Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 review

  • Price Paid:$90.00
  • User rating:
    (4.4)
  • Would buy again from this company: Yes
  • Used product for: 1 months
  • # of logged workouts:

"Excellent upgrade from the Inspire 3. Great color schemes, and very good fit. One slight issue that could be isolated to me. Mizuno continues to be the best shoe company out there. "Teed

(5)

Typical Mizuno style. Light and Airy.

(5)

Perfect

(4)

Very Good.

(3)

Depends on person, narrow tongue is an issue.

(4)

So far so good.

(4)

Excellent. Anything this good under $100 is a great value.

(5)

Very nice color schemes for 2008 so far.

(0)

Has never been needed.

(5)

Excellent. On the long or short run, Intervals, or tempo. These are good shoes.

The Wave Inspire 4 is the latest model of Inspire to be released by Mizuno, officially in January of 2008. I previously ran in the Inspire 3, which did not have enough arch support for me. I am a medium to medium high arch support guy. I did some comparison fitting and determined the insert to be slightly more aggressive in the Inspire 4. That sold me, so I decided to give them a try. I've since done an 18 mile long run, an aggressive set of Hill Repeat Intervals, and a regular distance run. I have to say, I am much happier with the Inspire 4, than I was with the 3. Had the arch not changed slightly, I would have moved back to the Alchemy.

The fit on these shoes is terrific. I use Yankz in place of shoelaces, and the fit is always excellent.

The only weakness demonstrated to this point is the tongue seems to be a little too narrow. Problem is that it folds under at the edges and creates a friction / compression point. I have to ensure that the tongue did not fold under on the sides every time I put them on. It's become a habit, so it is no big deal, but you can be sure that it will be a big deal come Triathlon season. This will be a transition issue for me. If it causes me to lose time, then it will have to go.

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Buyers clubWave Inspire 4
  • 10 people use
  • 77 workouts logged
  • 2723.83 miles / 270.35 hours logged