u/Teddie_P4

Just announced on Running Warehouse.
Specs
4.3 ounces, 123g in US Size 9
Stack Height - 30-22, 8mm drop.
Retailing at $225 USD
Releasing in August

Super interesting to me as a mid distance runner (5k and below), but cmon, 225 DOLLARS!!! I thought the new Puma Fast Fwd Nitro Elite 2 was a bit pricey at 200, but atleast that has a carbon plate and a little more stack. I mean cmon, this is the same price as the MEGABLAST with alot less stack, The adios 9 is much cheaper and the Takumi Sen 11 is only 185 and has more stack + rods and a likely more durable construction. This seems awesome to me, but I wont be picking this up for full retail, thats just crazy,

About me: I am a 17M, 148 lb (67kg), 6’1 High School Cross Country and Track distance runner in my Junior year. My cadence is around 168 and I run 40-50 miles a week. As a HS distance runner, I run events from the 800 to the 5K and my PRs are as follows. 5k: 16:03. 3200: 9:45. 1600: 4:22. 800: 1:58.

Current Rotation: Daily miles: Puma Velocity Nitro 4 (now done in my Gliderides upon retiring these). Long Runs/Aerobic: ASICS Megablast. Aerobic/Long Run and do it all: Boston 13. Easy/Recovery: ASICS Glideride Max 2

Use Case: I used these shoes for all my “daily training” miles, which for me means my warm ups and cooldowns for workout days and races, and occasional easy runs, but most of my easy running is done in my easy day specific trainer. So from mid October when I got these to late April, those shoes were used primarily for 2 mile runs, and the farthest I’ve ran in these in one run was 6 or so miles. So that does mean I can’t provide any feedback for how this shoe responds to longer runs. In those 6 months, I’ve racked up 240 miles (386km) from 148 activities , most of which were 1-3 mile warmups/cooldowns, but strides and sprints definitely mess up the average. Additionally there are some definite untracked wear outside of the miles logged running. I’ve worn these shoes quite a lot for walking around at practice or meets, doing other activities at practice like hurdle work or wickets, and a TON of stretches and track drills (A skips, butt kicks, scissors, the like) which in my experience definitely causes some wear on the midsole over the span of months of practices. That extra wear is why I prefer to buy a cheaper running shoe to handle my “daily training” so that I can mess these shoes up and not my beloved $225 Megablasts.

Why I Purchased These Shoes: I wanted another pair of daily trainers to replace my EVO SLs, which I never got along with very well and these were a definite upgrade for the use case, as I usually run at a easy/recovery pace (7:45-10 minutes per mile, sometimes slower if I’m really tired) for my warmups and cooldowns, which the EVO SLs felt a bit awkward at.

The Shoe Itself

Upper: Solid upper overall 👍. The mesh upper is comfortable, the tongue is a bit odd and moves around a little bit, but much better than the EVO SL tongue. The heel counter is very well padded with no Achilles rubbing or irritation ever. The lockdown is great, I used a runners loop, as I do with most of my shoes, and I never had any noticeable problems. The fit is a bit narrow around the mid foot, but despite me having a wider mid foot I didn’t experience any problems unless I was wearing thick socks, but never had any issues with my usual medium/light cushion Feetures Elite socks. The toe box does taper in a bit, but not as bad as the Megablast. I went my usual US size 10 men’s, and I would recommend TTS, and if you have a wide foot that you get a wide version (if that exists) or find another shoe with a more accommodating fit. The laces are great for a standard daily offering, much better than those trash adidas laces and better than ASICS sometimes questionable laces. One complaint is that it is a bit warm, not much breathability, but I personally don’t really care about that, if my whole body is sweaty and hot then I dont care about my feet being hot and sweaty aswell , it’s inevitable in this sticky Louisiana heat.

Midsole/Ride: Basic but effective. The Nitro compound in this shoe strikes a nice balance between too soft (Rebel V5) and too firm (Pegasus 41, or really any peg for that matter), which really works in its favor as a “low” stack shoe with 34mm in the heel. The midsole provides a nice bounce, and the 10mm drop combined with the cushioned heel makes this shoe ideal for heel strikers (like me), but is still great for mid/fore foot strikers, as I’ve ran in all 3 strike types. The midsole is flexible which lets you do all of your natural dorsiflexion whatever flexin, which is a nice change from the rockered and controlling shoes that currently dominate the shoe market. and If you want a highly rockered ride, or no ground feel this is not the shoe for you, go get you a pair of superblasts or smthn. The foam has noticeably compressed, and after 240 months and 6 months of practices, it has lost is protectiveness, especially in the forefoot, which is the primary reason I am retiring these shoes.

Outsole: Pumagrip, what else is there to say? Grips well on anything your suburban journeys will throw at you. Even on light trails it’s performed well. It isn’t built to last forever, there is some noticeable wear on the lateral heel where I strike first, and in the mid forefoot, but nothing problematic. There is some midsole abrasion where it’s exposed, but hey thats just superficial wear and isn’t nearly as bad as it is in other shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Speed. Some slight outsole peeling in photo 6, and some slight upper separation in photo 5, but nothing problematic.

Design: Subjective, but I think Puma did a great job with the looks of this shoe! I’m a sucker for a clean monochromatic theming, and the orange pops out without going the full highlighter route. I generally dig Puma’s design language and colorways though. This shoe looks like its built to be a serious daily trainer for serious runners (like me 😤😤😤) and certainly looks better than most other brands basic daily trainer, this shoe definitely mogs the Saucony ride.

Pros:

Lightweight shoe with a slightly soft, flexible midsole that allows you to control how you run, a real running shoe, and can handle a variety of paces very well!

Provides some stimulus as a lower stacked shoe that allows your muscles to work a bit more and get stronger. Fits that lower stack role in my rotation that I try to keep around to keep variety in my rotation, as variety in our shoe rotations is a great way to reduce injury risk (and justify buying new shoes!)

Durable and great value, lasted better than the EVO SL, and is built to last quite some time, despite its cheap price.

Cons:

There are not any glaring issues for this shoe for me, this is a fantastic shoe for what it’s made for, but these may be issues for yall

Narrower fit, especially around the midfoot

Not for you stack simps, if you want alota that cushion and none of that ground feel, this shoe isn’t for you.

Conclusion: A wonderful daily trainer that really sets the standard for what daily shoes should be in 2026, it’s a steal for the sales you can find now. A true running shoe that can take anything quite nicely. I wouldn’t pick it for speed sessions or anything involving faster paces than easy, since I got other shoes that can cover it, but I have once or twice and this shoe performed satisfactory for a non speed specialized shoe! Especially at my fast paces like my 800 pace.

I hope my review is helpful to yall, feel free to ask me any questions! If you want some comparisons, here are some comparable shoes (Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 and 5, Hoka Mach 6, Adidas EVO SL, Saucony Axon 2, ASICS Glideride Max 2, Saucony Kinvara 14, Adidas Adios 8-9, Puma Velocity Nitro 3).

Found on run_shoe_bible on instagram. Specs on last photo. Looks pretty interesting, that FFBlast max looks promising. The Glideride Max 2 implements it in a very similar way, with dual density, but this seems to have a good bit more of it and less EVA. I predict the Max implementation will feel more like it is in the Glideride than in the Novablast. If the Nimbus doesn’t step up its game and get a new foam, it might get surpassed by the Kayano for the best ASICS max stack recovery shoe, even for those that don’t need stability