Watched a bunch of youtube videos and next thing I know I was researching chinese running shoes that a lot of reviewers say are cheaper and better than almost all the US shoes at their price points. Enough reviewers online to make me think it wasn’t a fluke, and I took a dive and bought one.
All the most popular ones that are the high-end supershoes like Li-Ning Feidan Elite 6 were basically sold out and unavailable in my size, so I opted to try one of the less expensive ‘fast every trainers’ that I actually could get quite easily, the Anta C202 7. $143 shipped via UPS, arrived in less than 4 days.
Shoe feels great. It has a carbon plate in it which helps the foam bounce. This shoe isn’t as bouncily aggressive as an Alphafly but it’s not supposed to be as a daily-trainer type shoe, although you can race in it. It’s as good as the glowing online reviews made it out to be. I think this is a superior shoe to the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4 which is already a really good shoe (I haven’t tried Speed 5).
Buying is still a pain in the rear though, most of them require Aliexpress, Taobao, or some other chinese-site that’s hard to navigate with fluctuating prices. I think the inconvenience of buying offsets most of the cost savings, honestly. (Not so with the Anta shoes I bought, those are direct from Anta.)
Makes me want to try all the other really well-reviewed Chinese shoes out there. Worth a look if you’re getting bored with running shoes and want to try something different. I’m probably going to try the Anta Zone 2 90 ($120) next as it’s supposed to be as good but softer than the C202, and one day I’ll try a $200+ supershoe, although I seriously doubt I’m going to leave my Alphaflys for racing, especially since I have 2 of them.
Regular white Nike Vaporfly size 10.5 are $174 bucks on Nikes site direct right now. I always wait till the Nike’s go on sale and buy a few pairs. I do not trust Chinese company quality controls for manufacturing. I’d hate to use Chinese shoes as a daily trainer and suddenly develop a running injury and quickly begin wondering if saving 30 bucks was really worth it. Having worked in global supply chains for many decades, I can assure you I speak from experience regarding Chinese manufacturing.
Fully supporting the communist regime through purchasing Chinese shoe company shoes vs only partially supporting by purchasing Chinese made but US branded shoes…decisions decisions.
It’s true I’m not thrilled about supporting the Chinese import/export balance. Sadly, it’s probably going to get worse unless somewhere else in the world starts taking up low-cost manufacturing.
I think the new consensus from a lot of reputable reviewers online is that the well-reviewed Chinese shoes are in fact consistent and the real deal. There is still some problems in ease of buying them, but as long as you’re a bit careful and try to stick with the ‘brand’ label, you’re ok.
I’ll actually guarantee that an aggressive shoe like the Nike Alphafly (not as much Vaporfly) is one of the most potentially injurious shoe out there, because it has such an aggressive geometry and rebound so that if you don’t amply prepare with it, you may get severe calf strains. (A real problem because a lot of people ‘save’ their AFs for race day and barely train in them beforehand.) I’ve had three of them, one of them horrendous, no other sneaker has done this to me. That said none of my other sneakers has me going remotely as fast….
It does look like some of the big brands are reducing their prices to directly compete so the gap is a lot smaller today in price, or nearly equal. My last shoe was the Nike Zoom Fly 6 which was $175 when I bought it, you can now get it for $145, which is pretty close to the Anta C202 I bought. Both have carbon plates, both are good. I think I slightly prefer the Anta still but it’s def nearly equal.
That may be the biggest effect of these Chinese running shoes, prompting the big names to pull down their prices, probably especially on the flagship $350+ racing shoes which now have to compete with really good $300 ones from Li-Ning.
I just came back from China. I bought some Anta C202 7 shoes in Shanghai for about $110. At first they said my size was too big but then checked their website and said they could get a size 47 in 2 days if I could wait. The store I purchased them in was very cool - 4 stories high with a spiral conveyor belt from the top floor used to shoot down sizes that customer wanted to try. The WSJ had a story about how in China, Nike and other western brands are losing share to Anta and Li Ling. I looked at a lot of shoes and clothes and the Chinese brands and their retail stores are top notch. Just a matter of time until the Chinese brands start getting traction around the world.
You know they’re popping when you can’t even get a pair sometimes.
The shoe reviewer Kofuzi couldn’t even get a pair of Li-Ning Feidian Elite 6 that all his viewers wanted him to review even though he contacted the company directly, they told him his size was sold out and he ended up reviewing a non-super Li-Ning shoe (which was apparently still pretty good albeit not mindblowing).
Speaking of budget fast trainers, I just picked up. Nike Zoom Fly 6 for $65.
I was looking at the Feidan shoes and almost pulled the trigger on a pair then I started hitting the factory discount stores and have been getting some pretty sweet deals.
If anyone does see the Zoom fly 6, I’d highly recommend them for a fast comfy trainer.
I’m not sure that’s the right shoe, it might be, but it’s not supposed to be a “challenger’, it’s supposed to be the ELITE 6. The one you linked to is either a Challenger or an Elite 5? (it doesn’t say 6) but admittedly it’s SUPER hard to tell if it’s the right one.
The ELITE 6 is the one that’s sold out and the one everyone wants. The Challenger is also good but apparently not quite as awesome as a top-of-line supershoe. This is one of the biggest problems buying on Aliexpress, Amazon, etc. - it’s really easy as of now to accidentally buy the wrong shoe, so read the descriptions carefully.
My last 2 rounds of shoes I just retired were both Zoom Fly 6s, they are really good shoes no doubt. $65 is crazy, let us know where you got that deal. I think they’re down to $140 now which is I think a great price for a carbon-plated Nike shoe. While it’s supposed to be the Alphafly trainer, I can say with experience and certainty that for some like me, it will NOT prepare you for racing in the Alphafly adequately if you never run in the AF before race day. I run 30-35mpw, with decent speedwork, yet one set of 5 x 2’ VO2maxes 2 weeks before race day in AFs got me some seriously annoying calf tendon strains. I have to mix in AF training at least 2 months out before the race for it to be problem free. (I have two AFs now.)
I’d say the C202 I bought is on par with the Zoom Fly 6, similar speed, similar feel, a bit firmer stack on the C202 and slightly less drop. Both sort-of fun to run in (not as fun as an Alphafly though.)
