Mizuno Evo Ferus Review!

Introduction

After wearing out my first pair of Adidas Adios 2 running shoes I thought I'd switch it up and get a trail specific shoe. I didn't want to keep replacing running shoes because of the busting out of the sides of the shoe so I thought a trail specific shoe would be more rugged. I had particularly high hopes for these shoes due to the welded overlays around the bottom of the upper. I was also very happy with Mizuno as a company given my good experience with the Wave Universe 5- I thought their concentration on the basics would translate across to these shoes. Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed in that hope.

As a sort of minimalist runner, I was attracted by the zero drop sole in this shoe. There are a number of other zero drop trail shoes on the market such as the Inov-8 Trailroc 235 which I considered but I dismissed because of reports of poor durability in the typical areas (near ball of foot)! This shoe has a constant 14mm thick sole (including insole). It also has a wide toe box, a relatively modest 7.9oz of weight and flexible midsole so it seemed like a perfect minimalist trail shoe.

Upper

When I got this shoe, it was really large! I can fit my thumb between the end of the shoe and my big toe in UK size 9.5 which I certainly cannot do in my 9.5 Adidas Adios 2 shoes. The forefoot goes beyond allowing toe splay: it is like a paddle. So, even if you decide to get this shoe after reading this review, I recommend you go at least half a UK size down. Even so, I was determined to like this shoe. The shoe did seem to last a number of harsh trail runs but within around 2 weeks of seeing some fraying on both sides, there appeared some holes which I was able to hide relatively well with the mud on the shoe. Then the more I used the shoe, the wider the holes became until it was obvious to anyone near me. To rectify this, I've decided to sew up the holes and to protect the thread I've glued half of this old Asics Piranha SP4 tongue to the outside. Thus far I haven't tested this configuration.

Even so, having got less than 300km out of the original upper, I feel let down. The upper situation isn't helped by the fact that every time I lace these up, it feels as though the tension is transmitted through the woven breathable mesh rather than through Adidas stripes or Inov-8 overlays for example shown below:

I really don't see the problem with putting some heavyish material around the toe box of most trail shoes as in the Inov-8 Trailroc 255:

In fact, so sick am I of shoes breaking so prematurely in this area that I will surely buy the 255 when my makeshift upper disintegrates. Could this be a matter of built in obsolescence? I would welcome any shoe manufacturer explaining why I repeatedly have this problem. In fact, the only shoe which I will not throw away due to damage in this area is the Wave Universe 5 as I think the sole will have disappeared by then!

Midsole

My first run in these was one of my favourite shortish runs: roughly 4.5k of road then 1.5k really steep uphill trail in the Chilterns and then back down. My first run was pretty unremarkable; I think the softness of this sole compared with my Adidas Adios 2 threw me a bit. So much was my dislike of the pillows on the bottom of my feet that I took the insole out for one run. This left me even more room in the shoe and I got some high pressure points on my foot during a long run.

I thought I would like a flexible sole because of the extreme flexibility of the Wave Universe 5- I think the difference here is that the Wave Universe 5 is soft but because it is so thin, it doesn't seem so. When I run in the Ferus though, I feel like I am losing a little bounce.

As I increased my milage in the shoe though, I got used to the softness but I would not consider using it for a road race. I did however use it for the Watlington 10 mile race in October and I won by over a minute and set a course record by over two minutes. I think that had this been a road race (rather than a really hilly trail race) I would not have performed as well relatively. I put this down to a rather good outsole. I have never slipped in this shoe and in some of my runs up Watlington hill, there is a dangerous twisty downhill bit which is really fun to go fast on. I decided once to test the mettle of the shoe by taking the brakes off just before a tight downhill twist and I felt completely safe. Another situation in which the grip excelled was during that 10 mile race where at about 12k, there was an ascent up the side of a slope and then a path parallel to the top of the slope right on the edge. By this point I had a good half minute lead and wobbled onto the slope and thought I was going to lose it. This shoe held on and saved my race. The outsole is taking some wear but not more than I would expect from some tough trails; it will certainly last longer that the upper. Below is the X-pattern for 'multi directional traction': 

Summary

This is a shoe that has a lot going for it: It has one of the best outsoles on a shoe I have used. It is also zero drop and light for all you runners trying to run more naturally. Unfortunately it is thoroughly let down by a poor upper. I will not be buying this shoe again but there are many shoes that I wouldn't buy in the first place (expensive heavy Nike wads of eva come to mind...). Mizuno, if you make a Ferus 2 with better durability in the upper and then I will buy it, OK?