I am currently running in Brooks Pure Flows for training but am thinking of trying out the Zoot Kiawe 2.0 for racing. but oddly enough no stores around me sell them and there are not many reviews yet for the new version. I tried Brooks Pure Connects and Cloudracers and the forefoot was too narrow…put my darn foot to sleep.
What is your experience with the Zoot? Feel on the wide side or narrow side? Flexible? Anyone happen to run in them and in Pure Flows by chance?
thanks!
I raced the NYC 13.1 just a few weeks ago in them. They are a 6mm drop with very little cushioning under foot. You feel the road under you. Very flexible. Great grip, which sounds weird, but nice when taking a quick hard angle turn at race pace and you’re already tired.
Very light weight and has drainage holes. I run sockless in them all the time.
The closest shoe to it would be the Saucony A5. Major difference is the Zoot is a bit better when sockless and there is a 2mm differnece in drop (A5 is 4mm).
The forefront is not very wide, but the fabric allows for a bit of stretch. I usually like a wider toe box and forefront, but the Kiawe 2 still fits well, not crushing my feet.
I will run all half marathon and shorter in Ultra Kiawes. About 13 miles and I switch over to the Ultra Race 4, but I’m really trying to hold out for the new Solana coming out!!
thanks for the insight! do they happen to come with quick release laces too?
They do come with a set of traditional AND quick laces. I still opt to buy the speed laces version as I like black shoe laces (OCD thing). But the speed laces that come with the Kiawe are more than adequate.
Just to repeat/highlight one thing: I am a wide forefoot guy and the Kiawe 2.0 are the most comfortable running flat I’ve been in with regards to the toebox. I would slightly disagree with “the forefoot is not very wide” and say that I think it does tend more towards being wide instead of being narrow.
And they do run try to size.
I can’t speak to the Kiawe 2.0, but here is my experience with Zoot shoes…
I’m racing (and now also training) in the Zoot Ultra Race 4.0 and they are amazing! I’d say they are closer to being narrow than wide…but I’d not call them narrow. I’ve never run in Pure Flow but have run in Skechers GoRun. The Zoot’s have less drop, 8mm vs 4mm and are much better to go sockless than the GoRuns. The GoRuns are lighter but I also felt every little rock and road or trail imperfection through the sole of the GoRuns. I did IM Los Cabos on March 30, a bit over a week ago, and had no issues running (and some walking!!) sockless in the Ultra Race shoes. There is less cushioning than in my Zoot Ultra Kalani 3.0, but I’ve had some issues running more than a 10k sockless in the Kalani’s. The Boa system in the Ultra Race is really cool, easy to use and simple to dial in just enough. I did find that if I dial in too much tension, I get some discomfort on the top of the foot, right under the boa dial. I would certainly recommend them!
I’m a VERY happy camper with my Zoot shoes and my wife now wants to get them for her next running shoes!
Yeah the Ultra Race 4.0 is narrow. I also have a wider foot and find the Kiawe super comfortable.
I used to run in the Pure Flows (even with the crappy moving tongue) for a running flat and switched last year to the Kiawe and I won’t go back (now using the Kiawe 2.0). I have a wide forefoot and the Kiawe fits perfectly. It does have a tad less cushion than the Pure Flows in the forefoot area, but I like that due to a quicker response. The fabric is definitely more breathable and softer than the Pure Flows. I’ve done 15 miles in them and honestly for me, that would be the limit mileage wise. Personally after that I switch to the Ultra TT’s.
They come with regular laces but a set of speed ones do come in the box. I prefer Xentex laces and that’s what I’ve got in mine.
Size wise, whatever you wear in the Pure Flows, you’ll wear in the Kiawes.
Primary running shoe is the Kinvara (similar to the Pure Flow) and did my first 1/2 marathon in the Saucony A6 on Sunday. I would put the Zoot Kiawae right in the middle in terms of being more firm than the Kinvara, but not as firm as the A6.
They do come with speed and tratitional laces. I find them to be a bit more narrow than the A6 (which is more narrow than the Kinvara) and to have a bit less mid-foot volume.
I race tris sockless in the Kiawe 2.0 up to Olympic distance. I raced in them with thin socks for a 70.3 last year, but wore the Kinvaras for an Ironman.
The A6 will get the nod for open road races up to 13.1, but are fairly similar to the Zoot, just a bit less shoe.
thanks for the feedback. I just picked a pair up online so fingers crossed they work! I love my Pure Flow 1s (still have another new pair in storage…) but havent been in love with the newer models as I find them much stiffer than the first edition. I’ll still run in them though for training, marathons and IM but really hoping these Zoots work for halfs and 70.3s.
Yeah the Ultra Race 4.0 is narrow. I also have a wider foot and find the Kiawe super comfortable.
100% agree on the Ultra Race 4.0 feeling narrow despite the stretchy material (and i have a wide forefoot which likes to splay)
I have found the Ultra Kalani series to be great, however.
I’ve been running with Zoots for years, with occasional forays to another brand before coming back to Zoot, starting with Race, Race 2.0, Ultra Tempo 5.0, Ultra Kaiwe (2 pairs worn through) and finally my latest Zoots, the Ultra Kaiwe 2.0’s. By far my favorites were the Race 2.0’s, followed closely by the original Ultra Kaiwe’s. My least favorite were the Ultra Tempo 5.0’s.
At the risk of slight thread drift, let me say I’ve always managed to get a lot of mileage out of my Zoots, far more than recommended by all the pundits. My Race 2.0’s went 1400 km (!) before I finally, and reluctantly, let them go into retirement. The Ultra Kaiwe 1.0’s went 922 and 810 km. My experience with the U.K 1.0’s was 100% positive. I have always purchased EU45 size and found that I had plenty of room in the toe box area, and like many who have responded, I too like to have a bit of wiggle room up front, especially for longer distances. I suffer from a lot of black toe and toe nerve pain if the shoes are a little too narrow, and my feet are *not *narrow, if anything, slightly wide. Anyhow, long story short, I ordered a third pair of size EU45 U.Kaiwes from my local Zoot dealer, and much to my surprise, ended up with a new version, the 2.0s. I immediately found them more restrictive in the toe box than the 1.0’s. I began to get nerve pain in my long runs, and ultimately have retired them early. It’s been quite disappointing, really. I sent a message to Zoot USA not long after I had discovered this slight change to the design, and I simply got an indifferent reply to my complaint that it wasn’t the same fundamental dimension. Other than that, the shoes are terrific in terms of suitability to my style. I think, if the shoe fits nicely and you are not freakishly wide, you will be okay. If you are like me, slightly wide, perhaps go up 1/2 a size.
Dave
Restrictive? As in the material didn’t expand enough on top or on the side?
Now that you mention it, I’m going to check it out. I used socks for the NYC 13.1 and thought that was the difference, but you might be right about stiffer material limiting the stretch on top.
My reference to ultra kiawe and narrow is subjective. I have a wide foot because it flattened when I was a bit fatter. My forefront of my foot over hangs a bit in the kiawes 1.0. I’m going to check if they do also in the 2.0’s. Maybe I need a 1/2 size bigger after all?
By restrictive, I meant fractionally narrower…tighter at, and ahead of the ball of my foot. The EU45 U.Kaiwe 1.0’s were no problem at all, as in lots of room. The EU45 U.Kaiwe 2.0s were noticeably narrower than the 1.0s, to the point where I was questioning whether the shoe was mis-labeled the wrong size! In hindsight I should have returned the shoes for the next size up, but it took so long for the dealer to get the 45’s in, I didn’t want to wait another 3 weeks for the 46’s only to find they were too big, so I decided to suck it up and try to break them into my foot since they were close to being a good fit. Lesson learned.
Dave
Sorry for the threadjack- I like the look and specs of the Kiawe 2 but any feedback on how they work with low arches? I run in the Pure flow 3’s but I am blistering at the arch when running sockless. Also, is there a lot less cushion than the Brooks?
I have low arches, feet flattened when I was over weight. I’ve never had a blistering problem on arches with zoot.
The pure flow 3 has 18mm to 22mm cushioning? Kiawe is very thin cushioning at 11mm to 17mm. I would say the kiawe is a pretty firm ride.
I just got my first pair of Zoots (Ultra Kiawe 2.0) about two weeks ago and raced in them at Collegiate Nationals after only two runs to break them in. I raced in them two days in a row - in the Draft Legal Sprint race and in the Olympic distance race.
It should be known that I am a midfoot runner, meaning that I land on the pad of my foot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd1QvXJS9m4) and my heel never hits the ground no matter how fast or how long I run. This strongly affects the way I experience a shoe - especially in comparison to someone who heel strikes.
Here are my thoughts on the shoe from that perspective:
In terms of sizing, they are almost the exact same width as the Adidas Boost and fit almost exactly the same… though I like a little snugger shoe for racing. That is to say: I wear a 11.5 in the Adidas Boost and a 11.0 in the Ultra Kiawe 2.0. As I said, these are my first Zoot Kiawes and I therefore have no idea how they fit compared to the 1.0s. I also have a pair in size 11.5 and these feel extremely comfortable, but my be a little big for intense racing (I’ll be testing them on a tempo run soon and will try to get back on here to say for sure). Oh… and they’re definitely a touch wider than the Sketchers GoMeb Speed 1.
In terms of their ride, the Kiawe Ultra 2.0s are pretty soft and quite well padded in the midfoot/forefoot area. They are not, as some others have noted, a firm ride if you were to compare them to the Mizuno Ronin 3.0-5.0 or the Adidas Adizero Adios 2.0. They are a little firmer than the Asics Gel-Lyte 33, which feels like running on a cloud. The Kiawe Ultra 2.0s have some pop, but not as much as you might expect from what they look like or from the fact that there’s a carbon plate in the bottom.
In terms of their performance, the Kiawe Ultra 2.0s are awesome. In the two races over this past weekend, the draft legal sprint and the olympic distance national championships, I ran best times in the Kiawes. Sure, I was tapered, but I certainly wasn’t well-rested for the olympic distance race after killing myself in the sprint. My times: 15:12 (the course was short) and 33:34.
So if you want fast shoes that are great for a midfoot strike, are crazy comfortable, and are super fast out of transition, I’d grab some Kiawe Ultra 2.0s. And the size should be pretty well equivalent to your shoe size in Asics, Adidas, and Mizuno.
How would the Ultra 4.0 compare to the TT6.0? I love the TT, but feel they are a bulkier on top of the foot. I’ve used the Kiawe, but looking for a shoe a bit more cushioning for my IM-run
What adidas boost shoe are you in that you can size 1/2 down in a Zoot?
I actually could have been talking about any Adidas shoe since I wear 11.5 in all Adidas shoes, but I was specifically talking about the Adidas Energy Boost 1.0, which fits a little snug. Turns out that Zoots that are exactly the same size as my Energy Boosts (11.5) are even more comfortable, though. So it depends on how tight you like your shoes to be. That said, I notice fewer hot spots when I wear the same size Zoots as Adidas Energy Boosts. This is true in the Kiawes, the Ultra Kalani 3.0s, and the Ultra Race 4.0s. I really love the latter two shoes, as well. The Kalanis for training and the Race for… well, racing.