This is a guest post from our good friend, Nerdy Neanderthal, a nerdy fitness dude. Expect more posts from him ranging from workouts to beer discussions to nerd surges!
Reebok Nano 5.0’s
“Just not that much better than their predecessor”
Pros:
-Weight and feel
-Toe box
-Stability
Cons:
-Price
-Color Choices
-Tongue
-“Don’t feel ready out of box”
The Nano 5.0s feel great, light and fast. I put the shoes on and started getting loose: my first thought was these feel a little off. The edges felt hard and the support seemed foreign. These thoughts were quickly replaced by how stable and close to the ground I felt. As I continued to move around, the feeling of “weird” was slowly being replaced. Climbed the rope; shoes locked in well. Jogged; feet didn’t feel heavy and I perceived a slight forward lean. Toes to bar, my 4.0’s couldn’t handle my overzealous kicking and I put a hole in the toes, the 5.0’s tops feel like they can take a beating. Heavy cleans, kept the weight in the heels. I dropped the bar and found myself smiling and thinking, “I am starting to like these shoes.”
These shoes accomplish what they set out to do. The angle of the shoes have a slightly raised heel which allowed me to feel planted and stable when doing my olympic lifting. They will never replace my olys for real heavy weight lifting or powerlifting stuff but for WODs at high percent, they give enough of that “raised heel” that allows those heavy oly lifts to feel that little bit easier at speed. I used to only be able to string pistols together in olys, now I can do them in the 5.0 Nanos; might be all psychological, but hey, its only crazy if it doesn’t work. Even with the slight heel, they are close enough to the ground that I feel rooted and balanced doing deadlifts. The kevlar, while most likely snake oil, feels light but strong, time will be the true test to that.
These shoes aren’t perfect; feel and comfort are lacking. Right behind the toe box, feels like it folds in on itself when I run. Over time that may break it down a lot faster than my 4.0s or New Balance Minimus, only time will tell but planned obsolescence is so in right now. What is better than selling me one pair of shoes a year? Selling me two. The tongue is a weird material as well; thin but strong. The tough plastic of the tongue does this weird thing where it rolls down, doesn’t bother me just makes me nervous it might slide under the laces. The 5.0s also felt like they had to be broken in, where the 4.0s felt ready to go from the opening of the box.
Minimal color choices and price are huge questions marks. You have to ask yourself, is a color I kind of want worth almost $130? That is my huge sticking point. Are these shoes 50 percent better than 4.0s or like 65 percent better than a pair of New Balance? I don’t think so. The color choices are very sparse, though that will inevitable improve with time. I would love the solar orange, or the teal.
While I like these 5.0s a lot and they have replaced my 4.0s it’s because I already bought them. If I could go back and wait, I would. Paying 80 bucks for way more variety of colors is worth it to me. Though the color choices and prices will improve on the 5.0s; I cannot recommend them over the 4.0s…presently. Now don’t be confused, these are great shoes, and if you can justify the 130 dollar price tag they are better than the 4.0s. Just not that much better than their predecessor. As always, stay hungry and fit!
9.0 Great
these look so much more comfy than the 4.0