Brian Metzler<\/u><\/a><\/p>When you\u2019re looking for your next pair of running shoes, comfort should probably be the most important criteria. Every runner reading this is probably nodding their head, but the comfort quotient has been confirmed by luminaries such as retired University of Calgary biomechanist Benno Nigg and running gait guru and physical therapist Jay Dicharry. Both have said training shoes should accommodate your \u201cpreferred movement path\u201d\u2014aka the repetitious pattern of your gait that\u2019s based on how the anatomical makeup of your bones, joints, and soft tissue are inclined to move. <\/p>
It should come as no surprise that a new study from Adidas found out that wearing uncomfortable shoes is the biggest detractor from experiencing an enjoyable run. While Adidas has built a lot of racing shoes that are meant to be exceptionally light, responsive, and fast, it\u2019s also started making sure it\u2019s focused on making comfortable shoes for the middle part of the running audience. The new Supernova Rise 2 ($140) is a good example of an everyday trainer built with a soft step-in feel and a smooth comfortable ride and less concern for energy return and sharp purposiveness. <\/p>
To those points, it\u2019s not a shoe with a lot of top-shelf bells and whistles\u2014there are no carbon-infused rods and it doesn\u2019t have a top-tier midsole foam like Adidas\u2019 high-end racing and training shoes\u2014but it does have some trickle-down technology by way of a new midsole configuration to offer cushioning and support to runners who might be running more moderate paces most of the week. It represents Adidas\u2019 reenergized commitment to new, novice, and intermediate runners, and it\u2019s a shoe that compares to other everyday trainers like the Brooks Ghost 16, Saucony Ride 17, New Balance Fresh Foam X 880, and Nike Pegasus 41. The Supernova Rise 2, which became available online this week, will be part of a three-shoe line in 2025 when the Supernova Solution and Supernova Stride launch in February.<\/p>
What\u2019s New: <\/strong>While the first edition of the Supernova Rise was a pretty good shoe aimed at the middle of the market, it came out at a time when other brands were starting to put more detail into their everyday trainers aimed at novice and intermediate runners. The second version has a redesigned engineered mesh upper that\u2019s more pliable and comfortable than the original and an updated Dreamstrike+ midsole foam that is softer, lighter, and more compliant. The heel construction is sturdier, but also more cushy to enhance the stability and comfort of the shoe for a wide range of foot shapes and gait patterns.<\/p>Fit\/Feel\/Ride: <\/strong>The Supernova Rise 2 fits true to size with a medium interior volume and a little bit of wiggle room in the toe box. (It is also offered in a secondary width for runners with wider feet.) The step-in feeling is soft and comfortable all around without being so cushy that you lose sense of the ground. The soft tongue and pliable but supportive upper adapt to various foot shapes to provide a secure fit without binding, pinching or being too flimsy. The midsole is enhanced with EVA support rods in the bottom of the midsole that give it a good amount of stability and subtle structure, but it is fairly lightweight (and this edition is slightly lighter than the original that came out last year) and has an easy-flexing behavior that allows your feet to move naturally without altering your stride pattern. That all combines for a soft, flowy ride that is a joy to run in at a variety of paces.<\/p>Why It\u2019s Great:<\/strong> I think the Supernova Rise 2 is great because it\u2019s capable of being a do-almost-everything everyday trainer and the only shoe in your quiver that you lace up every day of the week. Or it could be a shoe that you use for moderate runs at an easy pace. It\u2019s soft and flexible enough to be very comfortable, light and lively enough to be a bit more versatile than many trainers, and durable and stable enough to provide several months of good running without breaking down. I wore it for 10 straight days and liked it more as the days went on. I mostly ran at moderate paces, but I did ramp it up to tempo pace and also did a spicier mini fartlek workout alternating between hard\/easy intervals for two minutes at a time. Truth be told, speed is not its strong suit, but smoothness certainly is. I\u2019ve only done one long-ish run so far, but that was great, too, and I expect it will be good for runs up to about 15 miles. I intended to run an 8-mile run one day and wound up running almost 11 if only because I was feeling so good in it.<\/p>Specs<\/strong><\/p>Weights: <\/strong>8.1 oz (women\u2019s 8); 9.7 oz. (men\u2019s 9)<\/p>Heel-Toe Offset: <\/strong>9mm for women, 35mm (heel), 24mm (forefoot); 10mm for men, 36mm (heel), 26mm (forefoot) <\/p>Why You\u2019ll Love It: <\/strong>You\u2019ll love the Supernova Rise 2 because of the way your feet feel in it every time you lace them up. It\u2019s not as cushy as some of the high-stack maximal everyday trainers like the Asics Gel-Nimbus 26 or the New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080 v14, but it\u2019s more versatile and less expensive than those shoes, too. As much as there is a trend of training shoes with thicker cushioning, there\u2019s also a subcurrent of runners seeking trainers with better proprioceptive feel for that ground. For the time being, the Supernova Rise 2 is one of the best in that category. I\u2019m not against maximally cushioned shoes, but I\u2019ve definitely reduced the amount of days every month that I train in shoes with 40mm heels or higher, so I know I\u2019ll be running in this shoe more often in the coming weeks. <\/p>Pro: <\/strong>The thin Adiwear outsole offers good traction on wet and dry surfaces without adding bulk or weight. It doesn\u2019t utilize high-end Continental rubber but instead is made up of a unique combination of three different materials that combine to to offer enough tackiness while also contributing to the shoe\u2019s easy flexibility and smooth rolling ride.<\/p>Con:<\/strong> Like most middle-of-the-pack everyday trainers, the Supernova Rise 2 isn\u2019t exceptionally energetic or fast. I was able to push it to faster paces, but it took some extra effort. If you\u2019re looking for a faster everyday trainer, I\u2019d recommend the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4, Hoka Mach 6, or New Balance Rebel v4. But if you\u2019re looking for a comfortable and capable shoe that you can lace up almost every day of your training week, the Supernova Rise 2 is a good one to consider.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Brian Metzler When you\u2019re looking for your next pair of running shoes, comfort should probably be the most important criteria. Every runner reading this is probably nodding their head, but the comfort quotient has been confirmed by luminaries such as retired University of Calgary biomechanist Benno Nigg and running gait guru and physical therapist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gear-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":997,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions\/997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}