Thursday, February 18, 2010

Decision day - Mizuno versus Brooks

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10
If all goes according to plan I'll be heading back to Jackrabbit at lunch today to get my next pair of running shoes. I've been fortunate to have had a great experience with my Brooks GTS 9's and I've carefully studied the running shoe landscape to determine what's the best shoe to replace them. I've done enough due diligence in business to know that all this analysis can reduce the risk of making a bad purchasing decision but not fully eliminate it.

Mizuno Wave Inspire 6
Consider the two candidates left in the race: the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10 and the Mizuno Wave Inspire 6. Both are highly regarded stability shoes. The Brooks is supposed to be the best in its class and an improvement over the GTS 9 that I've really liked. The Mizuno provides a very energetic response and gets good play in the Runner's World shoe forum. It's considered a fast stability shoe, more minimal than the Brooks. I've run with the Mizunos and liked them. I've only tried on the GTS 10's but I thought they felt great. I've read that the 10's have a higher arch than the 9's which concerns me because my arches fall right between flat and normal. I don't want a shoe that feels superb in the store but creates a problem when the runs go longer.

My affinity for Brooks does give some bias toward the Adrenalines but I've been intrigued by the Mizuno's as well. This is a lot of agonizing for a $100 purchase from a store that will take them back if I'm not completely satisfied. I've spent hours pouring over reviews and trying on running shoes to get to this point, yet when I go shopping for a suit that costs five times that much I invest a fraction of that time. Why is that? Why do you think!?

3 comments:

  1. Just came across this blog, but curious to know what you decided. I'm currently wearing Mizuno Wave Nirvanas and am considering going back to the trusty Adrenaline.

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  2. I got the Adrenalines: http://www.emergingrunner.com/2010/02/of-course-i-chose-brooks.html

    I really love them. The Mizunos felt really good too but I ultimately prefered the Brooks.

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  3. I loved GTS 9 so went ahead and bought 2 pairs of GTS 10's online. Ran into high arch problem. I switched to AISCS 2140 but didn't really like the support but decided to replace insole on new GTS 10's from my 2 remaining old pair of GTS 9's. I can feel improvement but still problem with my knees & achilles heel.

    I went to Finish Line store yesterday and sales person showed me Mizuno Inspire 6, tried it and felt good.

    I came across your blog. Very informational. I haven't decided on the shoe yet but will definitely share my experience.

    ReplyDelete

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