Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover…..
Sportlink Store Manager, Karen, reviews the Mizuno Rebellion Flash 2
When I first set eyes on the Mizuno Rebellion Flash 2, I thought “there’s no way I’m going to enjoy running in that shoe!” The most obvious feature is the bevelled heel.
It’s cut away to form an angle which starts just forward of the base of your heel bone.
This leaves you with the very odd feeling of tipping backwards when you try to walk naturally in the shoe.
The bevel gives the shoe a very distinctive profile - I’ve never tried a shoe like it before.
The shoe I tried was a unisex UK size 7. I’m normally a UK women’s 6.5 but these felt fine.
I would say that there is quite a lot of material over the forefoot. Although my foot is a normal width, there was a bit of bunching at the bottom of the tongue after I’d laced up the shoes.
There are two loops on the ungusseted tongue which kept it in place. The tongue itself is thin with not a lot of padding. The heel counter is well constructed and is fairly rigid.
The upper material is extremely light and is a mesh design. Hold it up to the light and you can see right through it. This kept my feet well ventilated and cool.
The midsole is where the magic lies in this shoe.
There is a dual layer of foam. The top layer is Mizuno’s Enerzy Lite+.
This is a PEBA based material which is really soft and forgiving underfoot. The bottom layer is Mizuno’s Enerzy foam. This is a bit firmer than the Enerzy Lite+.
Sandwiched in between the two layers is a fibre glass composite wave plate which gives the shoe a snap as you move through your strides.
There’s a large cut out area in the midsole which exposes the plate. I can understand that this has been done to drop the weight, but there is the chance that a cheeky stone might get stuck in this ‘crater’.
I set out for a 5 miler to test the shoe. Immediately the shoe came to life. Within 400m, I had forgotten about the weird heel bevel and was enjoying the run.
The Enerzy Lite+ foam was amazingly plush but responsive. The composite plate gave the shoe an aggressive rocker as I toed off. Due to an old rugby injury, I am very aware that one of my feet heel strikes, while the other forefoot strikes. The geometry of the Mizuno Rebellion Flash 2 put both feet on the forefoot and it felt great!
I took it steady for the first mile, then began to experiment with the pace.
As I got faster, the shoe became snappier and I found it was easy to increase my stride rate - in fact it felt like the shoe was encouraging me to up my cadence.
At cruising speed, I dropped onto my midfoot strike pattern, and the shoe felt just as easy to run in. Some folk might find it a little unstable due to the softness of the Enerzy Lite+ foam, but I had no issues.
Summing Up
The fit is good although I did have to stop a couple of times to get the lacing just as I like it. The responsiveness and snap of the dual foam/composite wave plate combination was enjoyable and I recorded one of my fastest times for a long while. The Mizuno Rebellion Flash 2 won’t suit everyone - especially if you are a definite heel striker.
I think the Mizuno Rebellion Flash 2 is a reliable “super trainer” that can do pretty much anything. I’d quite happily use it on my long runs, tempo and if I wanted to try for a pb. In terms of distance, for me, anything up to a half marathons.
If you are looking for an all-rounder that you can race in without remortgaging your house, then this shoe is a serious contender.
Just don’t be put off by its looks!
