Let’s face it - not everyone is prepared (or in a position) to drop $100+ dollars on a pair of footwear JUST for lifting weights. But given the relatively small market for weightlifting sneakers, your options for high quality shoes under the $100 mark have been limited - until recently.
Many manufacturers have introduced “budget pleasant” shoes together with Adidas with the PL Coach, VS Athletics and numerous no-name brands which can be all vying for a piece of the lifting shoe market. Unfortunately, through reviewing most of these sneakers we’ve found fault with nearly all of them in a roundabout way or another.
As an illustration, whereas we like the Energy Lift Trainers, they really aren’t meant for serious lifters or folks transferring heavy weight as a result of their EVA heel. The VS shoes are ok, however the heel is just too high for most individuals and the overall sturdiness is decrease than average. And the “no-name” brands are all simply wholesalers shopping for sneakers from China and re-labeling them with a brand new model name. Most of these shoes are beneath common in build high quality which is reflected in the (often) decrease price.
Given the previous disappointments with low cost weightlifting sneakers, I was excited to obtain an email from MaxBarbell letting us know they had a brand new mannequin Wei-Rui shoe available called the Warrior. In the event you recall, their Wei-Rui Maestro model actually faired pretty well in our evaluation, however that was virtually two years in the past and the competition has increased.
FEATURES:
The Wei-Rui Warrior shoe from Maxbarbell has a really engaging price ticket of solely $69 - making it one of the cheapest weight lifting footwear on the market. Naturally a value that low immediately makes you question the quality of the shoe. So I used to be fairly stunned to open the box and see that the quality of this shoe is best than many models that price $50 more!
The Warrior options an all leather higher made from precise leather-based, not artificial “pleather” or suede like Pendlay and others use. The stitching, cuts and pieces have been all clear with no tattered edges or crooked lines and there was no glue residue around the heel.
The Warrior encompasses a strengthened heel cup and a medium-extensive toe box, so it accommodates most wider feet. The shoe has a single hook and loop velcro strap throughout the higher instep and exhibited decent air flow by way of perforations at the sides and entrance of the shoe.
The shoe contains a set .seventy five″ strong rubber heel that has a pleasant grip. Like most strong rubber heels, it adds appreciable weight to the shoe making the shoe heavier than more expensive models. The one different unfavorable I might find was that the heel is made as one piece of rubber with no sole attached to the bottom. This might imply that once the grip has worn from the bottom of the shoe, you would need to have a cobbler make a completely new sole. This wouldn’t price a lot, but is one thing to maintain a watch on as a slick sole is dangerous within the gym.
SIZING:
The Warrior is simply obtainable in men’s sizing and tends to run a half size large. Once more, the toe area is slightly wider than a normal width shoe so they're comfortable on moderately broad feet.
WHERE TO BUY:
The Wei-Rui sneakers are solely obtainable by way of MaxBarbell.com. At the time of this evaluation, the Warrior model was out of stock but is expected to be back in all dimension by the end of May 2012.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
A few of you may have observed that the Warrior seems similar to the black and white BAF weightlifting shoe that retails for round $90. Properly, the rationale for this is that Wei-Rui truly makes the BAF shoe (another example of a Chinese language company re-labeling sneakers for an organization). If you look behind the BAF shoe it will have a W.R. imprinted, signifying the true manufacturer. And should you didn’t catch it, the Warrior is the SAME shoe but virtually $20 less!
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