It has been 17 months since my last pair of running shoes, and after lots of shopping, I upgraded from Brooks Ghost 15 to Brooks Ghost 16.
I haven't run in them yet, but at the store I ran around with a 15 on my left foot and a 16 on my right foot. The foam on the Ghost 16 has different springier feel. As I understand it, both shoes have EVA foam, but the Ghost 15 has carbon dioxide in the bubbles and the Ghost 16 has nitrogen.
Not sure what difference that should make, but nitrogen bubbles are better in Guinness Beer.
I haven't looked under a microscope, but I'd guess that the Ghost 16 has finer bubbles. The polyurethane in the Ghost 16 would have only urethane bonds, while the Ghost 15 would have a mixture of polyurethane and polyurea bonds. 100% polyurethane should be more flexible, and foam formulator probably would need to compensate for that.
The Ghost 16 weights 280 grams. The second lightest pair I have had. 27 gram lighter than the Ghost 15. Not as light as my 2022 Brooks Launch, which is still in my running rotation.
Weights of my recent shoes
March 2025 Brooks Ghost 16 280 g
Oct 2023 Brooks Ghost 15 307 g
Nov 2022 Brooks Launch 256g
Jan 2022 Asics Gel Venture 8 340 g
Nov. 2020 Nike ReAct Legend 341 g
August 2020 SolarBoost 319 g
March 2020 Solar Boost ST 338 g
Brooks Levitate 2 365 g
Brooks Ghost 9 335 g
