Nike Legend Essential Review

Nike Legend Essential greatly surprised us. Even though it is not a typical running model but instead, it is categorized among training shoes, it well managed more than we expected. We decided to go this time for a bit of a different category and tried to experiment with this shoe and took it outside five times for a run. First we did a fast mile run, then a five miles run and the last was for 10 miles. The other two runs were in between.

The main advantage of Nike Legend Essential lies in perfect breathability. The shoe is perforated on the toebox and has big holes in the knitting so that you remain fresh no matter the activity. We tested the shoe in high pace indoors as well and I dare to say it was better than expected. Cross training, HIIT training were no difference in comparison to running outside. The cooling effect was very high.

Next, the shoe is wide and flat on the outsoles. So that if you are doing extreme movements, jumpings, sideways jums,… the shoe works as a perfect stabilizer for your feet. The rubber on the outsoles is highly abrasive, made from dark rubber and thus sliding-resistant. Not just good for exercising inside, but we tested it for a one run outside and there has been no problem with skidding. The shoe manages all conditions perfectly. 

As for the midsole, Nike Legend Essential is not a classic running shoe as we mentioned in the beginning. But it is still equipped with some sort of cushioning so that even running at medium distances up to 8 miles, works with the shoe pretty good. Surprisingly. As for the overall arch support, it should be part of every sports shoe without a discussion. Nike Legend Essential is no exception. It offers a bit weaker arch support but it is still there. The good part is that the shoe has removable orthotics. So that if the arch support is insufficient, you can easily replace the orthotics for better ones. 

As for the upper, it is strengthened on the toe tops which improves the shoe’s overall durability. For indoors this is ideal. For outdoors, just in case you take it into harder conditions. Otherwise useless. But the overall shape of the shoe is very lean. You can easily recognize the difference between the kind of bulky running shoes (Nike Run All Day 2 is a good example) and this training shoe. The lacing system is also different from running shoes but most importantly the laces are flat, so that during the test running they never came untied. 

In general, we really like Nike Legend Essential. No matter the fact that it is officially a training shoe, for running as a complementary activity to your gym workouts or other exercising indoors, it is a good alternative.