Nike Men's Air Zoom Structure 22 Running Shoes

Product Information

With new technologies, many shoes have become adept at absorbing the impact of your foot striking the ground and returning the energy through bounce on your toe off. The Zoom Air bag in the forefoot of the Structure 23 is similar to the setup in the Pegasus 33/34 where you could feel the air bag through the strobel lining and the insole.

I found the level of cushioning to be higher than most daily trainers and even softer than a lot of max-cushioned shoes. It was for sure softer than the Glycerin 18 and the Bondi 7.

Nike Air Zoom Structure 23 Upper Unit

Unlike many of Nike’s offerings, the Zoom Structure 22 has a roomy toe box. There is nothing worse than to be cramped up front on those repeats or even worse that long run.

Responsiveness is good in the forefoot because of the Zoom Air unit but is less responsive in the soft heel. There is a shallow cavity under the heel which adds a bit more responsiveness.

Nike Air Zoom Structure 23 Sole Unit

It was a bold move for Nike to transform their last textbook stability trainer into a supportive, neutral trainer. Nike’s research must have indicated that the number of runners wanting a supportive, neutral trainer outweighed the number of runners wanting a “true” stability trainer.

The Structure 24’s upper is reminiscent of one found on a max-cushioned trainer and is on par with the Vomero 16 in terms of comfort. I feel that the padding is slightly excessive and that a lot of weight could be shed if it was more minimal. The following size chart is a guide to Nike clothing and footwear sizes with a comparison to European and US sizes. They still give that support, but the comfort quotient just gets better and better. The performance of these shoes and the fact that Nike develops all their foams in the house has me believing in Nike again. Upper - no one does it better than Nike The Structure 23 is no longer a traditional stability shoe with a firm ride and a harder medial post. Nike has yet to specify which foam they use in the Structure 23. On the midsole is written “CMP 010”. A new foam maybe? To me, it feels very similar to the Lunarlon that was used on the Vomero 10-13.When I tested the Structure 23 last year, I was astonished how different it was to previous Structures which were firm and stiff. The 23 felt much more cushioned and much more flexible; I liked the new direction that the Structure had gone in. It was a Nike classic, reimagined.

A lot of runners stay away from “stability” shoes because it usually means firm, heavy and “poking arch” sensation. There’s a good reason that true stability shoes are a dying breed. Those models run anywhere from 110 to 130, while the Zoom Structure are right in the middle with a price tag of 120. You get thin reflective strips on both sides of the heel and a single strip on the medial side of the toe box for night-time visibility. The word that describes the ride of the Structure 24 best is “balanced”. It feels well-cushioned without being mushy or firm and it falls into the same category as shoes like the ASICS Cumulus, Brooks Ghost and Hoka Clifton– versatile trainers that can fill the role of 2 or 3 shoes in your rotation. It possesses all the long-distance comfort features that Vomero versions before the 14th version had, such as a plush, well-fitting upper, a super durable outsole and a soft midsole with deep cushioning.

Support On Hard Surfaces

If one was asked to describe how the Nike Structures of days gone by felt, the adjectives would be along the lines of firm, stiff and stable. It’s one of the only Nike trainers to use CMP 010 foam in its midsole which I prefer to the more popular React foam. It’s an EVA foam which feels softer and more spongy than dense, rubbery React foam. If you already have the Structure 23, the Structure 24 is a version that you can skip. If you don’t have the Structure 23, the two versions are so similar that you can save money and get the 23 instead of the 24. Version 23 is lighter and has exactly the same ride as version 24.