Reebok Floatride Energy 5 Introduction
The Reebok Floatride Energy 5 is an everyday trainer that will be the workhorse for the bulk of your mileage and provides enough rubber on the outsole for durability.
While it has added more foam into the midsole than the previous models, the ride is firm and doesn’t provide any softness or cushion whatsoever.
Reebok Floatride Energy 5 First Impressions
When I opened up the box I noticed how much protection it had starting from the padded upper down to the thick sole unit. I was fairly impressed.
But when I tried them on I noticed how difficult it was to put them on my feet. The elf like heel cup is provided as a “pull tab” and it works nicely. When I was trying to lace up my shoes, I had a hard time because the laces were fairly short.
During my first run with the shoes, however, the medial side of my foot started to hurt. So I had to stop a few times so the discomfort would go away.
Reebok Floatride Energy 5 Upper
The upper uses what they call, [REE]CYCLE, which is made with at least 30% recycle or repurpose materials. The upper overall was fairly breathable because of the ventilation holes on the sides.
Included on the upper are multiple layers that are used for providing some structure to the shoe. The heel cup is fully padded and is tall, which you can use as a pull tab as it is pretty difficult to put on.
The tongue is fairly padded. This will provide some comfort on the top of your foot. The tongue is gusseted on both sides so that it doesn’t move around. The shoe laces were really short.
Reebok Floatride Energy 5 Sole Unit
The Reebok Floatride Energy 5’s midsole, Floatride Energy Foam, has a more wider and taller base than it’s predecessor.
The feel of the midsole seems soft on the touch, but when you put the shoe on, that wasn’t the case. The midsole felt firm and seemed to always hurt my feet the first few miles running with it.
The outsole uses an all surface rubber along with the torsion plate.
The torsion plate, which they call the X-plate, is also used to increase midfoot stability along with the Floatride Energy Foam.
Based off feel, the entire sole unit is the polar opposite of both the Nike Invincible and the Asics Novablast.
Reebok Floatride Energy 5 Conclusions
In conclusion, the Reebok Floatride Energy 5 would be a shoe I would not invest on again.
Although the price point is $110 USD, that doesn’t guarantee that it would be a steal of a deal per se. I have ran over 50 plus miles and the sole unit has been pretty uncomfortable for my feet almost the entire time, especially the medial part of both my feet at the beginning of my runs.
The stability of the midsole design is great as I was able to take sharp turns with no problems. If you were to buy this shoe, I would recommend that you use this shoe more no more than 8 miles.
I ran a 17 miler with this shoe and the top of my right foot started hurting a lot around the 9th mile. I had to stop to loosen the laces to even feel a slight comfort running back home.