u/trot2millah

It usually takes ~30 miles for me to form an opinion on a shoe, I have seen questions about this daily trainer pop up a few times on r/AskRunningShoeGeeks so figured I would post a full review.

Tl;dr of review: A perfectly adequate shoe for my specific use case, but not a shoe I "love" in a world of race-foam supertrainers

About Me

5'11 190lbs 33M, running ~40-60mpw base building before the Pfitz 18/70 plan for my fall marathon. Marathon PR of 3:49 though I have been focusing on shorter distances recently and my most recent race PR is a 45:30 10k. Hoping to go sub-3:40 for my next marathon. Easy pace is normally 9:20-10:00 and I have only run easy paces in this shoe save for a few strides.

Generally I am a midfoot striker however heel scuff when fatigue creeps in which impacts the durability of my shoes. I have a flat wider midfoot and narrow heels with a low volume instep, which can make finding shoes that fit me well a challenge.

Current shoe rotation: Supernova Rise 3 (shorter daily miles), Vomero Plus (longer daily miles), EVO SL (speed work), Superblast 3 (long runs/longer workouts), Adios Pro 4 (races)

Past shoes I loved: Superblast 1, Superblast 2, Triumph 21, Magic Speed 3, Saucony Hurricane 24

Past shoes I tried and did not like/did not fit: Megablast (wanted to love but the toebox was too narrow), Glycerin Max (bricks), RAD UFO (heel slip), Pegasus 40/41 (too narrow), anything Hoka (too narrow), Saucony Triumph 23 (bricks and felt like a 14mm heel drop)

About the shoe/Sizing

I purchased this shoe to have a more "boring" daily trainer with a <40mm stack to complement the fact that most of my miles are in the Vomero Plus/Superblast 3. I am a US10.5 consistently across all brand and usually normal width save for New Balance where I am a 2E. The Rise 3 fit great at my usual 10.5. The toebox is roomy though slightly tapered and the midfoot is on the narrower end but not enough to cause issues with my borderline-wide feet.

I opted for the white colorway as I usually gravitate towards white or neon colorways and really dig the clean look of the shoe.

I use this in my rotation for my shorter easy runs of the week which usually are 4-7 miles (the "General Aerobic" runs of the Pfitz base building plan).

Upper: 3/5

The shoe is very comfortable upon step-in with a midfoot that hugs the foot without being restrictive. The heel counter is comfortable however with its heel cup design I have had some minor issues with heel slippage. I do have narrower heels so this is a fairly common issue for me. Tightening the laces solved this on the run without lacebite however a runners' loop did not work. The main concern is breathability - RunRepeat gave this a 3/5 but we are going through a week of 70+ swampy temps in the American South and you can definitely notice the lack of ventilation after some time on feet. If this trend continues when temperatures climb into the low-80s it may have to be retired until fall. If breathability is not a concern I would consider this an overall solid upper for its price point.

Midsole/ride: 3/5

As expected, this shoe is pleasantly boring. It is very reminiscent of the NB 880 v14 which I enjoyed though with a slightly more modern bounce due to the PEBA Dreamstrike. With its wider platform + lack of rocker it is a shoe that encourages a midfoot strike, and as long as my form is maintained it disappears underfoot. One interesting thing I have noticed in reviewing Strava data is I usually run in this shoe a tad faster at the same heart rate than my Vomero Plus, which is counterintuitive but worth sharing. The narrower midfoot + wide base combined for a stable ride. The ride is also much stiffer than expected for a shoe of its stack height, likely due to the amount of rubber coverage. RunRepeat does call this out in their review.

Outsole/durability: 4/5

The outsole rubber is similar to the Adios Pro 4 to where it even had that ridiculous squeakiness when I first was trying it around the house; that has since gone away after a few runs but the grip is well above what I have experienced in other daily trainers. I have not encountered many wet conditions but I anticipate this would be a great shoe where grip is a concern. With the amount of rubber coverage I would also expect durability to be excellent and 34 miles in has virtually no wear.

Final thoughts/Overall: 3/5

This shoe fits well for my very specific use case of wanting a "boring", moderately-stacked daily trainer without high-end race foam to have some variety in my rotation. I purchased it for $112 with an Adidas discount which is a good value for its anticipated durability. It is not a shoe I would pay $140 retail for considering for $10 more you can get the Saucony Azura or the SB2 on discount. If you are looking for a similar use case I would recommend it over the Pegasus or 880 series that I have both tried in comparison (note have not tried the Pegasus 42 which I understand was a decent update). Overall, not a shoe I would stock up on or have a backup pair waiting, but will assess shoe deals when it approaches end of life and could see myself buying again on a good discount.

*Edited post to correct mobile formatting errors.