I’m not going to go into a lengthy intro piece to give you the history of Nano’s or anything. You probably know all that stuff anyways. Go read my initial impressions for the fluff. Let’s just get down to business.
Nano 3.0’s, like the previous iterations, are the best crossfit shoe you can buy. Some people might have preferences towards the original U-Form or 2.0’s, and that’s fine. I don’t believe that Reebok would release a shoe that was inferior to their former models though. That being said, all you U-Form lovers might be disappointed to hear that the 3.0’s feel a lot more like the 2.0’s. Luckily for you, it doesn’t seem like Reebok’s discontinuing the U-Form’s anytime soon, as they just released a slew of new colors (or the 2.0’s for that matter).
Looks:
This is going to be subjective. When I first saw the design and color combinations of the 3.0’s, I was hardly impressed. I could live without all the crossfit wording on the inner part of the shoe, but I guess it’s functional as it acts as a guard for rope climbs. The colors for right now are okay, I have the grey/orange, but I would’ve rather gotten the red/black initially if I could have. The green/blue is awful IMO, the only people that would wear something like that are probably people that are buying them for their ridiculousness. Hopefully they release custom colors soon, or at least some new combinations. I do like the “Duracage” construction, not just for extra durability, but also because it makes it harder to get the shoes dirty. Most smudges have been pretty easy to just wipe off using my fingers. Not a big fan of the obnoxiously HUGE logo on the rear of the shoe, it looks cheapo compared to the U-Form’s patch logo. (WTF is with the CF74 and S55 logos?)
Performance:
Honestly, there’s not a whole lot to comment on here. The 3.0’s are more like an evolution of the 2.0’s rather than a revolution. It’s still the one shoe that you can competently perform all the movements in crossfit in. If I was unsure of what I had to do on a given day, I would bring these…or 2.0’s…or U-Form’s. Don’t expect a miracle shoe that’s going to enable you to get muscle-up’s or clean 300lbs. As far as weight goes, these fit in the middle (9.4oz) between the 2.0’s (9.2oz) and U-Form’s (9.5oz). Stability remains the same, if not a little better than the 2.0’s; more reminiscent of the U-Form’s. The Duracage construction is extremely flexible despite it’s more heavy duty feeling. That toebox is legit, I wouldn’t worry about jamming your toes on anything with these shoes. Haven’t climbed a rope yet (probably going to prolong that as far as possible), but the “Ropepro” notches should help in keeping that rope secured. Running? Well, let’s just say that if you want a cushy running shoe, get the Speeds. It feels mostly the same with these shoes. Arguably the best shoe line-up for crossfit remains the at the top, doing everything well but nothing stellar. But hey, that’s crossfit right?
Fit:
Upper feels exactly like the 2.0’s while the soles feel like a cross between the U-Forms and 2.0’s. If you read my initial comments about the shoe, I said something about my right 2nd toe jamming into the front of the shoe while I ran. Well, nothing has changed. My best guess is because the front of the shoe is covered with the Duracage and is extremely stiff, whereas there was no toe protection on the U-Forms and the original Duracage toe cover on the 2.0’s wasn’t nearly as rigid as this one is. I wouldn’t recommend sizing a full half size up, my feet are probably just weird, get your normal Nano size.
Value:
At $119.99, the 3.0’s are still up there in price. You can do the same things in 2.0’s, but they’re cheaper. U-Form’s are the same price as 3.0’s, which I still don’t get but to each their own. If you don’t own a pair of Nano’s, you might as well just get the 3.0’s if you’re willing to shell out full price. You can usually find discontinued colors of 2.0’s online or at the Reebok outlet for significantly less than retail though. (All you CF-L1’s better get up on that Reebokone.com!)
Conclusion:
It might not sound like I’m enthralled with these shoes but really, they’re great. I’m just trying to give you the most honest review about them; no one’s paying me for this or giving me free stuff here. They’re a rock solid performer, but they don’t do anything especially better than any of the previous iterations or give you superhuman strength and agility. Durability is hard to comment on because I’ve only had these for about 3 days now, but I’m going to give the 3.0’s the nod there due to the Duracage construction. If you’re late jumping on the Nano bandwagon, you might as well get these. If you don’t even have a crossfit specific shoe, you should probably get these. If you’re looking to buy just one pair of shoes for crossfit, get these. If you were looking for a totally different shoe than what you’re used to with Nano’s, get the Speeds (which have seemed to have magically disappear from the Reebok site). If you find a great deal on the older models, just get those…You won’t be missing out on too much functionality wise.
Go read my initial impressions for the fluff. Let’s just get down to business. Nano 3.0’s, like the previous iterations, are the best crossfit shoe you … nnanor.wordpress.com