Brooks Ghost 16

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

2018 Pure Boost                    335 g

2015 Boost SuperNova          335 g

2012 Energy Boost                300 g

ASICS Gel Venture 8

 We had a snow storm about a week ago, and after the trail had been well-trodden by hikers, I went running on it. I wore generic Yak-Traps rubber grippers on my old running shoes. At about mile eight of my nine mile run, I found I only had a gripper on my left foot, and the right one was lost somewhere on the trail. 

First I ordered a ASICS Gecko, and it was far too small. I usually order 11 in athletic shoes and 10 in street shoes. The 11 was long enough and even wide enough, but the shoe pressed down on my hallux MTP joint enough that it hurt. (Hallus is a latinate word for big toe, and MTP is what people say when they really mean metatarsophalangeal.)

Ugly Nike Pegasus Trail shoe

I poked on running websites, and I found most people just run in their trail running shoes with no metal spikes -- they just take it easy on the ice.  

I ventured to Dick's Sporting Goods which in my community has the undersized shoe department. (Some large Dick's have supersized shoe department depending on the market.) They only had one men's trail runner shoe which was a Nike Pegasus adapted for trail running with an aqua blue rubber sole. While I have had Nike Pegasus shoes, they are not really my favorite Nike. And it was at full price at $159, but worst of all it was ugly. 

The shoe I ended up buying was a ASICS Gel Venture 8, which had plenty of space for my hallus MTP, and pretty good cleats on the bottom as you see below. 

The yellow outsole seems to be a rubber. Clearly the middle sole is a low density foam probably EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and is marked "GEL", and the innersole seems to good quality - perhaps polyurethane. 

In size 11, the shoe weighed 340 grams. This is close to the 338 of my current shoes, Adidas Solar Boost.

Nike Legend React

I injured my right root and my Adidas Solar Boost were not able to protect my feet well enough. It was an injury of the forefoot, and seemed more forward than Plantar fasciitis usually is. 

Neither pair of my Adidas Solar Boost are worn out, but they couldn't protect my foot, ease the pain in each step, or promote recovery as well as some old pairs that were collecting dust in the garage. 

I started using my 2011 Nike LunarGlide 3's because even though they were worn out, the high arch support and large mass of foam felt good on my injured feet. The 2011 LunarGlides did not last long in running service because I thought the foam was too soft and after more running it just provided less and less support. On the other hand, they felt best with my current injury. 

I did a little research and found that Nike had introduced a new ReAct, and is promoted as a good shoe for injury recovery. I went to my local store, and while they had the new ReAct 3, they didn't have it in my size. I wanted a shoe today instead of ordering online, and so I got the React 2 and in black with odd green highlights. 

The ReAct in size eleven is 341 grams, which makes it among my heaviest shoes, which makes sense because it has a giant chunk of foam in the sole. 

Weights of my recent shoes

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

2018 Pure Boost                    335 g

2015 Boost SuperNova          335 g

2012 Energy Boost                300 g

Brooks Levitate 2

My original pair of Brooks Levitate shoes was getting old and too soft in the forefoot. I was happy with them, so I bought a second pair and this one is the third. There are approximately 650 miles on my old shoes. The new model is out: the Levitate 2.

Brooks promotes Levitates as having high energy return, and Popular Science did a nice review of shoe resilience and how much energy return can help a running. I know when I got my first pair of (high energy return) Adidas Boost, I thought it helped my running by 10-15 seconds a mile. PopSci also talks about the polyurethane foam midsole which is covered with shiny metallic paint.

The Levitate is stiffer than the Adidas Boost shoes that my local Dick's Sporting Good's carries. For my aging feet, the stiffer shoe provides support in the forefoot, and that helps to avoid discomfort in my big toe. I suspect that higher end Adidas shoes have more support, but I haven't have not had a chance to try them out.

Brooks has re-done the upper: all knitted fabric with a knitted cuff around the ankle. I like the cuff because it is comfortable. I got this blue/red/black design that my wife liked. I can't get over the unusual color pallet, maybe it is edgy, but I think it misses the mark. I may put black laces on it.

My Levitate 2's in size 11 weighs 363 grams, which is 5 grams lighter than my Levitate 1 shoe in the same size, that is one percent lighter. This is about 24 g  heavier than my other running Brooks shoes.

Although Levitate is promoted for energy return, I wear them because they make my feet feel better.

Brooks Levitate

I had been waiting for the Brooks Levitate to come out because they have content from co-workers at BASF.  More on shoe design here and here.

I was happy to see that Brooks stepped up the styling for Levitate especially in the Black and Gray color.  I was surprised to see a metallic coating over the midsole. The metallic looks good and shows of the angles of the midsole, like it does on an automobile.

I don't buy running shoes for looks, but after they wear out as running shoes, I will wear them as casual shoes, and the appearance is more important then.

Levitate has a showy metallic coating on the midsole. 

You can see it has knit upper, and the darker part has a coating to stiffen it. The knit upper is soft and comfortable. I had no issue with it binding too tight on my bunion. 

The outsole has this chevron pattern, and I imagine it is for rain and trial running. Often Brook's shoes have a horseshoe pattern, as in the Launch. The horseshoe pattern is supposed to help with heel spurs. Happily I don't have any heel spurs. 🤞

I got a size eleven which had a large toe box, and plenty of room. Maybe a 10.5 would have worked. I wear an eleven in my Brooks Glycerin and a 10.5 in the Launch.  

A size eleven shoe weighed 368 grams. This is heavier than the Brooks Glycerin 15's at 338, the Ghost 9's at 335 and the Launch at 292g. My Adidas Pure Boost is 331, and the Nike Pegasus is 311g. I think these shoes are heavier because they will last longer. 

I took these out for a ten mile run this morning. They were comfortable for the whole run even through the shoes were new. The sole was firm and seemed to grip the road well. I was trying to gauge the energy return, and I can say they are a bit stiff but still comfortable. 

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Brooks Glycerin 15 and Adidas Pure Boost

I never bought a pair of Brook's Glycerins because they were so heavy. I would try them on, and it was just too much foam under my feet. These Glycerin 15's weigh 338 g, which is a tiny bit heavier than my Ghost 9's at 335g, and noticeably heavier than the Brook's Launch at 292 g. (These are in size 11. The size 10.5 were 333 g; that was too small and I took them back.)

I wonder if the new Glycerin 15 is going to be as protective because there only 3 grams heavier. Maybe I should have tried on those Ghosts again. 

The last shoes I bought were the lighter weight Brook's Launch, which I haven't worn too much because my feet have hurt. I am not blaming the Launch, because I haven't worn them much, however, I would have worn them more if my feet felt better.

One of my problems is walking around barefoot too much in the summer. I keep trying to make myself wear sandals, and that is helping slowly.

Do you like the style? The black looks better than the other colors, but Brook's shoes just look like running shoes, while many Nike running shoes have more design. (Of course, I didn't like those as well on my feet.) These Brook's beat the hell out of the Adidas Pure Boost below for style. See below.

Prior to the Glycerin 15's I had purchased these Adidas Pure Boost, which have a big chuck of springy foam on a simple upper and outsole. They feel great to walk around in, but can simply be too soft in the forefoot. They were the only Boost Shoe that was in stock at my local Dick's Sporting Goods. I wanted to try these on, because I have had trouble buying Adidas shoes via the internet because the fit wasn't right. I did not want another shoe that was too small. 

These shoes are 331 grams, just 2 grams less than the Glycerin's that I think are so heavy. 

My other Boost shoes have lasted a long time. Two pairs were retired because of the upper rather than wear on the sole. 

These are about the plainest shoes in the store. They make the Brook's look fashionable. They were only $79.99 which is much less than the $150 that I paid for Boost shoes when they were new. Presumably the upscale ones look better, but my local Dick's didn't have them.  I am guessing Adidas put these low-end shoes out for back-to-school sales. 

I am not so happy buying so many shoes so fast. I hope to rotate these shoes and not buy more for a while.
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Nike Pegasus Zoom 33 Review

It has only been 6 weeks since I got my Ghost 9's, but I have been having a sore knee. I went with my DW to Dick's Sporting Goods. I had time to kill while she looked at jackets.

I tried on these Pegasus, because I know some people love them.

I was surprised at how stiff they were on the inside of the foot. This seemed like it would be easy on my right knee, which has been hurting. I 


I ran 11 miles today in the new shoes, and my knees feel great.

I have also been babying them by running on a grade.

These shoes are pretty light at 311 g per shoe. This is 24 gram/shoe lighter than my Brook's Ghosts 9s.

They are nice looking shoes with a red-fade-to-black upper and the novel sticking around the laces. I like the hollow bottom under the heel too.

June 30 Update: Initially these shoes were great. They are more structured than other shoes and they gave me support that I wasn't used to. They are still OK, but I find after a few miles my fore foot is getting sore, and changing shoes makes that better. I am surprised that they wore out so fast since I have been rotating between multiple pairs of shoes. I have no more than 450 miles on these shoes, so it feels early to retire them. Perhaps I am being cheap, the websites say 350-500 miles is reasonable depending on your weight.

Perhaps that low density EVA foam is not holding up like it should. The midsole is sunken in the fore foot. The innersole is nearly new. 

Brooks Ghost 9 Running Shoes

I have had Brooks Ghost running shoes for a while, this is my fourth pair. The Ghost 9 is very much like the Ghost 8. [Click here to see older shoe reviews.) The sole seems to be exactly the same. The upper is more stylish with pattern in the vent holes. The shoe is 335 g which is 10g lighter than the Ghost 8.

I like this shoe pretty well. Much more comfortable than my other shoes, which may mean that they are wearing out. 

I get sore feet during the summer, perhaps because of walking barefoot, but perhaps because I do more miles. They feel pretty good in these.

June 30, 2017 update:  I set these aside for a while because the upper was so wide my foot would slide around causing some soreness. The shoe is not worn out at all, and after a few months I started wearing it again. No issues. 

New Shoe Revue: Adidas Pureboost ZG

My new running shoes are an improved Adidas Boost design. See my previous post of my previous pair. These are Pureboost ZG, obviously in the black & gray. It's got a knit upper which is stretch and breathable. I think it is comfortable especially in the bunion area where some shoes are too tight.

Black and gray make for dull photos in the blog, but for better shoes after these shoes have lived their life as running shoes and have been retired to casual shoes. There are some pretty nice fluorescent yellow Pureboost ZG's at Dicks. After I bought them, I notice Adidas has a sales that undercut Dick's -- but too late for me.

The Pureboost ZG is very comfortable as I expected from my previous pairs.

Wow! Adidas dropped the three stripes!!

If you look carefully, there are three strips by the toe. 

The bottom is not a typical design. Not sure about traction
wet slip resistance. 

299 grams; same as my pair in 2014, lighter than last year's. 

These shoes have a thicker outsole 3-4 mm than either previous pair. Hard to tell what it is made from. 

There is some soil on the shoe. I have run in them twice. As before, it has the illusion of good traction because of the high energy return. 

 It is 299 grams -- nearly the same weight at my first pair of Boost in 2014, and about 10% less than my Supernova's in 2015.












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August 2016 Update.
Un-happily I have retired these shoes from running, after one month and perhaps 50 miles.

The problem, which I did not realize earlier, is that these are actually slip-on shoes upon which laces were also added. What does that mean? There is an elastic band across the middle of the shoe -- its gray and you can see it in the photos. Underneath the laces there is no loose tongue which sits underneath the laces. Instead if one tightens the laces, the shoe fabric underneath has to pucker.

As the shoe broke in, it go looser, and my foot slipped forward. Since the shoe is not oversized, by toe touches the front of the toebox. I tried to tighten the laces to keep my foot back, but you can't without puckering the fabric in an uncomfortable way.

Bottom line is this shoe looks like a lace-up, but it is really a slip-on. When the shoe breaks in, it quickly becomes too loose the run in.

Too bad for me.

October Update:

I cut the elastic between the laces, and drilled two new holes for the laces, higher up closer to my ankle. This helps, and now I can run with the shoes.

I find the arch support a little too squishy and I wear an elastic band around my mid-foot to support it.

Running Shoe Update

 Here are my Adidas Supernova shoes with the Boost expanded thermoplastic urethane ETPU soles. These soles have great resilience or energy return so they are fun to run in. They weight 334 g per shoe which is 35 g or 10% more than my first generation Adidas Boost Shoes

I had worn these for about six weeks and you can see the discoloration of the ETPU from the sunlight.

The toebox on the new shoe is larger, and the shoe is more comfortable than my older Boost shoe.

I had a chance to visit Brooks in Portland and get a tour. I saw the treadmill lab where they test out the new shoes.

While I was there I got a discount a new pair of Ghost 8's. These are a similar design to the Ghost 6 & 7.

Notice that they went back to the black outsole. I wonder if that is for performance or for style.

This pair of Ghosts is the least homely pair. My Brook's shoes have been great to wear, but they are not so stylish.

These shoes are 345g. 10 g heavier per shoe than the Boost. 24 g heavier than the Ghost 7 and about the same as the Ghost 6.

Ghost 7 Running Shoe Review

Ghost 7

My last few pairs of shoes have been Brook's so this shoe blog has been getting dull. My lastest one is the Ghost 7. It is very similar to the Ghost  6 without the gel midsole in the heel, or if it is there you can't see it anymore.

I got this shoe because it protects my forefoot from stone bruises. That is damage to the foot from running on gravel on cement roads. I had an injury of that kind last summer, and it reoccurs if I don't take care of it.

The yellow outsole of the Ghost 7 stains easily. 

Ghost 7 weighs 321 grams, which is 24 grams less than the Ghost 6, or almost an ounce.  It has a four part sole with a two part mid-sole - the white and the orange additionally at the heel.

This shoe has a yellow outsole unlike the Ghost 6 which is black. You can see the staining on it in the picture. These shoes have 18 miles on them, and the blackness does not wipe off. It doesn't bother me, but I could see it bothering my DW if I would wear them inside.

Ghost 6

The Ghost 7 is a little less flamboyant than the Ghost 6. Less orange and more yellow with a lighter gray color. I don't find either shoe that attractive. When they wear out, and I can't use them as running shoes. The won't be cool looking casual shoes.


As mentioned I have 18 miles on these shoes, and I find this shoe very comfortable.

Shoe Review: My running shoe update

I have purchased three pairs of shoes since the last review in 2012. These are the Adidas Boost Supernova, the Brooks Rivenna 4, and the Brooks Ghost 6.

The oldest shoe is the Adidas Boost Supernova. This is made from expanded TPU that my employer BASF makes.  This is a light shoe at 300 grams, and it is touted as having excellent "energy return." Meaning that the sole elastically returns energy to the running. When you are in the shoe, it feels like it has a better grip on the street. It is a light-weight shoe so the foot protection is not that great.

A pretty nice shoe, but I don't wear it much. I have had sore feet and need more protections.

On the bottom you can see the little balls that make up the shoe sole. I don't know why the sole n the bottom you can see the little balls that make up the shoe sole. I don't know why the sole is sn the bottom you can see the little balls that make up the shoe sole. I don't know why the sole is staining yellow.

This is the Brook Ghost 6. It is 345 g (for one shoe) and has high foot protection. It is my newest shoe, and it does a nice job. 

 Here you can see the bottom, and the "gel" in the sole.



...


This is the Brook Rivenna 4. It is stiffer than the Ghost with less protection, and it is heavier at 407g per shoe.

It is an OK shoe, and I still wear it once in a while.