Weight 391g
Evaluation The Vapor is the latest shoe to be rebuilt around Brooks’s new, more relaxed and stable last. It’s also had its stability features enhanced, so now it has more in common with Brooks’s Addiction, a good-value £65 motion-control shoe, than with the company’s more performance-oriented stability models. In addition to the new last, the Vapor has a bigger medial post, a big plastic midfoot shank that extends into the medial area, and a more supportive upper than before.
Traditional Vapor-wearers didn’t love it, though. As well as being very heavy, the Vapor had only moderate cushioning, particularly in the forefoot. One weartester said it lacked ‘spring’. Weartesters also commented on a conspicuous lack of grip on wet pavement – a small but significant point.
In short The new Vapor has improved fit and tons of stability, but its weight and firm cushioning make it a big-guy shoe, if anything.
