Best current NIKE trainer

best trail shoe: kiger

best daily trainer: free 5.0 and 3.0 latest versions

best road racer/trainer: lunar racer 3

kiger best of all worlds, low to ground, excellent responsive zoom air cushioning, great traction sole, flex of free. works great for workouts on grass and trails.

either 3.0 or 5.0 latest versions same low to ground and flex, deceptive cushioning for what they appear to be.

lr 3 light, well cushioned, fast, relatively durable for a flat.

ps: wildhorse decent, price point version of kiger.

yuiop wrote:

How would you compare the 2 shoes, other than the Kiger being a 2 ounces lighter than the Wildhorse? Comparable fit? BTW, what does "engineered" mesh upper and mean? Thanks.

Engineered mesh is Nikes "premium" upper, it is lighter, yet stronger then a typical mesh. Meaning they can use much less material to accomplish the same thing, making the shoe lighter.

As far as fit, Wildhorse and Kiger **Seem** to me to fit almost identical, and besides the one air unit difference I believe their mid soles are identical.

The wildhorse does seem to fit on the small side, I typically wear 11.5 and I had to jump to a 12 for that, The kiger fit well for length, also has a wide toebox. Both are 4mm heel to toe drop.

It seems like the structure and zoom elite are the favorites so far. Good to hear that most LR people agree with me.

I'd go with the Structure Triax.

I am not a fan of any of the Free's.

The design idea is good; I just find the execution with that foam (I forget what it is called, that crap that Crocks gave birth to) gives a lame, dead, not cushioned enough ride.

Good Luck.

People still train in Nikes?

I love the Lunar Glide:

1,2 were great.

3 slipped

4 returned to greatness

5 the jury is still out I only have about 6 miles on them.

Lunarfly's are like the kind of 60 dollar shoes overweight kids get for gym class. It's barely even a running shoe, much less one for a serious runner.

I would rate them the following:

Pegasus

Flyknit Lunar (it's been shitted on a lot for the price, but if you spend a good hour on ebay, it won't be a problem, it's really a great shoe)

Lunarglide

Zoom Elite

Free Run

I've got the FlyKnit Lunar. It's a pretty penny for a running shoe, but I've enjoyed it from the get go. Solid, versatile shoe.

Anybody tried the lunarflash, appears to be a budget version of the flyknit lunar one, exact same midsole and outsold package but a more conventional upper. I can't believe people give good reviews to the recent versions of the pegs, if sensory perception is part if running then these have no place, like running in sand. For some reason both the structure 16 (what happened to the air???) and the zoom elite give me really bad ankle problems, rather than provide a little anti probation support they actually force my foot to probate because of the big bouncy overly protective heel. My foot is desparately trying to find the ground and just finds more foam.

I have had real success with the puma faas 300 particularly version 2, it's cushioned but responsive, has a simple flexible upper and lovely simple rubber sole, it lasts forever and it's very cheap. It allows your foot to move the way it was designed to.

Nike's recent shoes have been overly designed mattresses that have no place on s shoe wall!

No one's going to say Streak XC/LT? I know they're technically flats, but they're cushioned enough to use as trainers and half the cost of Nike's other shoes (

I'm on about my 6th pair of the Lunarspeed Lites. Although technically listed as a (marathon) racing flat they are fantastic as an every day trainer. I do have a bit of an issue with durability in the toe off area, but other than that they are probably my favorite trainer of all time.

I did pick up a pair of the Lunar Glides because I found a great deal on them, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm a big fan of the Lunar Racer 3 for faster tempo type stuff or racing a marathon and I really like the Flyknit Racer as well. I'd wear those in anything up to a half marathon.

That's actually a very good point, the zoom air in the forefoot and heel prodigy a very nice smooth feel.

Pegauss followed by Vomero. Isn't Structure pronation shoes? I only run in Nikes also. Other companies may be good or not but I don't want to waste money looking at this point.

Harry Carey wrote:

I've got the FlyKnit Lunar. It's a pretty penny for a running shoe, but I've enjoyed it from the get go. Solid, versatile shoe.

I'm loving my Flyknit Lunars., fit narrow like nike's used to. I do like the lunar racer, lunar speed are pretty good but blew out upper after 150 miles.

Those new trail shoes sound promising, I've always found the trail versions built a little better; trail Pegasus etc.

The free is by far the best trainer, hands down, no contest.

Isn't the structure triax a different shoe from the zoom elite? Zoom elite is neutral, structure triax sounds different

fashion over function wrote:

People still train in Nikes?

I pegasussed for years but went to the other side after a 30 year hiatus. Brooks ghost the last 5 pairs.

nikeman wrote:

I'm on about my 6th pair of the Lunarspeed Lites. Although technically listed as a (marathon) racing flat they are fantastic as an every day trainer. I do have a bit of an issue with durability in the toe off area, but other than that they are probably my favorite trainer of all time.

Seriously underrated shoe. My all time favorite is the Skylon (for any brand, not just Nike) and I am on a constant quest to find pairs backstocked at old running stores or eBay. I have definitely bought fewer Nikes since the Skylon was dropped though.

I believe the Nike elites have access to some stock-piled Skylons, I know you can see them in the background on their twitter accounts. I heard there's a new lightweight neutral shoe coming out in SP14 that will be kind of similar. Nikeman, do you know anything about it?

Lunar Racer.

Pair after pair, I put upwards of 700+ miles on those guys.

Pegasus.

If I have sore legs or feel particularly cruddy, I throw these suckers on so I don't feel the ground. Great flexibility in the forefoot for the heavy cushioning.