Atreyu Base Model (100kms review)

This is my first ever review but I think these guys deserve a shout ! @atreyu is a small scaled company making sport shoes.. ok but what’s specific about it?

First, I always liked small companies / startups whatsoever. Innovation is great and I like people working their ass off to make something different, no matter if it appears to be a good or bad idea.

Second, when I was looking for a carbon sole shoe (thanks Nike for the brainwashing campaign), I didn’t want to go with the big players. Genuinely over-expensive, mainstream (ok I may have a marginal kind of mindset) and not so different from each others after all. This is where I made some research and found Atreyu. At first, given the website I wasn’t sure if it was a scam or not but after looking a bit more at all the reviews and content from the founder, it seemed to be a great genuine discovery!

Carbon sole shoes were brought and hyped by the Nike / Eliud Kipchoge duo a few years back and this promising technology was indeed new in the running field and at the same time not yet approved by all the different instances so I was more in a wait and see mode, especially during covid where Hong Kong, the city where I live has been in this state for 3 years now. *sick*

Out of respect for Eliud, I think he well deserves his sub 2hours record without being called a cheater, this is just insane !! Especially now everyone is using it and the technology has been broadly accepted. All WR are broken down…

..but what about us, averaged human being with our proud performances as a casual runner soon to be (feel) champ? Well you can put all that money to get a Nike pair of shoes that will most likely make you faster on your Sunday routine but do you really need it?

*Suspenseful drums*

This is where Atreyu comes into play! Forget all the xyz models of the usual brands. This company offers 3 - simple - type of shoes : a tempo/race one with carbon midsole, a trainer and a trail one.

I'll focus on the trainer (carbon shoes review will come later) since after almost 100kms in the Base model, I think I can provide a fair opinion on these with different terrain tried from flat to hilly runs, wet or dusty, slow or tempo.

Atreyu Base Model (Grayscale)

One thing that really bluffed me when I first tried them, is the comfort. Coming from either Nike Pegasus or Adidas Adizero as neutral training shoes over the past few years, this was a shock. The shoe is lightweight as a feather and as comfortable as your favorite pair of slippers. Last time I experienced such lightness was when I was running in my UA Apollo speedform that were also innovative but a different animal when it comes to comfort. There's a catch however, you may feel they are lacking support on the sides of the shoe as to obtain 6oz/170g, the upper shoe is made of a breathable mesh but fabric still feel solid with a generous EVA foam midsole but without rubber outsode. 

No outsole !

Whaaaaat? No outsole?! Yes! I felt also surprised by this choice but it's not as bad as it seems. On a dry tarmac, no problem at all, you can gain speed as much as before or even more given the lack of heavy strides thanks to the weight being shaved off but as soon as it gets "dirty" or wet, you mind find them slipping a little. To me that's a minor tradeoff, however it will always depends on you needs and which conditions you're training on. Your call.

Having no outsole will most probably make them last a shorter period of time and I can already see some wearing marks under the shoe, nothing dramatic though given the mileage. On the upper shoe, it will certainly tear off at some point but I don't see this coming anytime soon and before I get at least 500kms on them. 

Ppl you overtake might be able to see your brand

Finally, what can we conclude on this pair of shoes?

The brand is in my humble opinion a hidden gem that should be better known, they have manage to create this shoe at at a pricetag twice cheaper than most of the brands with equal or superior feeling. In a nutshell, when I'm not running in them due to unfavorable weather conditions, I miss them. 

Downhill running was not really my thing previously and I found myself slightly injured a few times but with this shoe, it gave me the right confidence to have a perfect midfoot landing and I now enjoy running up and down without psychological restrictions. My technique has also improved afterwards as if feels like running barefoot on cloud with top energy return at each stride.

You can simply not go wrong with the Atreyu Base model. 

Atreyu honor simplicity.

I also invite you to check the company YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@atreyurunning) where you'll know a bit more about the founder and how he got there.

RATING : Very good value for the money 💰 especially when on sale like now