like it it really worked for me uh I
57:53
really feel like this shoe can beat up even the Vapor Fly too which in that
57:58
course I did in 41 minutes it's it's a shoe that that the midsole I can compare it to the
58:05
if you're a fan of the Endorphin Elite more or less how stable it is how
58:10
aggressive it is i feel like that midsole feels a little bit more responsive than even the
58:17
Endorphin Elite and yeah what is it Version one Endorphin
58:24
Elite not two version the version one if I compare to the the endorphin lead version two because I I went to buy it
58:31
but there was no massage i didn't get sample softer much softer yeah well I
58:37
can compare maybe to the two but it's not as soft these things feels a bit a little bit denser so when when I when I
58:45
hit my forefoot I can feel the cushion and then the bounce but the but the play
58:51
Oh but it's got some flex yeah that is amazing is there a plate There's a plate
58:59
yeah there's a plate right here i don't know if you can see uh so yeah so it's a lot like the um Xsteps all the Xstep
59:07
shoes have flex differing there's three or four of them more like and I I like some flex in a carbon shoe at least for
59:13
the way I run they started with a with a shank here is the the
59:20
It's not a furation it was a total different shoe from them yeah you know Chinese people really like the ground
59:26
feel lower stack so this is a lower stack it has a shank so you know you can
59:31
see it can bend look at that yeah it can bend and and there's the Here's the
59:36
shank the plate yeah but when they when they hide the operate like the
59:43
vapor wave but so much better than the vapor whip a little bit thicker h really
59:48
holds the boot in place and you can see it it has the the shape and it doesn't have anything inside m it really this
59:56
upper really has the shape of the foot but it looks like
1:00:01
it looks like a really minimalistic shoe from from the look but I like it i like
1:00:07
it it's no funny things just a basic nice minimalistic shoe with with high
1:00:13
performance if we compare the the out the
1:00:19
and you can see they're almost identical it's not as high as a as a 40 millimeters i don't remember the exact
1:00:26
uh height but it's lower you can really have that ground feel but it still be
1:00:32
protected on longer distances so I want to give you know
1:00:37
uh a special mention to this shoe i think it was from last year if I can recall i think Derek Lee did a review on
1:00:44
this year derek did Derek we do have a review derek Lee did do a review of it yeah he was one of the few that got a
1:00:50
sample uh direct from China so I read the review and I got intrigued a friend
1:00:56
of mine recommended me so I bought it if you're a fast marathon runner get this
1:01:02
shoe it's It's not as expensive as a super shoe but it's really worth it uh
1:01:07
it's the first shoe from China that I can say "Ah that shoe is fast it can really It can really be against the big
1:01:15
banks." Yeah nice nice collection vberto
1:01:20
wow nice collection wow how many shoes did we cover today At least 30 we're going to have to make a list kurt yeah i
1:01:28
didn't uh I didn't draw lines say that again everybody fantastic wow and the
1:01:34
times are different everywhere everybody's on a bit of a different time but um I want to thank everybody uh for
1:01:42
for joining the call let's do it again this was fun and what we're going to do
1:01:47
you can uh Kurt um so I want to also thank um all of our viewers uh we're
1:01:53
going to have links to um where you can find reviews of all these shoes most of them have already been reviewed and have
1:02:00
a great run everybody and thank you for joining us thank you thank you thanks
1:02:06
see you later [Music]
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