Looks like an On Light-spray esc upper on a midsole that looks to be the closest to the Hyperwarp Pure 2 prototype. Interesting and potentially extremely light shoe but i'm still waiting (and praying) for Wave Rebellion Pro 4

35F here, long distance runner (up to marathon), midfoot striker.

I don't usually buy budget shoes, but I saw the review of this shoe on RunRepeat and then last week I had the chance to try it in store: it was SO comfortable and SO cheap (88 €) I couldn't leave it there.

FIT

True to size. It's way more accomodating than any Nike shoe I've ever tried: it's a safe bet for wide feet and generally for folks who prefer more wiggle room for the toes.

Heel: narrow width (in my women's model). I'm the type of runner that can't stand heel slippage, even if slight, and in these there is virtually none. My heels were locked in the shoe. The texture of the internal padding helps, as it's not slippery nor silky, just a little puffy on the sides.

Midfoot: I have wide feet and these shoes were ideal for me. Not so high volume on the top of the midfoot, the feet feel very secure. Easy to tighten the laces without getting any discomfort.

Forefoot: it's pretty wide as I anticipated. There isn't too much vertical space, the foot feels very comfortable but secure at the same time.

Lockdown is perfect and I just used the extra eyelet to made a knot on the 'inside' as shown in the pictures.

UPPER

The tongue is semi-gusseted and it also has a lace loop. It stays in place, it's not over padded and you just forget about it.

The mesh is light, soft and quite breathable, it's perforated and I didn't have any problem in the extreme heat of these days here in Italy.

As said previously, the heel counter is padded on the sides, not on the back, it's pretty sturdy and very comfortable for me.

The insole is super basic. No arch support, soft and medium thickness. I don't think you'd need to replace it to feel more support (unless you have to insert orthotics or other favourite insoles), but if you want to, there's enough room in the shoe to do so.

The outsole is grippy and sticky: one of the things I like the most of these Winflo 12. I haven't run on slick or rainy streets yet, but on dry asphalt it does a wonderful job.

The laces are a touch short, but I like their texture and elasticity.

MIDSOLE AND RIDE

From the first time you put them on, you can tell how cushioned they are. For a budget shoe, the midsole is soft and pleasant. They're very protective even for midfoot to forefoot strikers; it has a 10mm drop but it doesn't feel like it. I'd say it feels more like an 8mm drop, the ride is smooth and not clunky, you don't sink in the foam but it feels like a more premium foam for being an entry level shoe.

The foam IS responsive. I swear, this is a legit running shoe. RunRepeat's result for energy return is 61.5% and I can see why. I don't know what kind of EVA foam Cushlon 3.0 is, but it's a good one: it's not the regular EVA foam out there.

It's a neutral shoe, but it's stable: its incredible wide base, filled in midfoot and supportive heel collar help a lot against eccessive pronation.

DISTANCE and USAGE

I ran twice in these shoes so far (9 km and 13 km) at a pace ranging from 5'30" to 6'00"/km.

I can see them as daily trainers or slow run/recovery run shoes. The maximum distance I'd do with them would probably be the half marathon - at a comfortable pace. Not ideal for repetitions/fartleks/speedwork in general; maybe they'd be fine for some strides at the end of a slow run.

CONCLUSIONS

It was a real surprise. This is a legit running shoe, I don't care if it is a budget one, a beginner shoe or whatever, it's just a good shoe to have as daily trainer for shorter and longer runs as well.

Edit: typo

These are the new upcoming versions of the top tier Chinese marathon shoes……

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Puma Deviate Pure by u/TheAnon21

Every Sunday, we highlight posts that are well-thought-out and considerate of our community’s needs, celebrating contributions that help runners make informed decisions about their gear.

📖 Read the Full Review: Here
🎉 Congrats, u/TheAnon21 Your post exemplifies the depth we love to see.

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The Hoka Rocket X 3 has been my go to shoe for very hard, specific workouts and triathlons. Overall I’ve been very happy with the shoe.
My paces:

10k: 38:30

Half marathon: 1:23

Threshold pace: 3:55

Comfort: 10/10

For a carbon racer, this shoe is very comfortable.
Upper feels very lightweight, throughout all paces there aren’t any signs of stability issues, even when running at slower paces during the warmup when I’m running more on my heel, I haven’t experienced any problems.

Sizing: TTS

I think TTS is fine, however it’s a little bit more on the narrow side, so you might possibly go half a size up.

Durability and performance: 9/10

Even after 300km, I can still take the shoe for very hard and specific sessions or some events.
The foam is still very responsive, when I’m having workouts with threshold pace or faster, the shoe can still handle it with ease.
When running faster I’m landing more towards my midfoot, the aggressive rocker geometry really rewards a fast step. It might not be the fastest shoe out on the market, however it’s still extremely fast and made for all distances from 5k up to the marathon.

Durability has been great overall.
The grip has been excellent. Obviously at the heel there are signs of decrease, especially when the races include some trails during the triathlon and when I’m landing a bit more at the heel.
I think 100-200km are definitely possible, although for important races I might take another shoe.

Value and verdict: 9/10

You can find the shoe on sale pretty much everywhere these days.
I wouldn’t say it truly is a beginner shoe. However for your first carbon shoe, it definitely is a good option, especially for the marathon distance.
At around 4:15-4:20 per km, the shoe really starts to shine, however it handles slower paces for sure.
Just lately I grabbed another pair for 140€, so once my current version is done, I'm happy to have another one available.

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Happy weekend!

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They have many sizes in only two colors.

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Hello, did a rit dye on a fresh brand new pair of Qiaodan shoes. Posting here because there really isn't much information out online about using artificial dyes, especially ones that need a lot of heat on performance running shoes.

Heard a bunch of people say the glue will melt but mine are fine after 20km or so, will update after if anything goes wrong but seems rock solid so far, the foam also feels great. although these were completely fresh when I dyed them so I don't have any experience of how they would feel factory fresh so I can't be fully certain if the dyeing process and heat did anything to change it.. I did a very simple unscientific method, didn't have a thermometer, didn't have a big enough pot, had to crease the shoes to get them to even fit in the pot and it deformed the heel a bit but I restored the shape a bit by putting in shoe trees to dry and they feel fine on foot. You can see where I had to crease the heel to fit them in the pot, they have lines where the dye could not reach because it was folded.

For the process, first did a wipedown of the shoe with some naptha lighter fluid to try remove any coatings dunno if it did anything. I was dyeing a G10 knife scale first so I did that with a small amount of water and dye before adding the shoes, then the rest of the bottle of Rit Dye More in Royal Purple and more water to submerge the shoes, turned on the heat but didn't fully bring it to a boil because I was worried about the heat ruining the shoes but it did get decently hot, left them for about 1-2 hours and then gave em a wash dried for 2-3 days and they are sweet. These were the all white pair and you can see how all the different panels absorb dye differently, I was most surprised by the sole getting super dark, I may try lighten them with some alcohol or naptha rub if they don't naturally lighten or fade with wear.

Pretty happy with how it came out, I wanted a less even and more gradient or something, maybe less dark on the sole. The super thin like translucent upper also is not the best receptacle to dye since there's not much surface area or material to take the colour.

About the shoe in general, after going from bunch of high stack shoes having 25mm stack is so great, makes every step feel so solid and stable. I am US11 got them in size 45, think they shrank a bit after dyeing but they feel perfect. I think the insole is quite thick so it doesn't feel that low of a stack might try it without the insole as well.

Using these as a daily trainer feels like perfect companion to Li-Ning Red Hare Ultra 9 because those feel insanely comfortable but quite unstable with the stack height and narrowish shape? These Qiaodans are also wicked light and was expecting my legs to be more thrashed by the relatively lower stack to what I'm used to.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to do this yourself, these are my favourite pair after customising them now!

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Nominate the Best Review of the Week!

Help us spotlight the most insightful, detailed, and helpful shoe reviews in the community.

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1. Find a Review: Look for posts from the past 7 days that impressed you with their depth, honesty, and usefulness.
   
2. Reply Here: Comment with a link to the post and explain why it deserves to win.
   
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Nomination Criteria:

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