What You Want To Know
- Weighs 10.7 oz. (303 g.) for a US M9 / 9.1 oz. (258 g.) for a US W8
- Take “Max Cushion” with a grain of salt
- This shoe is constructed to final, possibly even via the apocalypse
- Can we please, please, retire the Wave Plate?
- Out there now for $170
HOLLIE: I’ve been a fan of the Mizuno Wave Sky for just a few variations now. As somebody who loves extra cushion (and possibly wants it), the Wave Sky is without doubt one of the few choices I can get away with and never damage myself from Mizuno. What makes life troublesome is that I put on a US W11 — in large. Typically, even the large for Mizuno isn’t large sufficient. So would the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 be sufficient to cushion and be large sufficient? That’s lots of strain to placed on a shoe.
SAM: Mizuno has made some daring claims for its Wave Sky 6. “You’ll really feel such as you’re floating on air each time you run within the Mizuno Wave Sky 6.” I bought this shoe whereas additionally reviewing the Wave Rebel Professional, so my expectations have been a lot increased than traditional for Mizuno. Will this be one other hit for Mizuno? Or will it find yourself stashed away in my closet, hiding from the sunshine of day till I donate it on the subsequent race expo I attend? Let’s discover out.
JORDYNN: At first look, the Mizuno Wave 6 is only a fundamental, bland-looking working shoe. Nothing very interesting about it, besides possibly the value worth (listed at $170) and the anatomical specs. Primarily based on these two components, you’d assume the Wave Sky 6 could be the best-performing, most snug shoe you’ve ever worn, however there’s just one strategy to discover out.
KALEB: Mizuno has been dropping some funky footwear over the previous couple of months. The Wave Neo Extremely and Wave Neo Wind have been the Japanese model’s first forays into the world of sustainability, and as thrilling because it’s been to see Mizuno begin to innovate, they’ve nonetheless bought to carry down the fort with the classics. The Wave Sky is Mizuno’s each day coach on the max cushion aspect, and straight out of the corporate’s mouth, the sixth model targets runners “who actually treasure their runs as an essential a part of their lives.” So, is the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 a shoe value treasuring, or is it trash? We’ll see.
The Good
HOLLIE: As talked about, I’m no stranger to the Mizuno Wave Sky. The primary time I attempted the Mizuno Wave Sky was at a neighborhood working retailer group run in New Jersey. It was large and had a lot cushion! Truthfully, it was love at first run. It was pouring rain, and my clumsy self didn’t slip and fall whereas out. The Mizuno rep stated nobody actually favored the shoe, and since I had a “bizarre dimension,” I may maintain them. It was like Christmas.
Since then, I’ve tried each model and favored virtually all of them. This 12 months, the black colorway appears smooth. I really feel like Mizuno has lastly determined to get into the fashionable days of handsome sneakers. Aspect observe: does anybody bear in mind some bizarre coloration combos from round 2017? You would be a working pumpkin or put on sneakers that resemble the fourth of July. Now, subtlety is in, and Mizuno is on the bandwagon. Vivid coloration doesn’t hassle me, however I desire one thing that doesn’t convey an excessive amount of consideration to my amazon big ft.
Again to the higher, as a girl with US W11 large ft, I’m on the lookout for an excellent match. I’m not working in it if it doesn’t match properly and isn’t large sufficient. Heck, I’m not even strolling in it. My ft are divas. The large is large, and it matches like a dream. The stretch-woven materials doesn’t create sizzling spots and breathes properly within the Mojave Desert. I don’t have bunions, however I’m assured it wouldn’t make sizzling spots if I did. With the skinny, breathable higher, I don’t have to fret about my ft cooking whereas out for a run.
So far as a cushion, it has lots. Do I believe it’s a max cushion shoe? I believe it’s a max cushion shoe from Mizuno. In comparison with the present choices within the working business, I believe it’s extra comparable to plain cushioning (extra on that later).
Lastly, I reside within the Mojave Desert. About 90% of my each day runs are on the sand within the desert. Typically I run up sand dunes; generally, I slide down them. (I attempt to run down, however I often fall). Clearly, I want a shoe with A LOT of traction. I can’t have one thing half-assed. The carbon rubber on the outsole of the Wave Sky 6 retains me from sliding down dunes. There’s lots of traction on the shoe, and it will be one of many first sneakers I’d pull within the pouring rain. However realistically, it’s sunny right here 350 days out of the 12 months, so I don’t often have to fret. It’s, nonetheless, an incredible possibility if you’re working on unfastened sand or terrain.
SAM: Kaleb and Hollie have hit the nail on the top thus far, and I’ll add what I can. Similar to the 2 of them, I beloved the soundness of this shoe, the higher, and located the outsole very grippy.
The positives I need to cowl are within the midsole construct. I used the Wave Sky 6 good for early morning shakeout runs and sluggish brief mileage. This shoe follows the Mizuno custom of the Wave plate and offers an excellent steadiness of cushion and flex when the plate is paired with the Enerzy and Enerzy Core midsole. The Enerzy Core is a few good things, and this shoe may use much more of it. It’s positioned on high of the Wave Plate and is smooth and springy, as Kaleb mentions. That is very current within the heel touchdown, which I discovered to be probably the most snug a part of the shoe. The Enerzy foam makes up the outer layer below the plate and isn’t as smooth because the Enerzy Core however is extra resilient and protects your foot from floor contact whereas offering a firmer toe-off to maintain your stride shifting. This dual-midsole tandem may be very balanced, and if it was the one factor current within the shoe, I believe I might have loved working in it. Sadly, one thing hiding in between the midsole sandwich made my working expertise not gratifying. Learn on to the cons for extra on that.
One other optimistic to this shoe is that it’s sturdy as all get out. After the apocalypse, the one two issues left will probably be cockroaches and the Wave Sky 6. For $170, you get a shoe that may final you over 300 miles. With so many sneakers today lasting for a couple of week’s value of runs, getting many miles out of the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 is a blessing.
JORDYNN: The Mizuno Wave Sky 6 runs true to dimension. It has a cosy match all through the heel as much as the toe field, which has the appropriate width for my ft. There was simply sufficient room to permit for toe motion with out scrunching or feeling too compact. I appreciated the perfect-length laces that I solely needed to double knot as soon as. As soon as I put the Wave Sky 6 on my ft, it had the right little spongy bounce and agency sole.
KALEB: The Wave Sky 6 is my first Mizuno shoe, and to be sincere, expectations have been low. The sleek-looking black-yellow-silver — or Black Tradewinds, regardless of the heck meaning — colorway made a good first impression, so I used to be keen to present it an opportunity (additionally, that’s my job, so…).
Throughout my first run, a 50-yard jog down the road, one time period got here to thoughts: two-by-four. The midsole felt clunky, loud, and steeper than the marketed 8mm drop. Nevertheless, as I continued (regardless of myself) to run in it, I started to achieve a greater appreciation for the Wave Sky 6.
Ranging from the highest, the higher on this shoe is a dream by my requirements. The stretch-woven materials is skinny, sturdy, gentle, breathable and offers that ever-desired impact of being unnoticed on the run. My cross nation teammates know me for 2 issues: unhealthy jokes and re-tying my laces repeatedly (I want I have been kidding). First, too unfastened, then too tight, after which unequal lockdown between ft; it might probably take lots of focus off the run. However between the usual flat laces and the wonderful higher lockdown, one tie was all I wanted, and that’ll at all times be an automated 10/10 from me.
The midsole has fairly first rate cushion. I imply, it’s not just like the marshmallows we’ve been advised to strap to our ft these days, and I’d take a look at you sideways if you happen to began calling it max cushion, nevertheless it does its job properly, particularly if you happen to’re a heel-striker. The heel offers cozy touchdowns, and the froth springs again into form to push you thru the toe-off. It’s not fairly a bouncy sensation, nevertheless it does provide you with a push ahead. The froth thins fairly radically towards the toe to supply a extra rockered really feel, making for a a lot firmer sensation via the forefoot and giving the shoe its fair proportion of floor really feel.
This complete system generally is a little intrusive at first as a result of it feels just like the comfortable heel is abandoning you to backside out as you strategy toe-off. I have a tendency in direction of a firmer experience, so I discovered to take pleasure in pushing off a firmer platform whereas nonetheless being protected by Mizuno’s wacky dual-density Enerzy cushioning system on the landings, so the agency forefoot could possibly be a optimistic or a damaging relying in your preferences.
The carbon rubber on the Mizuno Wave Sky 6’s outsole is excellent. My third run on this shoe was a wet 7 miles on slippery pavement, and the grip carried out fantastically. The shoe as a complete—not simply the rubber— did properly with cornering. The firmer midfoot means you’re not wobbling on stilts if you change instructions. Sturdiness-wise, I foresee no issues for the Wave Sky.
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Males
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Girls
The Unhealthy
HOLLIE: As I alluded to, the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 is a max cushion shoe from Mizuno however in comparison with different model choices, it’s not all that max. It’s extra of a conventional quantity of cushion. It’s not my first alternative when my legs are drained from a exercise or simply feeling beat up.
It’s additionally onerous to justify the $170 price ticket if you don’t really feel like you’re getting as a lot cushion as Mizuno mentions. Possibly if I have been a highschool cross-country runner, I might really feel like this can be a lot of sneakers, however as a 32-year-old girl, I don’t.
SAM: Okay, earlier than I begin on my negatives, I need to be certain that everybody (particularly Mizuno representatives) makes their manner over to the Wave Rebel Professional to allow them to see a glowing assessment for a Mizuno product. With that disclaimer out of the best way, let’s not child ourselves. The Wave Sky 6 is in no way a light-weight each day coach. I didn’t really feel like I used to be floating on air. As a substitute, I felt like I used to be working with bricks below my ft. I might attribute most of this to the Wave Plate in the midst of the midsole sandwich. What may have been a pleasant expertise grew to become a sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.
Whereas it has misplaced an oz from the earlier iteration, it’s nonetheless over 10.5 ozfor a US M9, which isn’t what you need to see for a mean to low-stack each day coach. I consider that the Enerzy Core foam is nice and must be extra outstanding on this shoe. I might love for Mizuno to desert the normal wave plate totally, or if they can’t, hunt down lighter-weight choices just like the one they utilized in Wave Rebel Professional. If Mizuno caught to lighter weight supplies or deserted the wave plate totally, I believe this is able to be an incredible shoe. Total I discovered the experience agency, unexciting, and never snug to run in. The Wave Plate provides extreme stability that’s pure to the shoe with its stack peak and firmer backside layer of froth. The heel has a pleasant cushion, however this sense goes away as your foot goes via its pure movement.
I additionally must say that I can’t condone spending $170 on this shoe and would say it borders on financially irresponsible. It provides you with nice bang on your buck by lasting a very long time, there are less expensive choices that will probably be extra snug and final simply as lengthy. Or spend $80 extra and get the Wave Rebel Professional if you’re this dedicated to Mizuno (if you happen to can’t inform, I’m an enormous fan of that shoe and need everybody to know that Mizuno has accomplished one thing nice with it).
JORDYNN: Since this can be a working shoe, I test-drove the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 for one in all my Sunday lengthy runs. Boy, was I disillusioned! About 80 or so meters into my run, I started to really feel a slight discomfort alongside the skin of each ft from the underside fringe of my pinky toe to mid-foot. At first, I assumed the irritation would go away after I broke within the sneakers a bit, nevertheless it saved getting worse with each stride I took. The ache was so unhealthy I couldn’t even focus on how the remainder of the shoe carried out. I’m undecided if the shoe was barely too slim in these areas of my ft or if there was a defect in my sneakers.
KALEB: Lately, all the things’s primed and able to exit of the field, no break-in required. That’s not the case for the Wave Sky 6. On my first run, the shoe felt outright clumsy. The heel transitioned not-so-smoothly into the midfoot, producing the dreaded Mizuno Slap, and the acute thinning of the froth on the toe left the entire entrance half of the shoe feeling somewhat uninspired. As I stated, for heel strikers, this can be a non-issue, however as a mid-foot striker, I felt like I used to be working in opposition to the shoe for the primary few runs, which took the main target off the exercise. Whereas it bought higher as I discovered how you can run in them, the clumsiness has not totally disappeared with time. The “tipping level” of the shoe, usually within the forefoot, feels extra prefer it’s behind the shoe, making transitions awkward.
The shoe additionally has an enormous ol’ wing on the lateral aspect of the shoe, which may probably assist with sure stability wants. For me, it simply actually damage the lateral aspect of my foot if I tied the shoe too tight. This could possibly be a type factor, nevertheless it’s value mentioning.
Additionally, for a shoe marketed as Mizuno’s highest stack, most plush shoe, the Wave Sky 6 is fairly agency. That’s not unhealthy in and of itself, nevertheless it’s additionally not precisely what you could assume you’re paying for… and for $170, you’re going to need what you’re paying for.
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Males
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Girls
Mizuno Wave Sky 6 Conclusion
HOLLIE: I’m an enormous fan of the Mizuno Wave Sky. The match is superb, and the traction and never sliding down dunes are nice, however I wrestle with the value tag. To me, it seems like a $150 shoe. Mizuno has come a great distance from its unique (and freaking little) Wave Rider and Wave Encourage, however I believe there’s nonetheless a methods to go together with choices for normal individuals who desire a high-cushioned coach. If you’d like one thing extra cushioned than the Wave Rider and don’t thoughts the $170 tag, go together with the Wave Sky 6.
SAM: Whereas there are some promising lower-stack each day trainers available on the market as we speak, the Wave Sky 6 isn’t one in all them, for my part. Mizuno has put out a success with the Wave Rebel Professional, and I might love for them to take some notes from that shoe and apply them to the each day coaching class. I really feel unhealthy disparaging this shoe a lot whereas our different reviewers are a fan; it’s simply not my cup of tea with regards to a each day coach. I didn’t discover it very snug, and the excessive weight had me wanting to decide on different trainers over this every day. I do know Mizuno can do higher, and I’m excited to see what else is in retailer for them after this shoe.
JORDYNN: Regardless that these sneakers have been designed with superior high quality, promising consolation, and efficiency, I might not suggest the Mizuno Wave Sky 6. The primary few steps have been nice, however the supply throughout my run was weak. I’ve by no means owned a pair of Mizuno trainers, and I consider this expertise alone would deter me from attempting a second time. There have been just a few pluses with the cushioning and the drop, however the product and engineering didn’t ship for me this time. The Mizuno Wave Sky 6 got here up a bit brief in my ebook.
KALEB: I really feel such as you shouldn’t should learn to run with a selected shoe; it ought to simply move as part of your foot. The Wave Sky 6 is marketed as a shoe that gives “Mizuno’s highest stage of vitality return and cushioning, giving the wearer a snug working expertise that nearly seems like floating,” and albeit, I didn’t really feel that it totally delivered. Don’t get me incorrect, the shoe is a good each day coach, and I’ll seemingly choose it up every now and then on my manner out the door for future runs after I need one thing totally different. Mizuno has come a great distance and, so far as I’m involved, nailed it within the higher and outsole departments, however there’s nonetheless loads of work to be accomplished on the midsole earlier than I’m allotting 170 bucks for this shoe.
You may choose up the Mizuno Wave Sky 6 for $170 utilizing the store hyperlink under.
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Males
Store Mizuno Wave Sky 6 – Girls
Sam is a Baltimore metropolis faculty trainer and one of many quickest runners within the space. If he’s not working, he’s cooking or watching all three Matrix films… in a row… once more.
