The Flyknit is very breathable, with small holes in the top weave of the toebox and a thin inner sleeve in place of a traditional tongue—the downside to this being that laces can dig in. I don’t list the mid-grade heel counter as a “con” because the med-high arch makes up for it to counter my over-pronation caused by the loose ligaments in my feet (similar to the benefit from my custom inserts from Dr. Paul Coffin).

This isn’t a shoe that will ever have you thinking about how you feel, either in a very positive or very negative way. You put the shoes on, start running, and don’t even have to think about it again. I ran in Odyssey React Shield 2 after a 20-mile marathon training run and actually felt pretty supported. It’s nice to put a pair of shoes on and not have to question if they’ll be up for the task ahead. They are clearly proud of that at Nike because they even printed it on a label and put that on the heel counter. Although I like the Epic React foam, I did miss a bit of stability in the upper on the medial as well as the lateral side. Even though there is a plastic triangle for extra support on the medial side of the midsole. After my first run in the shoe, I told a friend that I thought I’d be ranking it pretty high, mainly because I love the change to the forefoot upper. Testers who have worn both do not feel a difference in the sole units between the two shoes beyond perhaps a touch more of a firm toe-off from Odyssey’s rubber-patched sending zone.

Nike Odyssey React 2 Flyknit Intro

From what I’ve read about the Epic React Flynit, the neoprene tongue in Odyssey protects the top of the foot from laces digging in (l didn’t feel any discomfort), and the jacquard-weave vamp is less flexible, which some (including this reviewer) find more secure. Both shoes contain a full-length React midsole, which is my favorite foam from Nike. It fits slightly small and narrow, so definitely consider going up a half size. Because if you Google the term, it mainly just shows you all the shoes in the Nike Shield line, but it doesn’t really give you any other products with this rating. There are ways to measure and describe how water repellent fabric is, but as far as I can tell, G.90 isn’t one of them. Upper of the Odyssey React Shiel

But that wasn’t enough, it is also printed on the insole. And it also says water repellent on the tongue of the shoe. However, to find out what G.90 means wasn’t so easy. Sometimes I have to retie the laces once or twice to keep them from digging through the thin tongue, but once the tension is just right, it’s smooth sailing on Odyssey through the odyssey that is every training week and long run. These shoes definitely have higher arches than any other stability shoe I have run in and work best for a medium-high arch. The flat neoprene “tongue” of this shoe is thin but soft and comfortable, and extends down to wrap the entire midfoot like a booty, similar in style to Epic’s knit tongue/bootie/sleeve yet more protective of the upper foot.The biggest problem with the new upper design is the thin tongue. A careful balance must be found between a secure hold and laces digging into the top of my foot.

We’ve written at length about Nike’s React foam, but the material still deserves to be mentioned for how it affects this shoe’s performance. After all, an upper that protects your feet from winter rain, wind, and snow is little without a midsole that you’ll enjoy running on. If you appreciate ample cushioning and a moderately responsive ride, instead of favoring an extreme amount of either foam or responsiveness, then this might well be a material that you’ll enjoy running on.Since I was used to the flyknit fabric of the Nike Epic React 2, it took me a while to get used to the Shield upper of the Odyssey React Shield. But I’m not sure why they didn’t change that with the Odyssey React Shield. They already stitched an overlay on top of the tongue, so they might as well put the label on the inside like most shoe companies. Or just print it onto the inside rather than using a label. The sizing label is, just like in the Epic React 2, stitched onto the insole. You can put it underneath the insole, but it will sometimes pop out from underneath there and it might irritate your foot. With the flyknit upper it sort of made sense that they didn’t stitch the label onto the inside of the tongue, because the flyknit is quite form-fitting.