Midsole types

What do you associate with running shoes? With good shock absorption, lightness, ventilation. All this is achieved by a combination of details, whether it be a light top or additional elements. But a key detail among all brands and sneaker models is the midsole.

It is responsible for the main indicator of running shoes - cushioning. By this term we mean softness, shock absorption and responsiveness. Indirectly, the midsole is also responsible for stability and rolling, which helps us set it apart from the rest. Just by understanding what the midsole is in the shoe, we can 80% tell how it will behave when running.

That is why we suggest not only look at different types, but also compare them all with each other, identify the advantages of each. Believe me, it's not very difficult.

Contents:

1. Midoles indicators
2. Segments of midsoles
3. Distribution of midsoles by segments
4. Characteristics of midsoles
5. LIST OF MIDSOLES BY SEGMENTS

In order to understand how different types of midsoles differ, you need to understand what exactly we can improve in them. Almost all midsoles are foam that can be customized based on the components. We can change:

And it is clear that the indicators are interconnected, you cannot make the most responsive, durable, lightweight foam. By decreasing weight, we worsen durability. By increasing the firmness, we tend to increase the weight, and so on.

And the manufacturers, although they say that each of them makes a breakthrough, in fact, play in the same field. Let's define segments:

You can segment in different ways, from our point of view, the most effective way is to first divide all foams into soft and hard. Secondly, divide the foam into responsive and non-responsive.

And here I must make a remark that absolutely all types of foams that we will consider have responsiveness, and a more accurate statement will be "less responsiveness". This is an important note, please keep this in mind.

Further, it should be said that foams from different manufacturers in the same segment differ slightly from each other, in this review we will resort to rounding, and we will leave the detailed consideration of foams in brand reviews.

The base from which we have to push off is EVA. Until now, this midsole has a right to exist and is one of the best for running. It possesses both good shock protection and good resposiveness, 800km durability. Note that some manufacturers have left this type of foam in their assortment as a basic one:

However, as you can imagine, all manufacturers began to make their own modifications.

First, they lightened the foam while retaining all the other qualities:

Second, they mixed the foam with other materials or used innovative methods to make the foam more responsive, but also harder. There are many manufacturers and variations in this segment. And here is the greatest number of roundings. As an example, the new Mizuno foam, which is 15% softer than the previous one, but still hard when compared to many others:

Third, they made the foam softer to better absorb shock. This type of foam immediately feels comfortable on the foot. However, as we said earlier, this decreases stability:

Well, the last segment is soft responsive, and there are a little more varieties here. First, it is a kind of EVA that still has medium durability. Secondly, it is an etpu material that has additional durability, but is heavier. This type of foam immediately feels different on the leg. It absorbs shock and tramps the leg back:

But there is also a fifth segment. These are ultra light, soft, responsive foams. The key here is the amplitude of elasticity. It is very large, but the stability in these foams is also minimal. They are strikingly different from each other. Let's say ZOOMX is much lighter than the others, and ENERZY CORE is more durable. But for now we will combine them, and you can see the details in brands reviews:

Окей, вот наша картинка. И далее давайте рассмотрим более прикладные характеристики использования.

STABILITY

The first thing we'll look at is stability. We also understand stability as security. Knees in stable shoes do not loosen, we can continue our training without fear of injury. And it's clear that stiff foams are more stable. That is why in the assortments of some brands we see models with pronation correction on such foams.

Let's draw an arrow from the most stable to the most unstable:

LIGHTNESS

This is perhaps the simplest metric to measure, but relatively difficult to draw by segment. As I said, there are slightly different foams within the segment and they have different weights. But we will try to break the general trend

Let's draw an arrow from the heaviest to the lightest:

SHOCK ABSORBTION

It is clear that soft foams absorb shock loads better, and manufacturers are well aware of this. We often see that running shoes have a different foam block in the heel than before. For example, the Nike Pegasus 37 has a stiff air zoom in the front and a soft React in the back.

Let's draw an arrow from the most not absorbing to the most absorbing:

COMFORT

How many people, so many opinions about what comfort is. Lightness is more important for someone, but stability for someone else, because it is in stable shoes that legs do not hurt after 24 hours. In this segment, we propose to consider "step in comfort", the feeling when you say WOW how great it is after the first step.

Let's draw an arrow from uncomfortable to comfortable:

RUN FAQ CHOICE FOR RUNNING

In the RUN FAQ, we believe that in running, the most important thing is not sneakers, but running, breathing, physical activity, and even more important that you do not get injured and continue to do this for a long time. That is why we choose Stiff, Responsive Foams segment. They will allow you to maintain your health due to stability, they will absorb necessary shock and at the same time will be very responsive:

Hopefully now you have a clearer understanding of the difference between midsoles. If you are still wondering which model is for you, we highly recommend reading these two articles:
Types of running shoes
How to select running shoes

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RUN FAQ