In my opinion, the Zoom Rival Waffle 6 running shoes are the only ones Nike makes that actually have the potential to be great in my eyes. They have decent materials, and an astonishingly great price tag of $70.
Add in that all of Nike’s best-selling running shoes have one flaw: a large heel to toe drop. And these look even better.
Even if the team that made them might’ve started by designing shoes for ballerinas, and then remembered halfway that they were supposed to be running shoes.
Long story short, these things are tight!
Perspective
If you look at any of the recommended or best-selling running shoes on Nike’s site, practically all of them have a 10 mm heel drop. A heel drop is the difference in height from your heel to your toes.
So, if you wear Nike’s most common running shoe, the Vomero 17, you take the height of the heel part of the midsole (39 mm) and subtract the height of the midsole under the toes (29 mm). (Equaling a heel to toe drop of 10mm.)
This might not be a problem for you, but there are some of us that get bad foot arch pain and/or knee pain after 5-6 miles in high heel drop shoes. For some reason, that large of a heel drop doesn’t agree with us most of the time.
Thankfully, the Zoom Rival Waffle 6 have a 3 mm heel drop. Making these infinitely more usable for me, than all of their other shoes combined.
Ballerina
I don’t know how or why Nike got the sizing of this shoe so far off. I got my usual size 10 men’s, and I can barely get my foot in them. It feels like my foot is in a ballerina slipper.
Aka it squeezes your foot from front to back, top to bottom, and side to side. All at once.
I love wide toe box shoes because of the spacious feeling and better runs I have in them. And these are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I should’ve got a size 11 or 11.5 because my feet don’t feel like they can circulate blood properly.
If you pick up these shoes, size up by at least 1 or more.
On the Go
When you actually get on the road, after squeezing your feet into them, these are way better than the past Nike running shoes I’ve tried. Add in the small heel to toe drop with the minimal cushioning midsole, and these are leaps and bounds better than the Nike Vomero 17s I tried last year.
However, I have to admit that the thin midsole doesn’t make up for the tight design. You’re able to better gauge the ground, because you can feel the shape and texture of it more. But because of how slim the footprint is, you’re slightly unbalanced most of the time.
You don’t feel grounded every step of the way.
Because of this, I’ve been on the edge of badly rolling my heel in these. Much more than any other shoe’s I’ve tried before. Partly because of my preference for shoes with wider footprints, but mostly because in the size 10 I got.
My feet can’t lay flat in them. Preventing me from proper landings, arching, and push offs.
The Recap
The overall materials Nike has on these are pretty good. You definitely get what you pay for.
The upper material, laces, and mid sole foam all feel a step down in quality but are by no means poor. Just not what you get in Nike’s more expensive running shoes. The outsole has a basic but effect design too.
If you’re like me, and you have a hard time with most of Nike’s running shoes, then pick up a pair. These might surprise and give you hope in Nike’s future running shoes like me.
Just make sure to size up by 1 or 1.5 so your feet aren’t so cramped.
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