Mizuno Wave Creation 12

So today's post is about something new that I'm looking forward to, but probably won't get.  I have to admit that I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to getting gear, be it for running, riding or just stuff in general.  First off I love me some BRIGHT colors, so if they make it in a neon green, highlighter yellow, BRIGHT orange.... done I will get it.  It's kind of a weak point of mine. 

But lets move forward to today's post.  Many people will have heard of a company named Mizuno, they're a Japanese sports equipment and apparel company.  They make golf clubs and shoes and clothing.  I first saw a previous iteration of the shoe I train with and the subject of today's post.  The Wave Creation 12. But first a little bit of background before we get to the juicy bit.

I first saw these fancy wave creations on my old high school french teacher's husband to be's (yes that was a mouthful to say) feet.  I was man those look awfully cool, only serving to highlight the fact that I like shiny looking things.

Wave Creation 8

I think I saw these back in 2007, and was like COOOL, went online and found out that they sold for 200 some bucks which at the time I thought was preposterous so that was the end of that.  At this time  my sister brought home the adidas catalog in which I found these adidas shoes that would probably be good for running and proceeded to buy them.

Supernova Cushion 7

I actually fell in love with these shoes because they were SUPER comfy, like I don't think my feet have ever been quite that comfy in a pair of shoes and I still use them to this day many years later, although they have been relegated to the university shoe status.  So after a season on them, I had used them for a decent amount and was looking at a replacement and thought well hey if these worked why don't I get the same model of shoe just a different model year.  So went and tried them on and disappointment set it, because they didn't feel the same.  So I said I'll suck it up, run another season on them and hopefully they'll have fixed the "problems".  So next year went in and looked again and the shoe wasn't even anywhere to be found, turns out Adidas had taken a very light, nice cushy pavement pounding monster and decided to disco it (discontinue). So Adidas is a company that makes great shoes, but they also piss off a lot of their customers by taking a perfectly good shoe, kaiboshing it, and then saying this is it's successor.  Only problem is that it's not really the same shoe and it doesn't feel the same.  Oh and the above shoes? Mine are in lime green, still loving the bright colors.

That was when I found the Wave Creation 10's from Mizuno, I thought hey it's those shoes I saw many years ago, and it's a cool concept how it works.  I didn't know very much about shoes at this point so I got them because they "looked cool".  They actually worked really nicely, but they were kinda heavy, and the spring was a little bit stiff in the back (their inifnity wave).

Wave Creation 10

One thing you'll notice is that it looks kinda similar to the 8's from above.  So I ran in them and used up the sole on the heel and was like well time to get a new pair of shoes lets go look at the new version of these the 11's.  They ended up lightening the shoe weight, changing the heel cup to be a bit more supportive and some little things to improve upon the shoe.

Wave Creation 11's

One again the shoe looks almost exactly the same, but they've just taken some of the input from customers and improved on those weaknesses but keeping what we like most about it still intact.  So of course after this experience I was just waiting to look at what Mizuno did for this years shoe.  I opened up my January issue of my running magazine and BAM.... front inner cover it's the Wave Creation 12.  Excited and giddy, I hopped onto the interwebs and looked it up and what do you know, they actually have another iteration of this shoe.  Here are some pics/colors of this years model

Women's Version

Men's Version

So another recurring theme, is that the shoes still look more or less the same, but what's new about it on this years shoe.

1) Forefoot flex controllers
-these are found on the outside of the shoe, they're the ridge on the toe of the sole.
-they allow the shoe to bend more which minimizes energy loss
2) New Infinity Wave (the wavy portion on the heel)
-this has always been kinda a thing of mizuno's and I love it
-the new wave makes the shoe a little bit less stiff in the back so you don't have to be a sumo to take advantage of the springiness of it.
3)AP+ Midsole
-I actually have no clue what this is, but I'll let you know when I do
4) No more sensor points
-They used to have these little harder blogs on the sole that were called "sensor points"
-no that they're gone you get a smoother ride and better toe off
5) New and better fit
-should have better transitions in addition to the forefoot flex controllers

From what Mizuno is telling me about this shoe, it looks like they've kept the weight of the past model (Well raised it by .1 of a gram which shouldn't be noticeble) but they've gone and fixed some of the nagging little things that I did have complaints on in the past model.  So that actually makes me really excited for this shoe, because it looks like it's going to be a real winner.  Only thing is I probably won't get this shoe because I just got new ones last year and will probably not need new ones yet.

But you know why I've stayed with Mizuno so far even though it's really only been 2/3 years.  It's because they actually listen to what their customers say, take the shoe and say how bout we try and fix some of the complaints people have and keep what they like.  It should be a relatively simple idea to do this, but Adidas apparently didn't get the memo.  So here's a top tip to shoe makers; when a shoe is selling well, maybe it might be a good idea to keep on making it and not just disco it.

~Cheers.