Did this happen to you to? The upper of this shoe is garbage. The sole has plenty more to go, but the upper tears like paper.
Did this happen to you to? The upper of this shoe is garbage. The sole has plenty more to go, but the upper tears like paper.
Sorry for your experience with the Kinvaras. I can't say I that experienced that with my pair of Kinvara 9s. As of today, they have seen roughly 700 kms, run three marathons, and run trails and roads in five countries and they're still going strong. In fact, I normally retire my shoes at 500 kms but these have yet to give me an excuse to do that. Puzzling.
I'm 185 lbs and my Kinvaras are size 11.5
I go through the upper of my Kinvaras with my big toe on my left foot every pair I've ever owned. Same with every pair of Mizunos and Nikes. Sometimes right big toe too. I figure it's me.
It's not designed to last very long. Shoes like that are made to last around 200 miles. And they especially don't last very long if the user's foot is too wide for the upper or taken on surfaces that the shoe isn't designed for. I used to work at a store and we would get high school kids all the time try to get replacement pairs because they "didn't last too long." Some people use it as their every day training shoe and of course it's only gonna last a month. Also the Kinvara 10 has been out for a long time and the 11 is coming out in a few months, so maybe you've had the 9 for too long? How many miles do you think you have on them? I would say speedwork/race shoes should last around 100-200 miles (like the Kinvara) and training shoes should last around 300-500 miles (like the Ride or Triumph in the Saucony like)
100-200 miles for the Kinvara is insane. They aren’t racing shoes and mine last 500+ miles.
The upper typically rips on mine after a few hundred miles but I have pretty wide feet.
By far my favorite shoe, but I have the same experience. For me, it's always the material around the heel that wears out long before the sole. I have some 10s in rotation and it's more or less the same. The upper around the rim develops holes rather quickly.
My previous favorite, the Lunaracer 3, was the exact opposite. The uppers lasted forever but the soles wore within a month.
I usually go 500+ miles in my Kinvaras. I did not have any unusual problems with the Kinvara 9 when I trained in them. I wear out the outsole before having any problem with the upper. If you have wide feet you might consider the Ride instead since it should be available in a wide.
CJ - Place a piece of tape inside your shoe to keep big toe from busting through. I had the same problem until I started using tape inside my shoes.
Same with 7, 8(two pairs), 9(two pairs). Yes upper is "not new at all" by 300 km and definitely has toe holes by 500. I loved those shoes though! And I don't think the sole has much more in it, by 600K the outsole is polished flat.
Kinvara 10 doesn't have that problem, but hey, it sucks. They designed it with lateral stripes that make the shoe look slow, and maybe only because of that perceptive bias it does not feel fast, but feels slow, heavy and too soft without corresponding spring. And 'feeling fast' makes up like 90% of the shoe actually being fast, so that's a big deal. I only do recovery jogs in my 10s.