I haven't bought a pair yet, but I raced (running races) in the MRC1600 for the past couple years and plan on trying out the Hanzo hoping it is replacement for the MRC1600

I never wore the 1600 but I read somewhere that the Hanzo feels similar. Not a direct replacement and significantly lower drop from what I can tell.

The hanzo's replace the 1600's which I have raced in for the past couple of years. The 1600's are very different than the 1400's or 1500's and I would describe the 1600's as a true "racing flat" that is aggressive with minimal cushioning. I have loved the 1600's but the biggest difference between the hanzo's and the 1600's is in drop. The 1600's had a 8 mm drop and the new hanzo's went down to a 4mm drop which kinda blows in my opinion for longer races.

The Nike Zoom streak LT 3 are very very similar to the Hanzo's which I have been using the past couple of months and I do like them but they like the new Hanzo's have 4 mm drop and I always find myself wanting that little bit more in drop to help fall on my forefoot more naturally when running "fast".

Have you used a racing flat in your past that you have liked? What did you not like about the 1400's and 1500's?

The hanzo would fall into the same category racing flat as Saucony Type A, Nike Zoom Streak LT 3, Adidas adizero Takuma-sen 3, Brooks Hyperion, and Ascis Gel Hyper Speed. Basically all these shoes are at 6 oz or less and have very minimal cushioning but very very effective to make one feel really fast (relatively) on race day.

Looks like a different tongue too. I am afraid to wear the 1600 in a triathlon because of that tongue (misaligned easily, stiff, sharp edges). Are you racing tri in 1600s?

For open half marathons and shorter I currently use Saucony Type A6. I like that they are lightweight, minimal drop and feel really fast. I haven't tried the new Type A's but they'll be on my list as well. I've stayed away from the 1400's because of the 10mm drop and the 1500's because at 8oz it seems like I'd be paying a weight penalty for stability that I don't need.

I do but I wear socks with them for the full distance. For shorter distances I go sockless but it is process because of the tounge you mentioned. Lots of track work in them and Vaseline both on the inside of the tounge and on top of my foot. It's def a 3-4 week process to get my foot and the shoes ready to go sockless for 70.3 but I much perfer to race sockless in 70.3 and shorter just for the feel of it. I ran the 1500 meter as a kid and have always liked racing sockless but the ironman just scares me if something goes wrong early .

There are other flats like the saucing type A that you can pretty much go sockless out of the box but those have a 4 mm drop which works but I just like the 1600's a bit more.

Yeah the type a is a great racing flat and I had success with that shoe for several years. I'd imagine we may be splitting hairs between the Hanzo and the Type A. Both are 4 mm and weigh about the same. If you wanted to try the Hanzo I would say there would be minimal risk that you don't like them if you really like the sauconys. The Nike LT streak is also super light with a 4 mm drop that I would put on your list. It's the fastest shoe I've ever worn but it is super aggressive and would be a toss up for 13 miles. No shot I would wear them for 26.

Thanks I will definitely check out the Nike.

I don't really get the difference between these shoes and the Minimus line. Both are 4mm drop neutral runners. New Balance just has too many shoes that overlap each other.

They don't make any Minimus road shoes anymore.

Didn't know that. Haven't bought a road pair in a few years, but really liked the wider toe box compared to the racing flats, which was really the main difference to me. Last version I bought was the trail Minimus and they actually worked great on tarmac.

I may give NB a try again with the 1500's as they have a little more padding, but not a full on heavily padded running shoe.

Yeah I was a big fan of the Minimus stuff as well. I still have a pair of the original trail model and zero drop road shoes, although they are both pretty well destroyed. I think NB has done a nice job of incorporating some of the best features of the Minimus line (e.g. wide toe box, fairly low drop, etc.) into some of their more traditional shoes like the Zante and Vazee Pace to create light, neutral shoes that seem to work for a lot of people.

Incidentally they do still sell the Minimus trail and crosstraining models.