Adidas AdiZero Hagio – First LooK

It looks like Adidas has decided to replace the AdiZero Rocket come January of next year.  If they get the shoe right, it could be a huge success, if they don't this could end up being a hugely unpopular move...

The following article is from the Runningwarehouse blog.

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adidas adiZero Hagio Men's Shoe (Hagio sample with incorrect "Feather" name shown)

Come January 2012, the hugely popular adidas adiZero Rocket will be gone and in its place will be the adiZero Hagio (MSRP $90).

The Hagio carries over the midsole from the Rocket. But with a lighter upper and new outsole, the Hagio is expected be an ounce lighter than the adiZero Rocket. The featherweight upper utilizes vast areas of open mesh for superior breathability and weight reduction. Strategically placed laminated overlays help secure the foot and deliver a sleek appearance.

By stripping away oustole material, the Hagio is more flexible than the Rocket and additional weight savings are found in the outsole design.

All of the standard adidas technologies are still here. Full forefoot ADIPRENE adds durable comfort and provides good rebound for a responsive toe-off. The TORSION SYSTEM maintains structural integrity of the midsole’s midfoot. ADIWEAR provides durable wear at the heel and blown rubber in the forefoot provides added cushioning is light in weight.

Built on a 6mm heel-toe offset, the low-profile Hagio is ideal for faster running and racing. Specified at 6.0 ounces (sample men’s size 9.0), this shoe weighs the same as the Brooks T7 Racer, but should deliver greater durability. Expect this shoe to compete directly with the Asics Hyperspeed 4 and Saucony Type A4 ( the Hyperspeed 5 and Type A5 will be available February 2012).

Of note, the Hagio name  pays homage to the shoe designer of the same name who has had a great influence over the development many adiZero racing shoes.

adidas adiZero Hagio - outsole view (sample shown)

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The shoe really sounds promising - nice weight, and about the same drop as the hyperspeeds.  If they can deliver on the greater durability it could be a great shoe (especially seeing as how my hyperspeeds have lasted  only about 150 miles...)

Merrell Trail Glove Review

Finally my Merrell Trail Glove Review!

Merrell Trail Glove

STATS

Weight: 6.2 ozs
List Price: $110
Drop: 0 mm

New Balance Minimus Roads and Karhu Racer Fulcrum Rides

NEW SHOES!

The gear junkie in me strikes again.  Before I've even finished my Merrel Trail Glove review (Coming Soon!) I've picked up 2 new shoes to test and review...

Karhu Racer Fulcrum Ride

I had a free pair of Karhu's from beating the bear at the Karhu 5K earlier in the month.  Karhu is a Finnish Brand, apparently around since 1916, though I've never heard of them before.  It looks like they're just starting to try to make the move to the States, explaining the "Beat the Bear" promo events.  Their shoes look to be designed for heal strikers and I would never have considered them if I was shelling out money, but it's hard to turn down a free pair of shoes...  Most of their shoes have ridiculous looking soles, reminding me of Sketcher Shape Ups, though the color schemes are pretty cool.  The Karhu racing flats seemed to have the thinnest soles and lowest drop, but even then the drop is about 15.5 mm.  I want to stay at less than 8 mm drops (with the idea that anything more starts to make proper running form difficult) so these shoes will be working at a disadvantage already...  That said, free shoes can't be passed up, and thus these shoes will get a fair review despite not matching my typical requirements.  Plus the color is kinda cool...

Karhu Racer Fulcrum Ride

New Balance Minimus Roads

Since I had made the trip up to Runner Depot anyway I felt I needed to check out some of the other shoes in my search for the perfect marathon shoes.  I had seen the Minimus Roads and they looked just like what I was looking for.  Low (4 mm) drop, light (8.2 oz), designed for a forefoot strike, but with enough padding to protect against a return to heal striking late in runs.  The rear of the shoe is slightly under cut, making it more difficult to heal strike - a neat feature I thought.  I tried them on and the sock like feel was amazing - I decided I couldn't pass them up, a 15% off coupon helped that matter as well.  The first 15 miles in them have been questionable, the slight arch support is noticeable and they're perhaps not as comfortable running in as they were standing in at the store...  I also have questions on how long the soft soles will last.  We shall see as I put on some miles over the next couple months and write a review!

New Balance Minimus Roads

New Balance Minimus Line – Available March 1

New Balance is releasing it’s own line of “minimalist” running shoes on March 1.  The lineup consists of the Minimus Trail, Minimus Road and the Minimus Life.  Both the Trail and the Road have gotten pretty good reviews from testers (the Life is geared to be an “everyday shoe” so I haven’t paid attention to it…)  All 3 feature a 4mm drop and the awesome <=> logo (the Enginerd in me loves it.)

The 2 running shoes have thicker soles than would be found on most “minimalist” shoes, testament to the fact that shoe definitions have become very watered down and geared towards whatever is trendy at the moment.  Barefooters will gripe about the lack of ground feel such thick soles will cause and of course the 4mm drop.  But for those of us looking for a “tweener” (the dreaded transitional shoe) this might be an interesting option.

I’ve been rotating between my Asic Hyperspeeds (a size too small) and the Merrells and have been looking for another shoe to do some long runs in.  I’m interested in a little padding and enough heal to protect against the chance of returning to heal strike as my form breaks down or I start to push hard at the end of a race, while still being minimal enough to maintain proper forefoot strike with ease.  I’ve been planning on picking up a pair of Asic Piranhas (mainly because of my Asic loyalty) but after reading some of the New Balance reviews, I may have to figure them into the equation…

Check out these reviews of the Trails from those lucky enough to get the test pairs:

Barefoot Running University: http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2010/11/17/new-balance-minimus-trail-review/

Running and Rambling: http://www.runningandrambling.com/2011/02/new-balance-minimus-trail-review-and.html

UPCOMING MERRELL TRAIL GLOVES REVIEW

I’m a gear junkie.  That’s the only way to explain the pile of camping gear that takes up most of my walk in closet.  I’ve reviewed camping gear in the past, but never running gear – the beauty of running was the need for relatively little gear (especially for 5Ks.)

My recent decision to start looking at Marathons and potentially Ultras along with my desire to go to more minimalist / barefoot running has (perhaps ironically) gotten me looking at new running gear.  I went out and got a pair of Vibram 5 fingers but returned them before running in them after discovering that wearing them around the house caused my toes to start to go numb because my feet just don’t fit the 5 finger mold.  Looking at other minimalist options lead me to Barefoot Jason’s review of the Merrell Trail Gloves released in Feburary (http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/01/04/merrell-trail-glove-review/  It should also be noted that Jason is working with Merrell on their barefoot resources – check out Merrell’s site.)

Excited about these shoes I ordered a pair as soon as they were available and received them yesterday.  Obviously it will take me some time to put on enough miles to truly review these shoes, but I thought I’d post the sizing portion of the review early since that seems to be a big question for those looking at these shoes.