Building a shoe rotation, help me choose #4 (and maybe #5)

Triathlon Forum
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Shoes I own already:
Hoka Rincon 3- Daily trainer (380 miles on the odometer)
good daily trainer but approaching the end of its useful life and I’d like to add another daily trainer to my rotation.NB FuelCell SuperComp Pacer- low stack carbon plate racer (35 mi)
bought this as my first carbon plate supershoe but I’ve never felt much propulsion/energy return/bounce on these so I went out and got the Nikes.Nike Alphafly 2- high stack carbon plate racer (brand new)
wanted more propulsion and the bounciest plate and foam etc. Hopefully this can be a great race shoe.
So I’d love some advice on what should be my next daily trainer (shoe #4). Should be something with no plate, not the top of the line most expensive race model from any brand, emphasizing comfort and durability as opposed to speed or lightness.

And then since my Rincon 3s are close to their retirement mileage, I’d love advice for a SECOND daily trainer (shoe #5) to put into a ‘non-race shoe rotation’ of two. Ideally this will have some of the same qualifications as shoe #4 but maybe a different brand to mix it up. Thanks

2

I love my wide NB FuelCell Rebel’s.

3

My daily rotation is between the On cloudmonster and the hoka mach 5. The cloudmonster gives me a perfect shoe for easy days that can also handle picking up the pace really well for a cushioned shoe (night and day to my prior cliftons). The mach 5 is a perfect rincon replacement I feel, I went from the rincon 3 to them and it’s a similar shoe in essence, just with more pop but still that similar level of cushion.

For reference the other shoes I run in are the hoka zinal’s for trail, the hoka carbon X2’s for the occasional tempo and the hoka rocket X2 as my race shoes.

4

I’d love some advice on what should be my next daily trainer (shoe #4). Should be something with no plate, not the top of the line most expensive race model from any brand, emphasizing comfort and durability as opposed to speed or lightness.

And then since my Rincon 3s are close to their retirement mileage, I’d love advice for a SECOND daily trainer (shoe #5) to put into a ‘non-race shoe rotation’ of two. Ideally this will have some of the same qualifications as shoe #4 but maybe a different brand to mix it up. Thanks

I’ll give you my suggestions and then some addendums at the end

If you’re looking for comfort and durability then I’d look at:
Hoka clifton
Brooks Glycerin or Ghost (IMO the glycerin is worth the $20 upsell)
NB 1080 maybe the 880
Saucony Ride or Triumph
Asics Cumulus or Nimbus (the newest versions are worth it vs the older versions which are on sale, night and day difference)
361 Centuari , Strata or Meraki
Mizuno wave rider
Nike peg turbo or invincible
Adidas ultraboost or ultraboost light or Pureboost (I believe this is the old supernova if you liked that shoe) maybe the adizero bostons

that should be enough to get you started on the more traditional trainer or shoe 4.

Now for that pair 5th pair. I’d say don’t discount a plate right off the bat. Compare it to some other shoes and see what you like. Here are my recommendations:
Saucony Kinvara or Kinvara pro or the endorphin speed 3, maybe the shift although it’s firmer.
Brooks Hyperion tempo or tempo max maybe the launch.
NB Tempo or another fuel cell
Asics Noosa Tri (has a lot of toe ramp but 80% of the people I put in this shoe buy it, it’s almost unfair really) Novablast is another good option
Hoka Mach or Rincon even though you have a pair
Adidas adizero bostons

Addendums:

I compared the Hoka Mach X to the Kinvara Pro and the Mach X felt nice but something was lacking in the landing area. the kinvara pro just overall felt better.

If someone reading this needs a stability shoe the Saucony Tempus is, imo, The Best on the market currently. The Triumph is also better than the Ride

Mizuno was using PEBA foam and plates before any company thought to make it cool. They’ve done a lot of overhauls on their line up over the last 2 years. Harder to fine for certain but worth the look

Nike is a brand where 75% of people who want a Nike will leave a run specialty store in another brand unless it’s a racing shoe. I’ve put over a dozen Nike sponsored or contracted ($$) athletes into other brands for their trainers even though Nike was giving them shoes left and right. But who wants 5 pair of Vomero’s? No one. The answer is no one.

I think the Brooks Hyperion tempo is an under looked at shoe, it’s firm though. The launch is underwhelming comparatively.

The above are IMO. As always ymmv.

Hope that helps

5

I’ve recently made the switch to road training and racing in Alphaflys. Two pairs, one saved for racing only. (I do have other shoes, but I use them for recovery/easy runs or trail runs).

I’ve always been impressed with race day performance with Alphaflys, but lately I’ve been just as impressed with their ability to get you more training with less soreness. People mention it all the time, so I’m late to the party, but it’s definitely real for me - hard tempo runs like 10 milers at a stiff pace that usually beat my legs up a good amount with any other shoe, become something I could literally do on back to back days if I use the Alphaflys. It’s impressive.

I will add that you do need to exercise a bit of caution with the Alphaflys if you only use them sparingly or for race day. You can definitely be propelled so fast (and likely set a PR) but also give yourself a nasty calf strain in the process that’ll set your training back afterwards. This is the main reason I’m training/racing in them now - happened to me twice already, set tri-run PRs that I thought were totally out of reach (yay) but then had to take 2-3 weeks nearly completely off running since I was so hobbled after the race, and these were just Olys, not IMs.

6

Going with the Brooks Glycerin, thanks all for the advice.

Asics Noosa Tri looks really unique I’ll have to remember that one for the future.

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Going with the Brooks Glycerin, thanks all for the advice.

Asics Noosa Tri looks really unique I’ll have to remember that one for the future.

The Brooks Glycerin is still in my rotation - it was my main daily trainer for the past 5 months. As with many of these well built trainers, it seems to never wear out. The rubber sole holds up really well. A little heavy, and a slow shoe but that’s fine for daily running.

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Girlfriend just got the Brooks Levitate so we’ll see how the two compare. “Soft daily trainer” was the vibe we were getting from the Glycerin and “springy daily trainer” was the vibe on the Levitate. See if that holds true.

9

OMG, running in multiple shoe brands would be a no no for my OCD. LOL
Current rotation.
Adidas Prime X
Adidas Boston 12
Adidas Adios Pro 3
Adidas Takumi Sen 8