Mizuno have been pushing the boundaries with their Wave Rebellion Pro shoes. Chopping off heels and playing in the grey zone of stack height with clever design. The Neo Vista is their shot at a modernised daily trainer.
Mizuno Neo Vista Introduction:
Breaking Norms
Andy: A very distinctive shoe from the Japanese brand, the Neo Vista was initially teased at TRE as the ‘Mystery Shoe’. The black and white dazzle camouflage atop a thick slab of foam caused a stir online. Now people have had a chance to get the shoe on foot, what is the verdict?
Mizuno have positioned the Neo Vista as a do it all shoe for distance runners who want to push the pace in comfort. Featuring Enerzy NXT foam, the Wave plate to add stability and Smooth Speed Assist. Mizuo have packed the Neo Vista with race shoe technology but tempered it for the rigours of daily training. We have been putting the miles in to see how the marketing talk translates onto the cruel concrete.
Specs:
Stack height: 44.5mm heel to 36.5mm toe
Drop: 8mm
Weight: 265g | 9.4oz
MSRP: €180 | $180 | £150
Mizuno Neo Vista Upper:
Big, Soft Bootie
Andy: This is a fabulous but frustrating upper for me. I love the initial step in comfort and the way that the socklike construction wraps the foot. Furthermore, the soft, stretchy mesh really helps with the all day ease of the Neo Vista. It makes you forget about the lack of padding inside. For me, slide in factor is easy too. I have been able to manage to tuck my feet in without issue and once there, they stay put. I understand from our instagram comments that some people have found locking down the heel an issue, but this is not something that I have experienced.
However, my frustration comes from a similar place. Due to the construction of the upper, it is seemingly impossible to change the lacing from the way Mizuno ship it. Perhaps I am even more intellectually challenged than I thought. But I can’t work out a way to change the lacing to a runner’s knot or to any other lacing configuration at the top of the lace structure. Whilst this hasn’t been an issue in the performance of the shoe for me, I can see how it may be a dealbreaker for some.
The tongue, whilst integrated into the whole upper, has a nice design touch. This comes in the form of the sole piece of padding being positioned exactly where Mizuno makes you tie the laces. The small strip (about 1cm x 2cm) sits right perfectly and does a very good job of relieving any pressure.
Overall, the upper is soft, secure and breathable. The material is reminiscent of the older style of Nike’s Flyknit. After the first 100km or so in the shoe, the upper has not stretched or deformed in any way. I just wish they had released it in the TRE colour as I’m not a massive fan of the men’s release colourway.
Midsole:
Thick and Smooth
Andy: The midsole on the Neo Vista is big. Really big. Not just tall but also really wide. Mizuno have been exceptionally generous with their usage of their Enerzy NXT. At 44.5mm in the heel, they are a towering shoe which is only just below the true behemoths of the running shoe world: the Prime X and Skyward X. Despite this towering stack height, it doesn’t feel that tall when on foot. This could be down to the compression in the incredibly soft foam as soon as any weight is put on it. But with great compression comes great rebound. This gives trampoline levels of bounce.
This could be down to the gaping chasm which has been cut into the midsole to expose the Wave Plate. This glass fibre reinforced nylon plate offers spring and propulsion without being overly stiff while it also brings Endorphin Speed style of fun. The combination of this plate and supersoft foam, works very well to create a versatile ride which brings exceptional comfort.
As a daily trainer it socks up the mileage. I am a fan of soft shoes but when I took this out for a first ride, I was actually shocked at how soft it was. Perhaps it was the direct comparison to the Brooks Hyperion Max 2 which made it feel extra soft, but it genuinely took a while to adjust to the super low density feel of the Enerzy NXT foam. Now the period of adjustment is over, I really relish lacing them up for some smooth cruising.
As a speed day shoe, the Mizuno Neo Vista capitalises on the bounce and propulsion offered by the foam/plate combination. While effortless speed may be overegging the pudding somewhat, it is certainly easy to pick up the pace in these. The Smooth Speed Assist technology promotes a more midfoot strike and comparing the discolouration on the midsole of the Neo Vista and other shoes I run in, this works. I definitely use more of the midsole in this than almost any other pair of shoes I own outside of the Skyward X. That said, when I have played around heel striking and moving more towards my usual tiptoe running style, it has also felt good. It is definitely a case where the technology promotes rather than enforces a particular strike.
Mizuno Neo Vista Outsole:
Good Grip
Andy: Mizuno have shod the Neo Vista in their X10 carbon rubber compound. Coverage is total save for a lip either side of the Wave Plate and so far the durability has proven to be solid. What’s more, due to my awful map reading and surface divination skills, I ended up on a several mile long trail run in some German hills. Here I discovered that the grip is good on wet mud, slippery rocky parts and even an outright stream running down the middle of the trail. Whilst this was reassuring, I probably wouldn’t recommend packing this as trail shoe of choice for UTMB later this month.
Mizuno Neo Vista Conclusion:
A Versatile Monster
Andy: My previous experience with Mizuno shoes has been fairly mixed. I have run in the Wave Rebellion Pro which ate my feet and our time together was very short lived. Then I ran in the Wave Rebellion Sonic which proved itself to be a reliable daily trainer which I keep coming back to when I want something simple and easy to grab a few miles in.
The Neo Vista is unlike either of these. It is much more versatile and offers a lot more fun on the run. In a world of high priced super trainers which promise range but don’t always deliver, it is refreshing to see a more reasonably priced shoe which can do it all. This offers the softness and bounce of the Balos but with a little more direction and a much lower price.
I can see myself putting a lot of enjoyable miles into the Neo Vista over the next few months. As a shoe which can cater to all paces and foot strikes, I would recommend giving it a go. Unless, of course, you are a runner with stability requirements. In that case, I would probably steer clear!
