Bought my First Running Shoe in 8 Years...and it did not live up to history

Duration: 8:26 1268 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

The video begins with a warm and casual unboxing session where the host, Henry, is joined by his dog in the studio to open several packages sent by sponsors. He first reveals accessories from Skechers, including a blue hat, a buff, and soft gloves, expressing genuine delight at the quality and color of the items. Following this, he unveils gear from Peak Design, featuring a rolling suitcase which sparks thoughts about traveling to races in 2026, and a compact walking treadmill designed for use upstairs or in the garage, offering a convenient alternative to his larger NordicTrack machine downstairs. The focus then shifts to running apparel, specifically comparing two different vests: the Nathan vest from last week and the new Salomon vest. Henry notes that while the Nathan vest felt softer and more comfortable against the skin, it had a slight bounce during runs and lacked rear storage. In contrast, the Salomon vest offers a secure fit with zero bounce due to a unique cross-back design intended to minimize movement, though it comes at the cost of some tactile comfort on the shoulder blades. He demonstrates the utility of the Salomon's accessible back pocket by retrieving a drone while running, highlighting its practicality despite the slight trade-off in softness compared to the Nathan model. The main subject of the video is Henry's first self-purchased running shoe in eight years, the ASICS Noosa Tri 16, which he contrasts sharply with his beloved Noosa Tri 14 from the "glory years" between 2019 and 2022. Although excited to finally buy a new pair of shoes with his own money, Henry finds that the Noosa Tri 16 fails to live up to the legacy of its predecessor. He points out specific design differences, such as the lack of heel flare on the newer model, and criticizes the shoe for lacking the necessary cushioning and bounce he has come to expect. While he praises the lockdown fit and the amazing tongue, he reports minor rubbing on his Achilles tendon and ultimately decides that the shoe is a step down from the Noosa Tri 14, suggesting he might return it or pass it along to others who prefer the Grateful Dead colorway.

Read the full video transcript

And we're back. With Henry. Look who I found in the studio after the run. How you doing? Good. Good. I love you. You want to help Papa open some boxes? >> Yeah. Yeah. So, I'll get you the shoe thoughts here in a second. Uh you sit right there. I'm going to bring you something, okay? Here you go. Henry's going to open. We're still catching up, everyone. Talk about the running shoes. Solid day, warm out there. Holy smokes. Okay. Uh Henry, you want to open this first? Okay, you open that. What is that? What is it? What is it? What is it? A hat. A hat. Good job. From Skechers. Oh, it's blue. You love that. Your favorite color. Yeah. Nice. It's looking good. All right, let's get these big boxes, okay? Oh, something else. Oh, what's that? Oh, a buff. Nice. Oh, there's something else. Oh, it's gloves. Oh my goodness. Oh, that's a nice buff. That feels good. And some gloves. Yeah. Let's see. Oh, those are Oh, you can never have too many gloves, if you know what I mean. And Oh, they feel real soft. Oh, that's nice. Skechers, I am impressed so far. And the hat feels very soft, very exciting. Skechers, okay. Henry, we're going to open up this big box over here, all right? Okay. Well, what's this one, Henry? A suitcase. A suitcase. Uh Peak Design. Once again, remember last week they sent a camera bag. Oh my goodness. This is a rolling suitcase. There's their Oh, that is fancy. Peak Design. Oh my goodness. Wow. Again, maybe it's a sign I need to travel to some races in 2026. And then this big one back here is a walking treadmill. All right, walk a little treadmill just to walk on. I think you could put it by your desk and walk and type and all that good stuff. Oh my goodness. Okay, I think that's it. And just got to say, I'm actually very excited about this treadmill. Even though uh yes, we still have the big one, the NordicTrack downstairs. Uh just to have one that's a little more accessible upstairs, especially in the garage, I think that'll be put to good use. And I'll try to find their website. Skechers, thank you again. Um just next level softness. I've never heard of this company, and it just is feeling incredible, to be frank. Just And I love the colorway, and it fits good. So, oh, very cool. Okay, on to the shoes. Uh the vest first, actually. Vest and then shoes. Woo, okay, I'm just catching my breath. Remember last week I talked about the Nathan vest, and talked about how comfortable it was. But, I did mention that it had a little bit of bounce to it as you were running. Just a little bit of bounce. I was still dialing in the uh fit of the Nathan vest. Well, the Salomon vest, there's the name of it. No bounce. Very nice. But, I guess the benefit to the Nathan is that it was a little more comfortable, a little softer as far as the material being used. Now, back to the Salomon benefit, all right? There's no pocket in the back of the Nathan vest. There's no uh storage in the back. This guy, not sure if you can see it. Actually, I'll just do it. Here we go. Pulling out I don't know, can you even see this? Mr. Drone right there. Boom. So, as I was running, I was pulling this guy out back and forth, and then sticking it back in. So, this guy does have a pretty pretty accessible back pocket there for this Salomon vest. I'm quite excited. But, but Oh, yeah. One of the designs of this vest is See how it's a cross in the back? All right, you see the cross there? I've never had a vest that does that. And they say the reason they did this design for for the Salomon vest is to reduce bounce. And And I would say there was I didn't have any bounce today. It felt very very secure, but just not quite as comfortable to the touch uh and on the shoulder blades uh compared to last week's Nathan vest. Does that make sense? All right, shoes. The shoe that I bought for the first time, and I Okay, I'm out of the shoe game, as you know, um as far as reviews, full reviews. It's just, you know, life moves on. But, oh, and this Hold on, let me move this light here. It's in the camera shot. Uh but, I still am excited to run in shoes that I want to run in. And run in shoes that have really worked in the past. However, I'm just going to keep harping on this. From 2020, I'm going to say 20 Yeah, late 2019 to uh 2022, I'm going to say was the glory years of running shoes for me. There's just there were so many great shoes coming out at that time, including the ASICS Noosa Tri 14. Well, this is the Oh my goodness, I'm going to forget. 16, I do believe. This is the 16, if I'm not mistaken. Is it on there somewhere? I believe it's a 16. But, I bought this shoe with my own money. It's the first shoe I bought in I think 8 years. So, thank you ASICS for designing a great shoe for the 14. This is not living up to the 14 goodness. In fact, I would say it's quite a digression. So, I might I might return it. No, I'll give it to the boys to wear. It's got those uh Grateful Dead colorways. It is the 16. There it is. I knew it was on there somewhere. So, it doesn't have the bounce. It doesn't have the cush. It's It's a good lockdown through that upper, through uh over the over the top of the foot. I did get a little bit of rubbing on the Achilles tendon, especially on the right side, just a little bit. The tongue is amazing, but it's not the 14. I don't know what to say. Like that glory years, I don't know. We just had And I think I have a 14. It's probably in this box. Let me look here. Yes. I found it. And I found the baby blues. All memories. I found the baby blues, and here is Oh my goodness. What is ASICS thinking? This is the uh This was so good. And see that Okay, where is it? There it is. Look at the difference in that heel counter. Okay, this is the 14. This is the uh 16. Look at the heel counter. Look at the flare. Can you see the flare on the 14? And the lack of flare on This is There we go. The lack of flare on the 16. I'm so sad. I'm so sad. But, anyway, I did buy the shoe. It was fun to kind of re-up and buy a shoe that I want to buy, but unfortunately, didn't quite work out for me. So, that's too bad, but we'll keep testing various shoes here in the forthcoming days. Hope you enjoyed that. Onward and upward. We'll We'll go Noosa 14. You better believe it. I think the full review, if I can find it, will be somewhere right there. All right, come on now. Stay beautiful. Work hard, and love each other.