The Saucony Sinister is an ok shoe, but subpar to the flats of old. What will be the next true racing flat?

Altra still make the Escalante racer which has their usual toe shape and zero drop. It's listed at 7.4 oz and 24mm so not the most minimal but much more stripped down than the new gen of racers/workout shoes. I think in the other thread about this I mentioned the Adidas adios, which has a more traditional heel toe drop but is probably the last visage of a classic racing flat left. The days of RC5000, Mizuno Wave Universes, and sadly even the Streaks seem to be at an end. The only hope I'd hold out is if Nike decides to bring back the Streak line because the Streakfly hasn't been as well received. Even then, seems like the trend is to pump super foam into the traditional flats and just make them plate-less super shoes.

i still love my zoom streaks. have a couple pair i wear sparingly. mostly for 200s or VERY fast 400s. want them to last as long as possible.

I guess the adios at 28mm stack height is one of the more minimal shoes on the market. Wow. I never thought I'd be saying that. I had the first couple iterations of that shoe and didn't like them, ended up sitting in a closet with barely any mileage on them.

Yeah, everything is getting beefed up. I've always favored flats that were a little more forgiving but most things nowadays are getting too soft even for me. I have Streakflys and have enjoyed them on occasion but usually find that I sink into them too much for that stripped back racing flat feel. Personally, I'd pay a pretty penny for something like the Lunaracer to come back. For me, that was the perfect mix of light, soft, and responsive. Did workouts and races in my lime green Lunaracer + all through college. Had some solid racers since and I do love my Vaporflys but I get the desire for that classic flat feel.

Does anyone remember the Adizero PR? 3.9 oz

Adidas Adizero Rc 5 is a little lower stack than the Adios, but not by much.

Same with the Asics Hyperspeed 2&3 and New balance Supercomp Pacer.

The Nike Zoom Rival Fly 3 might be exactly what you are after with stack, but weight is 8.4oz.

Reebok floatride runfast pro

Asics sortiemagic

Ya. I was using the mayflys for races around that time (yes on the track). They were heavier but I was a poor college student and had gotten some off eBay. Good enough for me. I thought the or might even be too minimal for me, I'm not a make it like running barefoot guy l.

A little less drop, 2-4 mm less, and an ounce less cushioning and the rival fly would prob work for me.

You seem to be weirdly obsessed with not having a carbon plate from other posts I've seen.

New Balance Supercomp Pacer is basically the same as the 1400/1600 from a few years back, but has a plate. In practice, it only feels slightly different so I'm not sure why it's blackballed.

Old school flats aren't coming back any time soon. The new foams that are lighter and more responsive--and the companies are going to showcase that.

Anyways, just start trying a bunch of spikeless XC shoes:

Brooks Draft XC
Under Armour Brigade XC 2
New Balance XC Seven

Yes, but they are not the easiest shoe to find.

What's wrong with these?

They are only made in Japanese sizing. The 10 is too small, and the 11 too big for my feet. Believe me, I've tried. With running shoes, being a little off in size is not great, especially for long distance running. They would only work as casual shoes for me. I do use the mizuno wave cruise, because mizuno shoes run large (so the 10.5 fits like a 10 for me). This shoe is inferior to the streak lt for me due to having a bit low of stack height (I'm not a super minimalist - in that I'm searching for a barefoot shoe), what works for me is 20 to 25 mm stack height.

I guess so. The plated shoes lead to calves and feet injury for me. I've tried several, at the waste of hundreds of dollars. They seem to make a lot of people run faster or recover better - wouldn't I want that? If this was the case for me, then yes I would.

If the supercomp pacer works for you, great. It does not work for me.

Do any of these xc flats fit like road flats, if you're old enough to have ran in running flats? Most xc flats I've tried have been too narrow for me - a lot of reviews say these shoes are narrow. I actually raced xc in the streak lt, even on grassy courses, only switching to a track spike (one that wasn't so narrow) for the muddiest courses - and I used the earlier forever xc's when those were available (they are almost on the streak lt last so they weren't too narrow). I have the spike flat now. If there was a version of that without the spike plate, it would be perfect.

So am I weirdly obsessed? Perhaps with keeping myself running. I do feel a bit desperate, like not being able to run because of my foot issues is going to force me out of the sport. I'm already at the point where I can't train like I used to because of shoes. I train in the streak lt, which hurts one of my feet a bit - its just the least bad option on the ebay market. I think an xc flat in d width, but with a narrow toebox could solve my issues, if I could find one.

I meant to say 10 fits like 10.5 in wave cruise. Its hard to describe why the streak lt works and the mizuno wave cruise and other japanese flats aren't quite there without more physiological knowledge on my part. All I know is the streak lt fit feels right, and the japanese flats feel not quite right, even in the right size. If I do a workout, this is measurable in secs to a half min/mile

Not 15 years ago I was obsessed at finding a shoe that was 20mm or more in the forefoot. There were maybe two shoes worldwide that I could find.

Look for crummy shoes at WalMart, they're still better than what we ran in 20 years ago, and nearly all are still firm and low profile. If they last only fifty miles or so you're still better off than buying the $500 Adidas.