Looking for a Nike shoe most similar to the New Balance 900...

or is it a little more minimalistic than the elites?

The biggest difference is that it does not have dual density medial posting, and it is 20 bucks more for the extra style.

The Perseus was terrible. It caused many many people to overpronate when a Landreth would be fine on them.

The Elite, as previously mentioned, is too high and too soft, with too much midsole missing from the midfoot.

The Streaks will be your closest bet.

trackhead, what are your opinions on the milers?

My opinion:

Pros:

-Light weight

-breathable

-nuetral padding

Cons:

-firm to soft heel to toe transition.

-forefoot foam to soft

-1 1/2 inch heel

Recommended wearer:

Runner under 150lbs who wants lightweight nuetral trainer with a roomy toebox and likes a little nike style.

A few weeks ago there was a pic of Ritz running in the Milers. I commented that they were a huge improvement on the Kantaras.

The Miler (appears) to have a slightly lower heel, and is relatively light -- pretty good as far as "shoe" go. Bottom line, certainly no flat, but you could do far worse as far as trainers. And I like the broad forefoot.

I love the zoom elites, the lightest shoe I have ever been able to get by with. Enough shoe so that I am not sore, 10k, 15k and 1/2 marathon PRs in them so far.

The New Balance 901 would be the most similar to the NB 900, but it comes out 7/05. :)

the zoom elite has a heel height of 44mm? no way! you dont get the measurements by just using a ruler and measuring it yourself. mizuno has all their heel heights in their catalogs and the wave nirvana, which has a heel similar to the elite is 24mm.

You are correct. The Elite's heel height is 24mm (measured in the middle of the midsole, not the side). The forefoot is 12mm. These are the same midsole heights as every other Nike training shoe and most Nike competitors. All you're measuring when you look at the side of the misdole is the contour of the footbed, which is irrelevant.

That being said, having a higher heel height would actually alleviate pressure from a runners achilles. The steeper the heel to forefoot differential, the less chance of achilles injury. Hence, heel inserts for runners with chronic achilles tendonitis.

For anyone that's encountered achilles or calf problems wearing the Elite's, it could be based on the density of the midsole. Zoom Air coupled with fairly firm Phylon makes for an overall more firm, but more responsive ride. If you're encountering problems it might be because you're not used to this type of shoe - meaning the specs of the midsole.

hi skoolr

so which shoe actually has a higher heel height, the milers or the elites?

so does that mean that the NB 900 are getting replaced?

if that is true, why do the shoe companies have to go and get rid of good shoes, I just don't understand. If it works, don't change anything.

So you just ignore the fact that the actual heel height is 44mm? You may be able to just ignore that it has a 44mm heel and a 25mm forefoot but that does not change the fact. The measurements that companies give are sometype of split midsole varition. Most people just assume that the measurement comes from the actual height of the midsole. Just another ambigous stat that shoe companies like to use.

So they can come out with a 900.1, and get it in the Hot "New" Shoes section of an upcoming issue of Runners World? It will be the same shoe, with "aggressive" new colors...

;)

Who are you to say that it is irrelevant whether you have 44mm of material between your heel the ground. It sure is relevant for me. It is definetly relevant to someone who would like to have a more natural biomechanics.

"The steeper the heel to forefoot differential, the less chance of achilles injury. Hence, heel inserts for runners with chronic achilles tendonitis."

According to whom? If you believe that the achilles as the ability to lengthen and stretch naturally then there is no need to keep it shortened. People like you would like to convince people that if they run with ankle braces, orthotics, and stability shoes and get news one on a regular bases than you'll never get injured. Please do everyone a favor and think before you post.

You actually think there is 4.4 cm of material in the heel of the Elite's? That would be ridiculous. No running shoe of today has that high of a heel. I am curious as to how you measured this 4.4 cm. Because I have measured it - not gotten a stat from a website, and my measurement was 2.5 cm - my method was not exact hence the difference in figures.

Yes I have measure it and it is just under 1 1/2 inches of heel. If you do your conversion to metrics that is around 44mm. I took my measurement from the bottom of the outer midsole to the top of the outer midsole. Yes, this is not an exact measure but it is very close. So either way you slice it there is between 40mm and 44mm in the very heel of the shoe.

After reworking the conversions I was a little off, it is between about 35mm and 38mm from bottom to top of the outer midsole.

You cannot measure from the outside of the shoe - many shoe comapnies wrap their midsole material up higher on the outside parts of the shoe, leaving a cup of midsole, with the part your heel sits on in the middle and much lower than the outsides. Therefore the measurement must be from the center of the heel - you can either cut the shoe in two and measure with a ruler, or use a c-shaped piece of wood stuck in the heel to create a point of equal height outside the shoe that can then be measured (that probably made no sense, the process is hard to expain in words). But either way, the measurement in the middle of the heel is 24 mm. Which is still too high, but 4 mm or so, but no the 35-44 mm you stated.