Kswiss Kirov Roadtest Results

I know many of you are probably expecting a bad review of the women's Kirov. In fact, I was expecting a bad review of the women's Kirov. However, I will admit that I was pleasantly suprised from the very first moment I put them on. Here are a few pros about the women's Kswiss Kirov:

Fit: One of the main things that turned a lot of women off about the Kirov was the apparent fit of the shoe. It appears to be an exact replica of the men's...and it is. However, before you turn away, the men's Kirov was not made to fit a man's foot either. If anything, the Kirov reminds me of a skate shoe. Granted, they are not thick and padded like a skate shoe, but the fit itself is generic. The shoe was not made to mold to your foot. It was made to be comfortable.

Stability: Just looking at the Kirov, one could consider them plain old tennies with pretty colors and thick soles. But inside that thick sole is actually an intricate and effective support system. This was one of the things that blew me away about the Kirov: the foot support is exquisite. And the shoe feels almost spring-loaded. It may just be my imagination, but since I've been wearing the Kirovs, I jump higher, run faster, and certainly don't have to worry about bone-jarring landings.

Weight: They're not the lightest shoes in the world, but I wouldn't call them heavy either. In fact, for having such thick soles, I'd actually consider them to be a lighter shoe. It's weight is certainly not going to distract you while freerunning. Most of the shoe is made of lightweight materials (i.e. mesh and soft leather).

Flexibility: The shoe is very flexible. I hardly had to break mine in.

Design (with the exception of colors): This is just a little something I found interesting about the design of the shoe The weird looking design on the side is acutally Kswiss's symbol for freerunning: the overlapping of the different colored bands represents the "Over-Under-and-Through" philosophy of freerunning. Also, the design on the sole is very urban, representing the colonization of the sport in modern times.

Breatheability: I'm sure you've all heard about how breatheable the shoe is. As mentioned before, the shoe is made of lightweight materials, particularly mesh, which should make your feet nice and stink free.

And a couple cons about the Kirov...

Durability: I am a little worried about how durable the Kirovs are. Because the shoe is made of such lightweight materials, they don't feel as though they could last years and years. If anything, the soft leather toe looks liable to tear if exposed to the right conditions. And scuffing seems inevitable. It could be very difficult to keep these sneaks looking good, and every freerunning knows that last thing you need to be worrying about in the middle of a wall-up is whether or not your shoes will survive.

Colors: As most of you already know, the colors suck. If it's not decked out in shiny silver, it's pink. I think that's what agitated most women about the Kirov. The color selection that is available now would probably be less frustrating if the women's Kirov came in the same colors as the men's, with pink as additional colors. But of course, that would have been far too difficult.

Thanks again and good luck finding a shoe that's right for you. I hope this helps in your decision making some!

-Alphfie

Thanks for the review Alphfie I've been contemplating whether to get the Kirov's or not. Color's are stereotypical which is annoying and put me off to it. I love my asics but I like to try new things but I haven't been able to find something that'll make me want to change them.

You can get the kirovs in silver and white, red and pink, purple, purple and orange, blue and yellow, pink and orange, blue and brown and green and yellow.
So they've done well in all fairness with colors.

Ok so maybe colors is a matter of personal opinion, but i guarantee you when you're mid air, diving for a kong, nobody will be looking at the color of your shoes



I personally like them!

Anybody wanna buy me a pair?