Despite my valiant attempts to get the Black/Volt color with a Groupon that I bought, I had to settle for the Black/Purple Air Max 2011s, which have purple shading under the flywire material, the sole itself and the air pockets. Nevertheless, the 2011 design is freaking sweet -which is what attracted me to these shoes in the first place.
I'm a somewhat active runner who runs on treadmills or ellipticals about twice a week and an outdoor street run once a week. My old Air Maxs were from 2004 and were falling apart at the seams, so I decided to give in and get a new pair of top-of-the-line running shoes, since I only get a pair every few years. At first I was going to go with the Asics Gel Kayanos, which get top ratings on running sites, but like I said before, the design on the Air Max 2011s were just too awesome to pass up.
Fit: HALF SIZE UP! These are a very snug fit, even at a half size bigger than normal. It's not uncomfortably snug, but more of a supportive snug. Me likey. The shoe doesn't slip off at the heel at all, which is something that not only bugs me, but causes blistering at the heel. It's snug, supportive comfort even when I do sprints.
Cushioning: w.0.0.t! Even when I'm walking my dog, I definitely feel a nice soft cushion that absorbs impact. I ran concrete roads and up the Santa Monica stairs with these, and I LOVED the spongy feel of the shoes on the hard terrain. The padding is literally from heel to toe and you feel it no matter where you distribute your weight with your gait. The FitSole liner seems to be adjusting to my footprint as well, but the shoes are too new so far to provide an exact description.
Ventilation: Noice! The mesh-material is flywire, and when you hold the shoes up to the light, light filters through the material. The shoe provides good ventilation during a run and still feels sturdy. Another cool thing is that they don't seem to crease easily and dig into your feet from the top.
Weight: Light. Really light!
Conclusion: Happy customer here! Loving my purchase, even though the shoe is pretty damn pricey. The shoes are light, supportive, well-ventilated and quite possibly the sweetest-looking running shoes I've seen in a while. I even feel more awesomer just walking around in them -they probably even add maybe a quarter-inch in height because of the huge air pockets. Pretty awesome bonus = )
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Do not buy this shoe unless you want to get injured. I have been a runner for about 10 years now and have been through all sorts of shoes. I thought I'd give this shoe a try and immediately the next running I strained my right leg. I was barely even jogging.
Chalking it up to bad luck, I stopped for a week and rest. When I got into a softball game the following week, I was running to catch a pop fly and POP, a huge pop was felt in hamstring. I am so happy it turned out to be a strain rather than a rupture.
I have felt nothing but pain and torture running in these shoes and I will never return to a Nike product again. Especially charging such a high price for such a bad shoe knowing they are paying sweatshop kids .25 cents an hour to make them? Boo.
Buy at your own risk.
