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