Zoot Tempo + Reviewed

While at my Tucson camp, we took a small break one day from training and went to Trisports, a huge retail triathlon store.  This store to triathletes is the equivalent of a kid’s candy shop.  While there, I picked up a pair of the new Zoot Tempo + training and racing shoes.  I had run once before in their racing flats while in Florida at the 70.3 Worlds and based on that one run, I really liked them.  However, sometimes after running in a shoe for a few weeks, you realize it isn’t as good as it seems.  This is the case with Newtons.  Not so with Zoots.

Once again, this review is my own personal opinion and pertaining to this, I’ll provide a brief background on my running.  First, I’m big for running standards yet I’m light on my feet.  I also prefer a very neutral shoe.  Despite my bow legs and pigeon toed stance, I surprisingly run very neutral.  For the past few years, my main running shoe has been Nike Free 5.0.  Recently I had been running in both Nike Frees and Newtons.  As much as I like both of these shoes, I don’t recommend them for most since I don’t think they’d provide enough support or cushioning.  I feel that both of these shoes would be beneficial for most for shorter runs up to 5 miles and they would benefit from using these in their quicker training.  I have two issues with Newtons – first, they definitely could use a bit more cushioning.  The first few times you wear them, you are mainly focused on the roll bar just before the ball of your foot that persuades you to run more flat footed which is definitely a good thing.  Soon enough though, especially if these are your primary training shoe, you realize that they are extremely minimal in cushioning.  My other gripe is that they claim that socks aren’t needed due to the seamless liner, like so many other companies have claimed.  I find this true for shorter runs, but I had still not found a shoe that I could do longer runs in sockless without developing some blisters. 

When purchasing the Zoots, I was more interested in their neutral shoe; however Trisports was out of stock in my size.  I compared the neutral shoe in one hand with the Tempo + which is their structure shoe and noticed very little difference.  The neutral shoe has a full white foamed sole, where the Tempo + has a small bit of gray foam in the instep of the arch.  The grey foam is a bit denser and doesn’t “give” as much as the white foam, thus slightly increasing the support in that area.  Both shoes had the same exact curved last (a curved last is when the running shoe has a more narrow sole in the middle near the arch thus making it more flexible.  This allows the foot to move more freely as compared with a straight last that is straight along the whole outer side of the sole and prevents the foot from rolling as much, or pronating and supinating.)  - I feel that everyone should be running in a curved last shoe, regardless of your foot history.  A straight last takes you out of what your foot wants to do more naturally.  I was concerned that the carbon plate that runs through the curved last might provide too much stiffness in this area and it may for lighter runners.  For me, it wasn’t an issue.  Both shoes have the same exact uppers, just different colored graphics.  The tongue and heel cup of the shoe come up quite high.  Zoot claims that this acts as a shoe horn and gives you something to grab to pull them on quickly in transition.  I thought for sure that they would rub my Achilles and ankle and irritate, but took a chance.  Both shoes were nearly identical in weight, and both were light.  And they come with an elastic lacing system, again for quick transitions. 

The next morning, I rounded up the troops to head over to Saguaro National Park and devirginize these shoes.  I put them on sans socks and at first they felt snug.  I don’t like a snug fitting shoe, especially considering that your foot expands a bit as you run.  I loosened the quick release on the elastic lacing system all the way, to accommodate my wide feet and they still felt a bit snug, although better.  Then, as I walked around a bit before we started the run, the elasticity of the laces allowed them to adjust to my foot, making it snug where necessary and loose where necessary.  The shoes felt great during the initial part of the run, providing a nice responsive ride, yet adequately more cushioning than the Newtons or Frees.  I land more flat footed than heel to toe so I loved the evenly distributed foam on the sole as compared to some cushioned shoes that just build up the heel, forcing most to run heel to toe (which is slower).  We began on road and then moved onto trail and not only were I enjoying the responsive ride, but I never even noticed the high heel and tongue tabs.  They didn’t rub at all, and the shoe, without socks was extremely comfortable.  I finished the 1 hour and 10 minute run liking them as much as I did at the beginning of it. 

The next morning, we went to the Seven Falls Trail in Sabino Canyon which is a 90+ minute run with lots of ups and downs and some water crossings.  The Zoot shoes have small drainage holes in the bottoms to keep the feet dry from accumulated sweat and moisture and they work!  I was again without socks, and would go through the water crossings with initial wetness, but no irritation and my shoes felt dry quickly, compared to the slogging heard from others.  90+ minutes sockless and no issues.

The next day, we ran the Telephone Line Trail in Sabino Canyon there and back, which is an aggressive 2 hr run.  Once again, I loved the responsive and yet cushioned ride, and I ran sockless and not one blister. 

I’ve been running in them for a few weeks now and still love them.  My Sunday running partner picked up a pair and on our 90 min run last Sunday, he developed a few blisters so remember that what works for one may not necessarily work the same for others.  He did like the ride however. 

These shoes are ideal for most and I recommend the Tempo + or the Ultra TT, the two training shoes, as racing shoes for most also over their offered racing flats.  They are almost just as light yet offer a bit more cushioning which is necessary when your quads are beat up from a hard bike before running.

At a retail price of $130.00, they are not the cheapest shoes, yet they are a bargain compared to the Newtons, or Asics Kayanos. 

Again, I’m in no way tide to Zoot.  In fact, I think their wetsuits are not designed well.  But they did a tremendous job with this shoe.

Cheers,

EH