Standing tall with an (illegal) stack height of 44.5 mm (per World Athletics), the new Mizuno Neo Vista is pushing boundaries in the super trainer category. In the era of super shoes, brands are now developing super trainers, which can handle the demands of your everyday mileage while giving the cushioning and responsiveness to help you train harder and run faster. The Mizuno Neo Vista is that new sports car that can go the distance and give you a unique ride you’ve never experienced before.
But what makes the Neo Vista unique isn’t just its super-stack midsole. Let’s get into the details.
Specs
Category: Neutral/max cushion
Stack: 44.5 mm (heel)
Drop: 8 mm
Weight: 266 g (men’s), 218 g (women’s)
MSRP: CAD $230.00
Available: June 1, 2024
Upper
The Mizuno Neo Vista’s upper is crafted from a one-piece soft knit bootie that wraps around your foot, adapting to its natural shape for a sock-like fit. This seamless construction fully integrates the tongue, reducing the chances of friction or blisters to ensure a comfortable experience. A rubber tab on top of the tongue prevents any potential rubbing from the laces.
Even with a wider forefoot, I found the shoe fit true to size and accommodated my foot shape. Despite the midfoot’s seemingly minimal structure, it provides excellent support and security during runs, and the bootie-like construction allows for easy slipping on and off. The upper’s fit is exactly how most runners want it: snug, secure and requiring minimal lace adjustment. With the bootie design already fitting snugly, the laces add just a little more support and structure. Initially, I found the laces to be a bit tight, but as I broke the shoe in and began running, the upper started to feel great.
Midsole
My favourite feature of the Neo Vista is the soft, lightweight and responsive Mizuno Enerzy NXT foam midsole. This nitrogen-infused, bio-based EVA foam delivers a plush, bouncy ride that closely mimics the feel of super shoes like Mizuno’s Wave Rebellion Pro, providing an exceptionally comfortable and responsive running experience. I used this shoe for daily training, long runs and one-kilometre repeats and found it comfortable and responsive over the three different workouts.
The midsole boasts an unorthodox maximum stack height of 44.5 mm, offering unprecedented levels of cushioning, which are illegal in official World Athletics-sanctioned competitions. So, if you’re planning on winning any races anytime soon, you might have to leave the Neo Vista for tempo runs and daily training.
Complementing the Enerzy NXT foam is the full-length, glass-fibre-reinforced nylon plate, which works in tandem with the Enerzy NXT foam to provide stability and responsiveness. This plate is wave-shaped, to further enhance stability and responsiveness, improving running economy and reducing the load of everyday training. The Mizuno Smooth Speed Assist technology refers to the sole’s rocker shape, which complements the plate by promoting a forward rolling motion; the effect is to reduce stress on the leg muscles and provide an ultra-propulsive roll from midfoot to toe. I found that the roll helped balance out the unusually high stack.
Outsole
Despite the shoe weighing nearly 10 ounces (283 grams for M9.5), I found the Neo Vista light and provided good traction for intervals and long runs. The outsole features generous rubber coverage from heel to toe and is surprisingly grippy on both road and trails. I did catch a few rocks in the middle crevice on several occasions, but I was able to quickly remove them.
Verdict
The Mizuno Neo Vista running shoes feel incredibly soft and bouncy, making them highly versatile for many neutral runners looking for an “everything” training shoe. It suited my training needs for long runs and longer interval sessions, where the cushioning and responsiveness truly shine. This shoe is ideal for those seeking a lightweight, highly-cushioned option that delivers a fast, bouncy feel while being durable enough for everyday use. While these shoes are not within World Athletics’s 40 mm legal stack height parameters for official races, they are perfect for long runs and comfortable daily miles, leaving the choice of using them in marathons or half-marathons up to the runner.
