Anta Mach 4 Review: 4 Comparisons

Article by Derek Li

ANTA MACH 4 (S$159 (~US$118))

ANTA is the world’s largest sports activities gear producer by income, and is the third largest producer of sporting items total, behind Nike and Adidas. I’ve to confess, earlier than the nice Kenenisa Bekele signed with ANTA, I had identified of the model, however it lacked attract. Now it’s received main avenue credibility. Then in February I used to be approached by ANTA about reviewing a few of their footwear, and I expressed a choice for decrease stack choices and the MACH 4 is what was beneficial.

Slightly background about how I happened reviewing this shoe. Throughout my preparation for the 2022 Chicago Marathon, I began having an issue with my left hamstring, and it is a matter that I’m nonetheless within the means of recovering from, some 1.5 years later. As a part of the rehabilitation course of, I made a decision I have to run much less in excessive stack carbon-plated footwear for day-to-day coaching. So I’ve been taking a look at footwear with just a little extra conventional forefoot flex, and footwear which might be just a little decrease in stack. This has been confounded by the truth that my present schedule prevents me from working doubles in coaching and so my single day runs are usually longer and slower now. Because it seems, even the decrease stack footwear are giving a 35mm heel stack today and it’s arduous to seek out appropriate trainers.

Because it seems, a number of the Chinese language manufacturers, lots of that are little identified outdoors of China as they don’t promote outdoors of their home market, appear to all the time have a lot of fashions which might be of the decrease stack selection. I dug just a little extra into this and came upon that there’s a nationwide health check that school college students should cross in an effort to graduate, and a part of this check is a 50m dash and a 1000m… effectively I assume it’s additionally a dash to me, however the level is, there’s enormous demand for decrease stack, extra aggressive footwear for this objective.

Per ANTA’s advertising, the MACH 4 is geared towards uptempo working, metropolis working the place cornering stability is necessary, and for street races within the 5-21km vary.

Official stack: 30/24 (6mm drop) Measured stack: 33/27 together with sockliner

Platform Width: Forefoot 111mm, mid-foot 43mm, heel 88mm

Weight for males’s US9.5 is 246g / 8.68oz

Midsole firmness – Shore A 29.5 A

Retail Value: S$159 (~US$118)

Execs

· Breathable higher

· Good vibration dampening

· Good stability

Cons

· May give a bottom-heavy really feel at quicker paces

Higher and Match

The higher makes use of a twin layer artificial mesh for essentially the most half. On the toe field, there’s a denser interior mesh overlaid by a perforated thinner outer layer. That is rounded off by an inside toe guard on the entrance. At midfoot, the mesh transitions to a single layer exterior mesh, bolstered by webbing that’s hooked up to the lace eyelets on both facet of the foot (coined A-WEB).

There are 5 rows of eyes that span the midfoot to the ankle opening, not counting the additional eyelet for heel-lock lacing.

The tongue is reasonably padded and adopts a gusseted design to additional add reinforcement to the midfoot.

The heel space is comparatively standard with average padding round a semi-rigid inside heel cup.

The shoe adopts the upward swoop on the heel, to cut back irritation of the Achilles insertion there. The inventory sockliner is made from conventional EVA so far as I can inform. General, the match is pretty conventional and will match the overwhelming majority of toes fairly effectively.

My preliminary step in really feel was fairly comfy. The supplies should not overly stiff and it was fairly straightforward to lock down the foot with medium thickness socks. The general match sits nearer to that of a day by day coach than a cosy race/exercise kind of shoe for me, which fits me simply positive for my functions.

The match is true to measurement, and strolling round you’ll be able to recognize the refined bounciness of the froth underfoot. The shoe feels very secure, courtesy of the decrease stack and pretty anatomical width of the toebox and heel.

Aesthetically, I believe the shoe seems to be.. OK. It’s not essentially the most eye-catching of designs, and in fact the entire outsole/midsole interface seems to be overly sophisticated to me, however for the worth level it competes in, I believe it’s positive.

Midsole

The midsole makes use of a single density of their NitroEdge foam, which is touted as a nitrogen infused foam with an 82.8% vitality return. Visually, this foam seems to be like it’s pellet-based, so whereas it’s nitrogen infused, it’s extra more likely to be a TPU-based foam.

That is truly my first encounter with a nitrogen-infused TPU foam, as more often than not it’s EVA or PEBA that’s nitrogen infused. The froth is bolstered with a purple W-shaped plastic cage (Coined Launch Zone; see picture beneath) that largely wraps the underside half of the midsole, lowering lateral torque, and in addition offers the shoe some just a little bit of additional rigidity via the toe field, although I need to emphasize that the shoe nonetheless flexes fairly effectively via the toes.

Supply: ANTA official retailer

The general underfoot sensation is that of a denser kind of rebound typical of TPU-based foams. As with many different TPU-based foams, don’t count on it to be tremendous smooth, however do count on superb resilience and longevity with one of these foam.

Outsole

The outsole here’s a comparatively smooth rubber compound, with a 3D-spike-like outsole sample for added grip. Though the rubber feels smooth (and this provides lots to underfoot consolation and the general flexibility of the shoe), I’ve discovered it to be very sturdy with minimal put on exhibiting on the outsole after over 100km of working.

Experience and Conclusions

The Good:

· Excellent vibration dampening for the stack top.

· The nylon cage offers the shoe a pleasant snappiness at quicker paces

· Very secure trip regardless of the shortage of conventional stability components

The Dangerous:

· The shoe has a little bit of a bottom-heavy really feel throughout exercises; this appears to be one thing I really feel extra of with TPU-based foams.

· Might be a one-off anomaly, however the sockliner in the fitting shoe started using up the heel out of the shoe for me on the third run, and I needed to glue it down with some contact cement after that. Unusually, I had no such points with the left shoe and haven’t needed to glue the sockliner down. So far as I do know, no different testers have reported this anomaly.

I believe it is a superb all-rounded day by day coach for individuals on the lookout for a decrease drop, extra conventional shoe.

The trip is in no way harsh, and at its engaging worth level, could be a viable possibility for novice runners on the lookout for a do-it-all kind of shoe that may deal with day by day runs and a few quicker exercises.

I believe the arch construction is low sufficient that folks with low arches ought to match the shoe effectively, however if in case you have overly extensive toes, I believe the shoe won’t match so effectively for you, because the higher tends to not stretch a lot on this mannequin. By way of trip,

I believe this shoe is closest when it comes to underfoot cushioning to an Adidas Adios 6 (I didn’t check any of the later Adios fashions), and even the sooner Adidas Adizero Professional (the predecessor to the Adios Professional 1) although there’s extra flex on this shoe than the Adizero Professional. One other shoe that involves thoughts is the Saucony Experience 13. Despite the fact that the Experience 13 was considerably heavier than the ANTA MACH 4, each footwear have very good conventional rides and but have wonderful vibration dampening regardless of not having very excessive stack numbers. By means of comparability, the OG ASICS Metaspeed Edge has the identical heel stack because the ANTA MACH 4 at a measured 33mm together with sockliner, and the MACH 4 feels far more cushioned.

Derek’s Rating: 8.83 / 10

Experience 8.5 (50%) Match 9 (30%) Worth 9.5 (15%) Type 8.5 (5%)

Smiles 😊😊😊1/2

4 Comparisons

Adidas Adios 6 (RTR Assessment)

I put on US9.5 in each footwear. Each footwear are fairly related when it comes right down to stack numbers and weight. The Adios 6 feels extra even when it comes to weight distribution, however the midsole is firmer and a bit extra slappy. I might say the Adios 6 has a barely higher higher lockdown. General, when it comes to cushioning, the ANTA MACH 4 is healthier, but when I had been doing exercises, the Adios 6 feels a bit extra responsive. I perceive the Adios 6 is a number of years outdated, however I haven’t purchased any of the newer Adios fashions because the higher heel assemble doesn’t appear to be one thing I might get pleasure from.

New Stability Gasoline Cell Insurgent v4 (RTR Assessment)

I put on US9.5 in each footwear. The Insurgent 4 is a noticeably lighter shoe, with the identical stack numbers. That stated, I do discover that the MACH 4 is just a bit bit springier underfoot so the trip is just a little livelier. Each footwear match me very effectively. I might say the Insurgent has a barely wider match when you want it. Between the 2 footwear, I discover the MACH 4 to have a snappier trip via the toes, due to the plastic cage, and perhaps a denser midsole. For straightforward runs, it’s just about a wash. For quicker runs, I believe the MACH 4 is just a bit bit higher at holding tempo. The MACH 4 is available in a bit cheaper than the Insurgent 4 for what it’s price.

Nike ZoomX Streakfly (RTR Assessment)

I put on US9.5 in each footwear. The Streakfly is a extra expensive shoe, and is considerably softer because of the ZoomX foam, and really bottoms out quite a bit for my working type, so it feels harsher than the MACH 4. I believe for observe exercises, the Streakfly could be a greater possibility as it’s lighter and nimbler, however for street exercises, the MACH 4 simply has superior cushioning and vibration dampening.

Saucony Kinvara 14 (RTR Assessment)

I put on US9.5 in each footwear. The K14 feels fairly agency underfoot regardless of having largely uncovered foam on the outsole. The MACH 4 is softer and springier, however can be about virtually 2 ounces heavier. I believe the MACH 4 has superior vibration dampening and is only a higher all-rounder for most individuals. By the way, in my measurement the stack comparisons are MACH 4 33/27 vs Kinvara 14 32/28 so fairly shut.

Tester Profile

Derek is in his 40’s and trains 70-80 miles per week at 7 to eight minute tempo in largely tropical circumstances in Singapore. He has a 2:39 marathon PR from the 2022 Zurich Marathon.

Samples had been supplied at no cost for evaluate functions. RoadTrail Run has affiliate partnerships and will earn fee on merchandise bought by way of procuring hyperlinks on this article. These partnerships don’t affect our editorial content material. The opinions herein are fully the authors’.

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