The Wave Sonic is Mizuno's new lightweight race shoe which will be replacing the Hitogami range.
With the first look of the Sonic, you can see the change from the bright colours to the subtle stealth look of black, grey and white. The shoe that you could wear with any socks and it would match, or if you are a triathlete like me, no socks. For the time being though I will be testing the shoe with socks and later changing to elastics and going without socks. I have a US 10.5 for my fat foot and have weighed in the Sonic at 236 grams, 6 grams lighter than the current Hitogami model. This is still heavier than a racing waffle, however the Sonic will provide a lot more cushioning and take less of a toll on your legs. Being slightly wider in the forefoot, the sonic was much more comfortable and a better fit for me. At a glance, the Wave plate seems to have been removed, but as the name suggests it is still there and just covered by the new and rather unique tread pattern.
First runs
Straight off the bat you can feel how responsive the shoe is, the new wave plate design feels further under your forefoot and gives a nice spring. The other thing I noticed on my first few runs was the 4mm drop. I am not one to be real technical, but that slight change had me running further up on my toes which is good for me, but did hurt my calves a bit more. I predict that as I run more in the shoe I will get used to the drop. On concreate the new tread has a lot more grip, but that is hard to tell if that is because it is a new shoe, and the Hitogami that I am comparing it to, could be worn out. Moving to the top of the shoe, the tongue is thinner decreasing weight, but it also wraps further around the foot. All in all, I look forward to racing in the Mizuno Wave Sonic this season.