Review: Strike Movement Interval 1 & 2

Being injured sucks. Almost 3 months ago now, I crashed and burned on a power clean and destroyed my wrist.  I haven’t been able to press anything since, and it still hurts.  I guess there’s a silver lining to this injury.  Not having use of  a hand means that I got to work on my endurance (still sucks) a little bit more.  I think I’ve done more running in the past 3 months than I’ve done in the past 3 years of my life.  No joke.  If you read my last blog post, you’d know that I had been experimenting with other Nike training shoes.  Well, I found another little gem of a shoe I’ve found along the way in my quest to find the perfect balance of a running/training shoe.  They’re called the Interval from the Canadian company, Strike Movement, and unlike the Nike’s, they’re freaking awesome.

Looks:

Visually, the Intervals look like spruced up Vans.  The combination of aesthetic design and functionality are what separate the Intervals apart from the rest of the training shoe pack.  Ever wear your Nano’s out on a night on the town? Probably not, unless you like that dad in running shoes with jeans look.  With the exception of CrossFit events, you should not do this.  For the love of god, please don’t do this.  I can’t say the same about the Intervals; I’ve actually worn these out to bars without thinking twice.  They look great paired with some high quality selvedge denim or dressed down with non training shorts.  What sets them apart is the ability to blend in “normal” life, and to stand out during training sessions.

Performance/Fit:

In Nike’s defense, the Intervals are not even close to the same shoe ideology.  In practice, the Interval’s most closely resemble Nano’s with a little more arch support or New Balance Minimus MX20 with a wider forefoot.  These shoes are lightweight, really lightweight, they even challenge Inov-8’s.  While not a zero drop shoe, the 3.9mm drop feels natural and comfortable.  If you’re used to Nano’s, these shoes will be instantly comfortable to you.  The only real lifting I’ve done with these shoes were squats and deadlifts, and they performed just as good as every other great minimal shoe.  There’s a lot of technical mumbo jumbo on Strike Movement’s website, but all you need to know is that the Interval’s are great running shoes.  Strike Movement claims they promote a mid-forefoot strike; put them on and you’ll notice yourself being constantly propelled forward.  Maybe they accentuate my running style, but for me these shoes feel great during anything from sprints to miles.

Let’s talk about this “Pleasure Pocket”, why the hell hasn’t anyone come up with this any sooner?  It’s a pocket on the front of the tongue that you stuff your excess laces into!  Sounds simple enough but it works like a freaking charm.  Ever been in the middle of double-unders and have your shoe laces come untied?  There goes your PR, sucker.  Don’t be a sucker, just stuff your laces into the Interval’s Pleasure Pocket and do double-unders worry free.  Note, these shoes aren’t going to magically make you string double-unders any better, so keep practicing.

This review is a general review for both the Interval 1 and 2 models.  It’s worth noting that while there are differences between the two shoes, they’re more like upgrades rather than two completely different shoes.  The differences to me are like how the Nano 2.0 evolved from the U-Form.  The newer models feel a little bit more full, but hardly so; to me they feel 95% the same.  Listen to the sizing guide on Strike Movement’s website. Order the shoes in the same size you would order Chuck’s.  I got a 9 and they were snug at first, but eventually opened up and fit perfectly now.

Durability wise, the Intervals seem to be around where Inov-8’s are;  I wouldn’t trust these on any rope climbs other than legless ones.  My shadow grey pair do look a little more beat up than I would like, but that’s probably due to the color and from me wearing them pretty often the past few months.  There’s also a part of the upper that is starting to separate from the outsole.  Nothing that shoe glue wouldn’t fix, but Strike Movement offered me a FREE new pair of Interval 2’s for my problems.

Value/Conclusion:

The Interval 2’s are going to run you $125 shipped to the US.  That’s not really a deal considering that most other functional training shoes will be around, or much less than that.  You’re going to have to ask yourself if you’re the kind of person that just wants a sneaker that you can wear everywhere; i.e. going on a long trip and only being able to bring one pair of shoes.  Sneaker heads shouldn’t have a problem dropping this kind of cash for these shoes.  I love my Intervals, being able to wear them wherever I go is a great feature that you’re not going to find on most other training shoes.  With that said, I wish that Strike Movement priced the Intervals  a little more competitively so that more people could experience just how…well…dope they are.  If you got it, spend it.  Buy these shoes.