Newsletter - #03
Some shoe reviews plus new apparel that just released for Spring ‘25!
Shoes in for Testing
Hoka Bondi 9 - $170
That’s right, like most people after their New Years resolutions, I’ve caved. Like I said last time, I have high hopes for these bad boys and haven’t been disappointed so far. I forget the drop is only 4mm sometimes, and subsequently wonder why my achilles are a little more beat up after running in them for multiple days in a row. Other than that, I’m looking forward to more miles in them.
Altra Timp 5 BOA - $175
Only a color its mother could love. The shoe no one asked for, but is here anyways. Ian and I aren’t so convinced they feel good upon an initial try on. For us, the BOA dial seems too close to the collar and feels like its digging into our ankles or making that collar too stiff and digging into our ankles. Either way, that may be the limiting factor here. Cool concept, but not my favorite execution. We’ll have to see if we run in them or send them back.
New Balance Hierro v9 - $155
A surprise model this year that feels really great on foot compared to the v8 that I thought was too soft for a trail shoe. Following a pretty awesome trend of New Balance having some stellar updates this year ah-la the 880v15. The Rebel is also due for an update this summer, and should be another hit for them as well.
Altra Lone Peak 9+
Redacted! Can’t show pictures yet I believe, but will release sometime this fall from what I’ve heard. Very very similar to the Lone Peak 9 with a slight tweak that I think will be appreciated. The earliest we’ll have access might be spring 2026, but hopefully they stay in the lineup beyond that!
Apparel Round Up
“Apparel sucks. We should sell pickleball shoes instead.”
I’ll add an apologies section here at the start. I may not be able to find all of the updates online just yet, and the catalogs are not usually a ton of help with a full change list, so a bulk of the updates or little tweaks are just things I can pull out of my head from seven months ago. Hopefully it makes sense to someone!
Patagonia Spring ‘25
In an effort to cut down on length, Patagonia only did wholesale line videos for the new updates instead of showing everything in the catalog. Prior seasons, they had 30min to 60min videos on all their category; Insulation, Snow Apparel, Logo Apparel, Active Layers, etc. It was a lot of fun to watch those and take notes for hours, but unfortunately I have less material this time around. I’ve cut this down to just the fit/style updates that are fairly significant. They tend to make color updates to every product each season, which would leave us here for a while, and something that could maybe be it’s own blog.
We have yet to received our 2/1 product shipment from Patagonia due to “increased traffic.” Coincidentally, this is also the reason they give us every season when things arrive a few weeks late but that’s what you get as a small store.
Anyways, colors!
Color Palettes:
Personally, I’m a sucker for a good purple, and they just so happen to find a way to make a new blue color every year that makes me go “wow, I really want to buy that in a $400 jacket.”
Apparel:
Nano Air Ultralight (new model line) (pictured)- Just a piece I ordered for myself to test out. My guess is that this would’ve been perfect with a merino long sleeve for that week of the 19th in January when we had some negative degree days, but I’m sure I can find some new weather conditions that will fit; both hiking and running. Available in a full-zip hoody and half zip pullover. For myself, I’d wager this will do well for running in the low teens and negatives, and maybe under freezing temps to 40 for hiking? Excited to test it and I think the women’s blue is really really nice here too.
Men’s Multi Trails 6” Short (update) - This has been in the line for a bit, but goes to a 2-in-1 boxer style liner vs a brief and shortens from a 8” to 6” inseam. Might be small changes on paper, but I’m hopeful they’ll be well received in the store.
Women’s Endless Run 6” Shorts (update) - Upon feedback from their testers, they’ve added 2” to the inseam here to their compression short.
Outdoor Everyday (model line update) - Updates to both the men’s and women’s styles. Pretty much a typically cargo short with a built in belt. Women’s options will be the short, a skort, cargo pant, and overalls (the overalls look really good to be honest), which I believe are all new except the short. Men’s will have shorts, pants, and Marsupial Pullover options with the shorts having updated pockets. Perfect to go with your Chacos and sunburn this summer.
Terrebonne Shorts (new model line) - Bringing the classic Terrebonne joggers to a short style. They do advertise it as a trail running option, but I’d say this fits better in a lightweight hiking option and even casual use. I haven’t felt them in hand, but just knowing the jogger style well enough, I would assume these to be softer against the skin and lighter compared to something like a Patagonia Baggie. Women’s is a 4” inseam and men’s is a 6”, both are unlined too.
Micro D Fleece (new styles) - Adding to the popular quarter zip, there will now be a hoody and pullover for women’s sizes and a crewneck, button down jacket, and hoody for men’s sizes.
Accessories:
A new naming convention here to having everything more relatable, but a lot of little tweaks here. Everything gets a fabric update; a change from the older silicone coating to a new PU (polyurethane) coating, but here are the other changes:
Terravia 14L Pack - A little more slim, back panel update
Terravia 22L Pack - Back panel update
Terravia 36L Pack - Now a roll top style
All Terravia Packs above come with rain fly’s
Terravia Mini Hip Pack (pictured) - Replaces the Ultralight Mini Hip Pack with new naming, it has thicker webbing straps to help prevent bounce on rides and runs.
Terravia Hip Pack - Replaces Blackhole Ultralight Atom Sling, basically a larger size of the Mini.
Terravia Tote Pack (pictured) - Replaces Blackhole Ultralight Tote with new naming. Has a cinch cord option versus just zips.
Duck Bill Trucker - Fit has been updated to fit more heads and bill is now crushable versus more stiff prior styles.
(There’s also quite a bit of fishing line updates this year, but my guess is that most people are tired of the Patagonia updates now, so on to Janji below)
Janji Spring ‘25
Janji! Or as I like to call them, The Reason This Newsletter is Late. Janji tends to run a few weeks behind the Patagonia season updates, but I imagined that would mean they release products online around the 10th and then we receive it around then or maybe a few days after. Via a promo email the store got on the 17th, it looks like they’ll release on the 18th, and we’ll hopefully get our gear sometime before March? In any case, I’m done waiting and I’ll actively update this section as they post styles with some official update notes and pictures.
I have less specifics to go on since it’s just the product catalog and no handy line videos like Patagonia, but I’ll do my best. For those that are already familiar with Janji, I think you’ll agree that their prints speak for themselves. Most are a bit outlandish, but it’s an unmistakable hallmark for those that can tolerate them. Below are all the spring prints, some towards the end of the carousel are just going to be a one-off shirt or tank print, but those towards the start are the all-over prints I’m referring to.
Prints:
Apparel:
W Run All Day Tank (fit update?) - I want to say this was just a fit update and no major changes? Maybe something like the cut of the neckline is changed.
W Run All Day Tee (new style) - For some reason prior to this, they haven’t had a women’s tee in the Run All Day fabric. Just like an uncle that’s had one too many at Thanksgiving; it’s downright weird. But, they do now so rejoice because they could take it away again in spring 2026 for all I know.
W Circa Daily Tee (new style) - Same as above here. I believe they had only had tanks in this fabric as well. Like an aardvark in Alaska; downright weird.
M Trekker Snappy Shirt (new style) - (I’m super biased in this one by the way) JANJI IS MAKING A BUTTONDOWN TRAIL SHIRT.. ahem.. a very elegant piece made out of what I can only assume is a combination of Scott Jurek and Mike Wardian’s hair since I have yet to see it in person. I’m assuming this will be a similar feel to the Run Rabbit High Country shirts too (which I also love and have two of now). Hopefully the classic Janji twist of always using a slightly lighter and softer fabric than competitors holds true and I’ll buy two. I’ll note that the only difference I absolutely know of is that the button snaps will be slightly more hidden than the Run Rabbit one.
W Repeat Merino Muscle Tank (new style) - A different cut of the usual Run All Day Tank to give a more sleeveless t-shirt look and 47% merino fabric.
M Repeat Merino Tee (fit update?) - Maybe just a fit update again? When I can’t find any real substance on update notes, I think it’s safe to say a fit update. Maybe the seams here are offset from the shoulders?
M & W Pinnacle Ultra Singlet (new style) - New super ultra duper lightweight singlet for racing and hot summer runs for those who still wear shirts. Personally, I’ve always liked singlets with a super cut out back on them, but have a hard time finding men’s sizing with a big enough cut in back. Therefore, this is another one I may just buy a few pairs of for the sake of possibly not finding anything else out there that works as well.
W 3” AFO Middle Short Ultra (new style) - A women’s version of the men’s 5” ultra style they released in 2024 (?): 3” inseam, 6 pockets (3 zip, 2 quick-access, 1 drop in pocket w/ s-biner key clip). I really love the AFO fabric on their shorts, especially in the summer, so I might even consider trying a larger women’s size since my preferable inseam is 3” vs the men’s 5”.
M 5” AFO Middle Short Ultra (updated) - Honestly can’t remember what the update was here
M 7” AFO Middle Short Ultra (new style) - 7” version of the 5” Ultra Short, still has the brief liner as well.
M 5” AFO Middle Short Ultra 2-in-1 (new style) - The same as the 5” version with a boxer liner vs the brief liner. I’ve seen there be an increase in demand for the 2-in-1 liner style last summer, so we should have a few of these in the shop soon. It does have a little more pockets than the regular version too; 3 zip, 2 quick-access, 2 elastic side liner pockets, and an interior drop in pocket w/ s-biner key clip.
W 5” Multi Short (new style) - A heavier weight/more durable alternative to the AFO shorts, now in a longer length. Even if the AFO shorts are the preferred running gear, I think these are a great hiking short too.
M 6” & W 5” Alti Short (new styles) - A liner-less option in shorts that also would work well as a hiking short with some more durability for traversing mountains.
W 4” Trail Short (update) - I believe the change was a 3” to 4” inseam to give a better fit? Either way, a great material and great pockets. I use the men’s version quite a bit now.
Accessories:
Nothing significantly new here other than new colors, but I will mention one.
AFO Hyperlight Cap: What I believe are our best selling spring/summer hats add nice prints in Nova Wavelength, Rock Formation, and Paisley Hand Multi (see above). However, I’m most excited for the “Greige” color. Technically a white, I was told it was undyed, which may very well make it the lightest running hat on the market. I’m a sucker for white hats too, I’ve been using the same Nike Dri-Fit hat for 8-ish years now and just waiting for the day it doesn’t come out of the wash all in one piece.
Shoe Reviews
Mizuno Neo Zen Review:
A new trainer that is a little too much bounce for it’s britches…
As of writing this, I only have 12 miles on these, with maybe the longest run being a 4/5 mile morning shakeout on the recway. I’ll talk about it below, but I’m worried to run longer in them for a number of reasons; upper fit being the main one.
Let’s start from the bottom up. The rubber is nothing to write home about. It’s okay when dry and some wet conditions, but I haven’t been able to use them in the rain yet with the colder days. I can confidently say they are pretty bad on snow. They could be the worst I’ve used in recent memory, but I have been using a lot of trail shoes, so I could be biased too. Either way, road shoes are road shoes in terms of winter traction; there’s a reason I break out the trail shoes for most winter miles.
Midsole Schmidsole: Now, I’m not one to love soft shoes. I’m not super heavy, but I tend to prefer stable and firm shoes. In part due to my calves/shins having a short history of being sensitive to those super soft shoes. However, if I was going to go for a soft shoe, this might be the softest I’d go before being concerned. It is a super tall stack height at 34mm in the forefoot and 40mm in the heel, but has a remarkable amount of ground feel that it does feel a bit more stable. I also want to theorize that the rubber outsole being wings along the inside and outside edges of the sole might firm it up just enough on the sides to prevent rolling over laterally and medially. That said, it is pretty nice for shakeouts and short runs for me. Still don’t want to risk it for anything over 45 minutes though. For those with some shoe knowledge, I’d liken the cushion to the last New Balance Rebel model; pretty soft, but people swear by it for some reason that escapes me.
Come-upper-ance: Well, it was almost a good shoe I suppose. On the up-side, it doesn’t look bad and would probably stay on the foot even without the laces; maybe a nice travel shoe? To reiterate, I’m probably meant to be in a men’s 9.75, but prefer a 10 vs 9.5 with how much I run and to save some toes on the many downhills of Ithaca. I also may tend to have a lower volume foot as well. With those in mind, in these, I did have awkward space on the top of my foot where a traditional shoe tongue would be. I guess to be fair to my opinion, Ian also had the same comment trying his pair. When lacing up, it does crease/fold over in an awkward way but, due to the soft-ish knit material, it doesn’t feel as noticeable to me on the run. That might be a good way to describe how the upper feels actually; it doesn’t feel horrible on the run, but I can tell it doesn’t fit well. The only other shoes I’ve had with similar fit issues are from Craft. Ian and I received two promising trail models with some nice cushion and awesome traction, but the uppers had us wanting something better. To Mizuno’s credit, I am willing to wager this is due to the knit vs mesh upper change since I’ve ran in the Wave Rider 25 and never had fit issues. Whereas those two Craft models had standard mesh uppers and just way too much space on top of the foot, even with a thick sock. However, I liked how the size 9 samples felt on foot and the knit held the foot really really well, so I will wholeheartedly say sizing down a half size for these would’ve been the way to go.
Conclusions: It’s unclear if Ian will let me keep a few sizes we prebooked to try and sell in the store, but if he does and you get a chance to try them, I’d try a half size smaller than your regular running shoe size. Other than that, if you like soft shoes and maybe not this white color pictured above, they do have some pretty sick black/white and grey/white colors available right now.
Asics Superblast 2 Review:
Ultra comfortable in a decently light package that can pick up the pace
As of writing this, I have almost 40 miles on my pair. Ian, being the brave soul he is, has done some workout reps in Barton in them. He still complains daily about his body breaking down, but it isn’t from the cushion on this bad boy (slaps car hood).
Apple Bottom Tread: Even in the snow I haven’t had crazy grip issues. Similar to the Neo Zen above, probably nothing to write home about. Snowy conditions are better than the Neo Zen for it having some texture, but I’d still grab a trail shoe if I had a say and knew it was going to be snowy. To save some weight, it’s not the most rubber coverage ever, but just the high wear spots (the Saucony Kinvara could learn a thing or two here). That being said, I’d like to see how it looks after 200+ miles in non-snowy conditions.
The Island of Misfit Midsoles: Something I’ve recently realized; the max cushion shoes are kinda nice for wet days. They keep you off the ground a good amount that doesn’t leave me feeling like my feet get wet as soon as I step outside. Anyways, this is the real star of course. This is what I wish Hoka’s felt like to me. The new Bondi 9 actually feels close-ish, but the Superblast definitely feels better picking up the pace and is a tad lighter. The only minor knock I have is the toe spring angle. It could be a coincidence due to an increase in track workouts, but the toe spring did occasionally leave my big toe joint just a bit more sore on runs over 75 minutes. However, I’m not totally sold on believing it’s just the shoes. Pretty much all of my longer runs in these have been on mainly roads and not even the slightly softer recways. While I can handle climbing all the hills in Ithaca, I don’t feel great coming off the longer pavement downhills, so that might be the culprit as much as the toe spring. In that sense, I might give the edge to most Hoka’s I’ve tried for all day comfort. However, this is clearly meant to swing towards an uptempo running shoe vs the casual crossover most Hoka models get, so that might be a moot point.
I Take My Coffee with Downers & Uppers: What a great coincidence that the Neo Zen ended up in this comparison too. The upper on the Superblast is the main change from v1, and while I never ran in v1, I did try it on and can say it’s a great improvement. Is it flashy? Nope. Is it experimental? Just a standard mesh. Compared to the Neo Zen’s flashy and stylistic knit upper that doesn’t fit that well, it’s pretty clear why I’ve ranted about it every time I talk about the shoe. I was also worried it would be too breathable for these cold and semi-windy days too, but so far I haven’t had any issues. Summer is usually a better indication of breathability anyways in my opinion.
Takeaway Teriyaki Chicken: I can see why so many people asked about this shoe last summer. It’s not the ultra-exciting top of the line bouncy model everyone seems to market it as, but it’s a good shoe and enjoyable to run in. Does everyone need to have a pair for their first half, marathon, etc? No probably not, but in the world of $300 plated racing shoes that are marketed to last 200-ish miles, it’s refreshing that Asics has some great hits that will double as easy run options and last a bit longer than the higher end race options. We’ll have some this summer if you’re interested in trying out a pair!
Josh Nogaret - February 17th, 2025
