Chinese running gear

[kbernstein]

A little offtopic yes, but, keep in mind that I use some of these while cycling too.
I sometimes like to take a break from being a mediocre cyclist to be an even more mediocre runner, and I'm sure many of you also do. While definitely not as gear-reliant as cycling overall, running is also plagued by the parasite backbones of the western economy; useless middlemen, charalatan marketing, etc, and given my positive experience with chinese cycling stuff, I figured there had to be nobrainer deals for running too, and I couldn't really find any online space discussing those.

Accessories/clothes:

Nitecore NU25 (old 2017 version) My first aliexpress purchase. A staple for ultralighters but I've mostly used it running. No need for my individual review, plenty out there. I sold it to upgrade to the updated USB-C version but they just pulled third party sellers on aliexpress. Bummed but now eyeing the cheaper headlamps from other brands. Any suggestion?

Tiny 12g flashlight marketed for EDC that you can use clipped to a hat brim: $2 in the pick 3 section, an absolute nobrainer. Enough for road running at dusk, but awesome overall, will definitely buy more to keep in backpack/car/bike

Socks: I have 7 pairs of these socks, sometimes marketed for cycling, sometimes for running. Sold under various branding, I have liteskin, GKRQ and "RAPHA" Best socks I've ever had, blows salomon and under armor out of the water. Between 1.50 (pick 3 section) and 2.50 a pair, nobrainer imo. https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006741629823.html

Synthetic buff: I think it doesn't substitute a merino buff, it has different applications. A lot more breathable but not as warm. Still 12 times cheaper than my OR merino buff. Great overall https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007614935339.html

Winter hat: Not the best for the price. Very warm, not breathable. Good for hiking at best or running only in VERY cold temps. https://aliexpress.com/item/32906234584.html

Sun sleeves: Seem to have gone up a lot in price, mine were 4€ not on sale. Very good, I don't see how they could improve or how western brands have the audacity to sell theirs for 50. I've used them a lot cycling, both when it's a little chilly and when it's really hot and sunny. Adds a little warmth in autumn, keeps cool and avoids sunburns in summer. Dunk your arms in water at a fountain and you'll keep them cold for much longer than if you dipped just skin. https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004180252738.html

I haven't found proper clothing that seemed appealing (shirts, pants) on aliexpress. Would love to hear reviews but decathlon is cheap enough so I'm not sure I would bother. However I really really wish there was a proper technical running rain jacket. Something to rival the 300+ euro raidlight/rab/salomon bonatti jackets that are really breathable. Sadly I can't find anything like it.

As for the watch, while not aliexpress, coros is chinese and I'm very happy with the switch from garmin

Belts/backpacks/flasks:

My benchmark is the kiprun marathon belt (71g)(not the adjustable one).
Queshark running belt: Garbage copy of salomon pulse that isn't a very good belt to begin with. Made the mistake of trusting the sizing chart and reviewers who most likely don't run and just test fit in their kitchen and took L as the chart firmly placed me there. Horrible mistake as it's too big, but even then the belt is just trash. Fabric is like 90s spandex, stretchy but not firm or breathable. Zipper is average, pockets are unpractical and the "700ml kettle" claim is as fraudulent as it gets as I couldn't even fit a 500ml flask. Still tried it loaded as I usually do, phone in front, small items (in this case my usual belt) on the sides and flask in the back. The back flapped horribly and would sag to my knees in 10 meters. I was very glad I packed my spare belt and got home with it. Wrong size aside it's just shit, and no silicone grippers doesn't help. 67 grams https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005425887714.html

Noname naked belt copy: only 2 runs so far (using the same load for benchmark) but quite happy. Trusted my gut and got my usual size (M) instead of looking at charts, wish it was juuuust a little tighter but fabric is excellent, load is secure, pole loops have silicone grippers, from what I can tell all it's missing from the real deal is the key clip. Luckily the queshark belt has one I can poach  Literally 10 times cheaper than the real deal, and probably my new main belt going forward. Not a fan of the pockets splitting in the middle, but it's a quirk naked chose and not the clone choice. 54 grams without the race pins which is another win https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007328651255.html

Flasks: The BPA/microplastic issue doesn't worry me any more than "western" branded flasks as 1. BPA is for hard plastic only so cycling bottles are a lot more likely to have it, 2. I believe they're made in the same factory, even the supposedly hydrapak ones 3. We're all doomed anyway and water bottles are far from the main source of microplastics. But I'm sure big brands will happily keep you worried so you buy their "safer" flasks for OVER TEN TIMES the price. rant and conspiracy over.

Newboler 500ml, but also found under many brands including aonijie, utobest thinkrider map brother etc: I'd say flow rate is 20% worse than salomon flasks. Same dimension as the recent narrow opening flasks they still sell, but wider/shorter than the 42mm openings sold with adv skin bags, which IMO is a good thing, I don't see the advantage of those taller flasks. 546g full 36g empty = 510ml measured

Widesea 600ml, Lots to say about this one. Flow rate comparable to salomon if not a little better, opening is 40mm. It is the SAME flask sold by intersport at 12chf a piece (seen in store but can't find online) and by raidlight (20 a piece) The raidlight mention is interesting because they also sell a water filter that goes with it for 30eur, which is one of the rare options that rival salomon/katadyn 42mm thread filters. "flask water filter" on aliexpress yields some results, some which look similar but I'm not 100% sure they are the same raidlight sells.The cap thread isn't perfect and you need to push on it to screw it in. This is the case on both of mine but also on intersport's I've handled in person.  680g full 51g empty = 629ml measured

Lixada 380ml, great for belts, in my opinion the best flow out of every flask I've had, chinese or salomon 451g full 32g empty = 419ml measured

I'm not linking any of these as they're all from the pick 3 section. I've personally paid 2.50/2.60/2.80 per pc respectively but I've seen them all for cheaper. In general I am very happy with all, the flask material feels the exact same as salomon and I don't think you can go wrong with either of these. They all have dust caps which I thought would annoy me but I don't mind them and have kept them all so far.

Backpacks, I've had a bunch over the years, 5 salomons from 5 to 25L, one 12L aonijie comfortskin that was not my size so I had to send back but can confirm it was well built. I tried ordering the 10L "speed" aonijie during the 11/11 sale but they lost it in the mail and I got a refund. Might turn up one day and receive it late for free as it happened before, but no review. I just picked up an active skin 8 locally for 35chf and it's my favorite salomon yet, so I don't plan on ordering another for now

The big one: shoes. Wall of text incoming but tldr in the end. For reference, I mostly run trail 8-20km in speedgoat 5s (on my 4th pair) but occasionally road on very cheap decathlon shoes when it's too muddy, just so that I don't wear out my hokas usually 4-5km. My max was 8, they're very minimalist and uncomfortable and I don't really enjoy road running anyway. These road shoes are what I was looking to replace as I'm decently happy with SG5 on trails I've been eyeing the brand "onemix" for a while but since shoes are serious and a bad pair once cost me 600chf in various medical fees I have been very hesitant. Reviews are sparse online but always positive, and I read they used to be OEM for nike before nike sued them. I bit the bullet, my decathlon shoes are uncomfortable anyway. I chose the "meeto" model expecting a road shoe with similar drop to the speedgoats I'm used to. An oversight as they have a strange tread pattern I'm not familiar with, not as smooth as road but not quite as spiky as trail shoes. Perhaps this is the runner's version of a 45mm gravel tire?
I've first tried them on my usual short road loops because I had a lot of runs on them to benchmark. I was 25 seconds faster per km than my PR. Same RPE as usual. Must have been a good day, so I tried my other road loops. PR, PR and PR again. And I'm definitely not at my peak fitness. The tread was intriguing, so I tried them on my shorter trail loops too. Similar story. I probably wouldn't trust them (yet?) on more technical terrains, but for loose gravel, forest and what americans call "fire roads" it does the job. The rubber is very weird to the touch, almost sticky. One issue is the insole it comes with. It has a very curved portion for the arch but it's not supported at all. It got a little uncomfortable so I first swapped them for the SG5 insoles which was a lot better, and then ordered cheap "nafoing" "orthopedic" insoles.The way I understand it many runners ditch stock insoles for their favorite anyway just like we get our favorite saddles on new bikes? Only 3 runs on the new insoles so I need more time to decide if they're better than the hoka insoles, but I would definitely recommend not sticking to the weird stock one.
As a bonus the shoes came with low cut socks. I hate low cut but they've been great. A little frustrated that they even beat my speedgoat 5s, but they've been great so far, ~80km trail ~15km road. No sign of wear yet, which is normal but bad shoes already show weaknesses at that point
TL;DR: Shockingly good
Weights of insoles:
Stock onemix : 33g
Hoka speedgoat 5: 17g
Nafoing orthopedic: 26

Weights of shoes, size 44:
Onemix 295 (with dried mud)
Hoka 282 (with dried mud)

Pics of the onemix and hoka insoles (nafoing not pictured) and tread patterns:

[womble73]

These "onemix" brand of shoes look interesting, I can see the Nike similarity in a few of the shoes. About to pull the trigger on a "pace beam" pair. Just waiting for some new years deal to start. Will be nice to compare them to ASIC Nimbus shoes which have a similar solid section running down the middle of the shoe.

[ejump0]

For China brand, i have a few items from Aonijie in my run/trail arsenal

Aonijie 5toe socks, light n midweight. the light are mostly for road running, while midweight for trail/ultratrail. theyre decently good, comparable to injinjis. almost no blisters in my runs (minimal blister at ultra distances)

Aonijie z-poles alu+carbon hybrid. IMO theyre good value for weight to price. i saw a lot of ppl using this model at the ChiangMai 100K ultra.

Aonijiie run belt, i have 2 diff models. the mesh ones, and another is polyester ultrafit type.  The mesh model have a lot of give n stretchability, at expense it can sag if you carry heavy items. the slim fit polyester ones stayed super slim, i used it for road run races.

Aonijie drink colapsable flask 350ml n 250ml. decently good at fraction of price, i think even cheaper than decathlon

[johnnyboy4711]

A little offtopic yes, but, keep in mind that I use some of these while cycling too.
I sometimes like to take a break from being a mediocre cyclist to be an even more mediocre runner, and I'm sure many of you also do. While definitely not as gear-reliant as cycling overall, running is also plagued by the parasite backbones of the western economy; useless middlemen, charalatan marketing, etc, and given my positive experience with chinese cycling stuff, I figured there had to be nobrainer deals for running too, and I couldn't really find any online space discussing those.

Accessories/clothes:

Nitecore NU25 (old 2017 version) My first aliexpress purchase. A staple for ultralighters but I've mostly used it running. No need for my individual review, plenty out there. I sold it to upgrade to the updated USB-C version but they just pulled third party sellers on aliexpress. Bummed but now eyeing the cheaper headlamps from other brands. Any suggestion?

Tiny 12g flashlight marketed for EDC that you can use clipped to a hat brim: $2 in the pick 3 section, an absolute nobrainer. Enough for road running at dusk, but awesome overall, will definitely buy more to keep in backpack/car/bike

Socks: I have 7 pairs of these socks, sometimes marketed for cycling, sometimes for running. Sold under various branding, I have liteskin, GKRQ and "RAPHA" Best socks I've ever had, blows salomon and under armor out of the water. Between 1.50 (pick 3 section) and 2.50 a pair, nobrainer imo. https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006741629823.html

Synthetic buff: I think it doesn't substitute a merino buff, it has different applications. A lot more breathable but not as warm. Still 12 times cheaper than my OR merino buff. Great overall https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007614935339.html

Winter hat: Not the best for the price. Very warm, not breathable. Good for hiking at best or running only in VERY cold temps. https://aliexpress.com/item/32906234584.html

Sun sleeves: Seem to have gone up a lot in price, mine were 4€ not on sale. Very good, I don't see how they could improve or how western brands have the audacity to sell theirs for 50. I've used them a lot cycling, both when it's a little chilly and when it's really hot and sunny. Adds a little warmth in autumn, keeps cool and avoids sunburns in summer. Dunk your arms in water at a fountain and you'll keep them cold for much longer than if you dipped just skin. https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004180252738.html

I haven't found proper clothing that seemed appealing (shirts, pants) on aliexpress. Would love to hear reviews but decathlon is cheap enough so I'm not sure I would bother. However I really really wish there was a proper technical running rain jacket. Something to rival the 300+ euro raidlight/rab/salomon bonatti jackets that are really breathable. Sadly I can't find anything like it.

As for the watch, while not aliexpress, coros is chinese and I'm very happy with the switch from garmin

Belts/backpacks/flasks:

My benchmark is the kiprun marathon belt (71g)(not the adjustable one).
Queshark running belt: Garbage copy of salomon pulse that isn't a very good belt to begin with. Made the mistake of trusting the sizing chart and reviewers who most likely don't run and just test fit in their kitchen and took L as the chart firmly placed me there. Horrible mistake as it's too big, but even then the belt is just trash. Fabric is like 90s spandex, stretchy but not firm or breathable. Zipper is average, pockets are unpractical and the "700ml kettle" claim is as fraudulent as it gets as I couldn't even fit a 500ml flask. Still tried it loaded as I usually do, phone in front, small items (in this case my usual belt) on the sides and flask in the back. The back flapped horribly and would sag to my knees in 10 meters. I was very glad I packed my spare belt and got home with it. Wrong size aside it's just shit, and no silicone grippers doesn't help. 67 grams https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005425887714.html

Noname naked belt copy: only 2 runs so far (using the same load for benchmark) but quite happy. Trusted my gut and got my usual size (M) instead of looking at charts, wish it was juuuust a little tighter but fabric is excellent, load is secure, pole loops have silicone grippers, from what I can tell all it's missing from the real deal is the key clip. Luckily the queshark belt has one I can poach  Literally 10 times cheaper than the real deal, and probably my new main belt going forward. Not a fan of the pockets splitting in the middle, but it's a quirk naked chose and not the clone choice. 54 grams without the race pins which is another win https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007328651255.html

Flasks: The BPA/microplastic issue doesn't worry me any more than "western" branded flasks as 1. BPA is for hard plastic only so cycling bottles are a lot more likely to have it, 2. I believe they're made in the same factory, even the supposedly hydrapak ones 3. We're all doomed anyway and water bottles are far from the main source of microplastics. But I'm sure big brands will happily keep you worried so you buy their "safer" flasks for OVER TEN TIMES the price. rant and conspiracy over.

Newboler 500ml, but also found under many brands including aonijie, utobest thinkrider map brother etc: I'd say flow rate is 20% worse than salomon flasks. Same dimension as the recent narrow opening flasks they still sell, but wider/shorter than the 42mm openings sold with adv skin bags, which IMO is a good thing, I don't see the advantage of those taller flasks. 546g full 36g empty = 510ml measured

Widesea 600ml, Lots to say about this one. Flow rate comparable to salomon if not a little better, opening is 40mm. It is the SAME flask sold by intersport at 12chf a piece (seen in store but can't find online) and by raidlight (20 a piece) The raidlight mention is interesting because they also sell a water filter that goes with it for 30eur, which is one of the rare options that rival salomon/katadyn 42mm thread filters. "flask water filter" on aliexpress yields some results, some which look similar but I'm not 100% sure they are the same raidlight sells.The cap thread isn't perfect and you need to push on it to screw it in. This is the case on both of mine but also on intersport's I've handled in person.  680g full 51g empty = 629ml measured

Lixada 380ml, great for belts, in my opinion the best flow out of every flask I've had, chinese or salomon 451g full 32g empty = 419ml measured

I'm not linking any of these as they're all from the pick 3 section. I've personally paid 2.50/2.60/2.80 per pc respectively but I've seen them all for cheaper. In general I am very happy with all, the flask material feels the exact same as salomon and I don't think you can go wrong with either of these. They all have dust caps which I thought would annoy me but I don't mind them and have kept them all so far.

Backpacks, I've had a bunch over the years, 5 salomons from 5 to 25L, one 12L aonijie comfortskin that was not my size so I had to send back but can confirm it was well built. I tried ordering the 10L "speed" aonijie during the 11/11 sale but they lost it in the mail and I got a refund. Might turn up one day and receive it late for free as it happened before, but no review. I just picked up an active skin 8 locally for 35chf and it's my favorite salomon yet, so I don't plan on ordering another for now

The big one: shoes. Wall of text incoming but tldr in the end. For reference, I mostly run trail 8-20km in speedgoat 5s (on my 4th pair) but occasionally road on very cheap decathlon shoes when it's too muddy, just so that I don't wear out my hokas usually 4-5km. My max was 8, they're very minimalist and uncomfortable and I don't really enjoy road running anyway. These road shoes are what I was looking to replace as I'm decently happy with SG5 on trails I've been eyeing the brand "onemix" for a while but since shoes are serious and a bad pair once cost me 600chf in various medical fees I have been very hesitant. Reviews are sparse online but always positive, and I read they used to be OEM for nike before nike sued them. I bit the bullet, my decathlon shoes are uncomfortable anyway. I chose the "meeto" model expecting a road shoe with similar drop to the speedgoats I'm used to. An oversight as they have a strange tread pattern I'm not familiar with, not as smooth as road but not quite as spiky as trail shoes. Perhaps this is the runner's version of a 45mm gravel tire?
I've first tried them on my usual short road loops because I had a lot of runs on them to benchmark. I was 25 seconds faster per km than my PR. Same RPE as usual. Must have been a good day, so I tried my other road loops. PR, PR and PR again. And I'm definitely not at my peak fitness. The tread was intriguing, so I tried them on my shorter trail loops too. Similar story. I probably wouldn't trust them (yet?) on more technical terrains, but for loose gravel, forest and what americans call "fire roads" it does the job. The rubber is very weird to the touch, almost sticky. One issue is the insole it comes with. It has a very curved portion for the arch but it's not supported at all. It got a little uncomfortable so I first swapped them for the SG5 insoles which was a lot better, and then ordered cheap "nafoing" "orthopedic" insoles.The way I understand it many runners ditch stock insoles for their favorite anyway just like we get our favorite saddles on new bikes? Only 3 runs on the new insoles so I need more time to decide if they're better than the hoka insoles, but I would definitely recommend not sticking to the weird stock one.
As a bonus the shoes came with low cut socks. I hate low cut but they've been great. A little frustrated that they even beat my speedgoat 5s, but they've been great so far, ~80km trail ~15km road. No sign of wear yet, which is normal but bad shoes already show weaknesses at that point
TL;DR: Shockingly good
Weights of insoles:
Stock onemix : 33g
Hoka speedgoat 5: 17g
Nafoing orthopedic: 26

Weights of shoes, size 44:
Onemix 295 (with dried mud)
Hoka 282 (with dried mud)

Pics of the onemix and hoka insoles (nafoing not pictured) and tread patterns:

great post
cannot find the MEETO shoes on ali,are they under another name?
thanks
J

[kbernstein]

great post
cannot find the MEETO shoes on ali,are they under another name?
thanks
J

Sorry I forgot to link them, here they are https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007621060661.html
I went on my longest trail run on them 2 days ago (16) and I started to get a little bit of chafing on the outside of my left big toe because the trail was at an angle pushing my foot inwards. Need to investigate, not sure if the insole was positioned incorrectly. Besides this issue I will try to replicate, I think the insole cushion is really really good for my foot. Might buy more to put in all my shoes since they're so cheap

[Greenred]

How is the sizing compared to the hoka speedgoat you have? I am mildly intrigued

[kbernstein]

How is the sizing compared to the hoka speedgoat you have? I am mildly intrigued

Very comparable. All my shoes are 44EU. Maybe toebox is very slightly narrower but not sure how to measure the inside

[womble73]

I grabbed a pair of "pace" shoes. They have been out for 10km today.
Thoughts are:
- Very fast shoes, the carbon plate really does push you forward, good improvement of at least 5 sec per km. It was hard to drop the pace back to my normal speed.
- They are not super comfortable in the toe box area, it took about 3 kms for my foot to get use to running in them. The carbon plate felt like I was running on hard plastic (which I guess is to be expected).
- Size wise they are an exact size match for ASICs in the wide, not extra wide.


Overall they are a great shoes for speed work or short runs. While I might change my mind I am not planning on running anything over 10kms in them. Just not enough comfort for the longer runs. I am concerned about hot spots around the ball of the foot.
Attached is an image of the shoes I am talking about. Also got a free pair of insoles which I replaced from the ones that came with the shoes and some socks.
The socks are super comfortable and I will be using them on my longer runs.
The replacement insoles have a noticeable bridge which could impact some people. The original ones the bridge was not as noticeable in the shoe.
Hope the review helps someone.

[johnnyboy4711]

Other carbon plated running shoe options

Li-Ning Men FEIDIAN 4 CHALLENGER - 105 USD
IRUNSVAN (various models)  - 65 USD upwards
XTEP - Xtep 360X  -105 USD upwards

Anyone have any experince of these ones?
leaning towards IRUNSVANsee attached

[ejump0]

Kailas Shoes
++++
Since theres was Kailas booth at Utmb ChiangMai'24, i've decided to try (only test fit) the Fuga EX3.

Theres a few models on display, even with BOA, but i only bothered to try the Fuga EX3 (the 330 is the lighter version) as i saw it on someones feet on my morning course recce check.

The fitting was somewhat narrow at the feet ball, despite toebox room was fine. they have W version, n going W solved my ball tightness issue. Lenght wise, im US10.5 in hoka torrent2/sg5, n i need us10.5 in this. Im us11 in xodusU2.

The upper is super thin mesh, very breathable. The upper at toebox felt comfortable even as when you are creasing it on toe liftoff (i also tested NNormal Tomir at another booth,not comfortable)

the midsole seems soft when poking/squeezing with finger, but when wearing it, forefoot felt stiff. according to rep there is no rockplate. maybe need breaking-in? the heel however was soft, like powerrun pb soft. The outsole is a wide platform, with full vibram.

not a fan of that complicated lacing. Have any of you ran in this?
during the race, i spotted few runners on the 330 ver
/iirc the Ex3 was TBH5600 and ex3-330 was TBH6800

(i run in Speedgoat5, Torrent2, XodusU2)

[amacal1]

I'm somewhat new to running, compared to cycling. I've ran some 5ks this year and looking to step up to 10k (road running) or maybe beyond if I can find the time between cycling. Can someone help explain some things to me? I see that carbon plates are all the rage, but is that a general thing or is it more tailored to certain kinds of running (distance vs speed, or vice-versa)? Are certain types of shoes favored for short or middle distance road running vs longer distances? I've never invested in super shoes and have been running in whatever running shoes are at the big box stores, so anything you guys can point me towards would be much appreciated.

Edit: I kinda like the description and look of these. They're a little pricier than many of the other options, but even at $70 they're a bargain feature/feature compared to western shoe brands. Assuming, of course, they're well designed and made...

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807742925967.html

[ejump0]

I'm somewhat new to running, compared to cycling. I've ran some 5ks this year and looking to step up to 10k (road running) or maybe beyond if I can find the time between cycling. Can someone help explain some things to me? I see that carbon plates are all the rage, but is that a general thing or is it more tailored to certain kinds of running (distance vs speed, or vice-versa)? Are certain types of shoes favored for short or middle distance road running vs longer distances? I've never invested in super shoes and have been running in whatever running shoes are at the big box stores, so anything you guys can point me towards would be much appreciated.

Edit: I kinda like the description and look of these. They're a little pricier than many of the other options, but even at $70 they're a bargain feature/feature compared to western shoe brands. Assuming, of course, they're well designed and made...

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807742925967.html

what shoe do you currently run in?
personally if you want to start running with 1 solid allrounder running shoe, then you can explore another as speed workout/tempo/race shoe.

depending what shoe you currently have, it may be fine to go further into HM distance, at least for racking miles non-threshold/race speeds.
Those carbon plated shoes (depending on manufacturer plat profile) will give you like rocker feeling from land-to-next-toe-off, and added spring propulsion on the toe off.

im not elite by any means, but i have NB RC Elite v1, Alphafly1 and Vaporfly2. Each of them are different.

Im not familiar with OneMix brand. but if you wanna try Chinese specials, theres 361, xtep (i cant recall another brand)for road running, and Kailas for trails. You can really see chinese athletes sporting these brands at big races

[amacal1]

what shoe do you currently run in?
personally if you want to start running with 1 solid allrounder running shoe, then you can explore another as speed workout/tempo/race shoe.

I had a cheap pair of Nikes before and some cheap Asics, and I wasn't really satisfied with them. I've done about 90mi in a pair of Brooks Revel 6, which I think is supposed to be more-or-less an all-rounder, but more on the affordable side for sure.

I'm at the point where I need better shoes of some kind or other. Either equal performance to what I have, but far more comfortable (iffy knees, and a bum ankle) or at least better performance for the same level of comfort. The biggest thing stopping me are the prices of some of these high-end shoes.

[ejump0]

I had a cheap pair of Nikes before and some cheap Asics, and I wasn't really satisfied with them. I've done about 90mi in a pair of Brooks Revel 6, which I think is supposed to be more-or-less an all-rounder, but more on the affordable side for sure.

I'm at the point where I need better shoes of some kind or other. Either equal performance to what I have, but far more comfortable (iffy knees, and a bum ankle) or at least better performance for the same level of comfort. The biggest thing stopping me are the prices of some of these high-end shoes.

yup, the covid really pushing running shoe market up as ppl become concious to excercise, n theres distinc in performance/quality to price of good running shoe vs bottom barrel 'looks like running shoe'.

if i were to recommend a friend who wanna get into running, id recommend these for good balance all-rounder of performane/feel/weight to good price value
- adidas adizero SL2 (not SL1). this is good value for what it offers. but if you have wide feet this may be no go. sl2 should be on discounts by now.
- newbalance rebel 3 or 4, if you are not heavyweight runner. light n cushion, but can be a lil unstable for heel strikers (herl is mushy soft)
- asics novablast 3 (good enough even as v4 n 5 has released. should be discounted price). but wet grip esp on metal cover kinda sketchy.
- Hoka Rincon3 or 4. very light. Clifton might be ok too, but rincon is the strip down faster clifton.

these are not supercushion ones, as imo too much cushion will make shoe bulky n heavy, discouraging to pick up speed for cadual runners, thus no nike in the list. too light n low stack, maybe a lil harsh for casual runners, thus no skechers in list. 
maybe try with proper performance all rounder 1st, before exploring carbon shoes.

[amacal1]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, my foot is a little wide (I'm usually more comfortable in wide-sized shoes) and also kinda heavy (about 81-82 kg despite being relatively short). So, I'll take a look at those others you recommend. If any one can comment on the OneMix shoe I posted, I wouldn't mind keeping that in my back pocket.