The Zoot Solana was a shoe high on my to-try list. My feet have a spotty relationship with Zoot, no models badly conceived or built, just they often didn't work for my persnickety feet. I had high hopes for this new shoe and part of it, I confess, it's just a cool looking shoe (men's pictured just below, women's version further below).
When you put on the Solana you notice the lightweight feel and attention to detail. It is very well made and you can tell that making the upper as seamless as possible was an imperative. I think almost anyone can run sockless in this shoe; it is that soft on the inside. It almost feels like there is layer of thin velvet on the inside of the shoe.
The tongue is padded, so you don't have any pressure exerted by the laces, and the attachment of upper to midsole creates a moccasin-like, foot-hugging sensation.
When you put the shoes on there is a noticeable but not strident arch support. Very nicely done. Some who wear a custom or semi-custom orthotic may have a problem with this, since the footbed once inserted may not lay completely flat on the midsole, but for most of us it will feel just right and it is appropriately supportive.
The shoe is medium-to-narrow in the toe box, continuing back through the arch. The toe box was a little on the narrow side for me, but not uncomfortably so. The heel is well padded and is built with a small heel loop on the back for an easy entry in a tri.
The heel-to-toe drop is 8mm with the heel sitting at 21mm. It's just a little too much drop for my personal taste but, of course, much less than the 12mm drops typical of most shoes over the past generation prior to, say, 4 or 5 years ago. When the Solanas arrived I took then out for a run. The immediate sensation was springy, bouncy, like the midsole was spring-loaded, like I was propelled forward. So far, so good.
But that great feeling was, by about 3 miles, overshadowed by irritation on the lateral malleolus (the Kathy Bates bone, if you saw the movie "Misery"). The eyelet row protrudes further back than most other running shoes, leaving little clearance for the malleolus than is typical. This is an occasional complaint with running shoes, but for my morphology it's pronounced with the Solana.
Since that run we've had time to see how the customers in our store react and, unprompted, it's a complaint reported by a significant number.
Zoot made a great shoe in the Solana, with a very nice upper and an even more impressive midsole. There are many things right with it, just, be on the lookout when you try it on to make sure you don't fall afoul of the same fit problem that disqualifies the shoe for me.
At $99 Zoot shows that a company actually can bring a great shoe at a very reasonable price point, refreshing in a market where innovative shoes keep getting more and more expensive. If Zoot holds this price in future editions of this model, and continues to improve when improvement is needed, they will have a home run franchise with the Solana.
The Solana comes in specific men's and women's design and colors.
Posting: Neutral
Drop: 8 mm, 21 to 13 mm.
Weight: Sub-9oz on men's size 9
[Editor's note: Our capable editor-at-large for footwear Jeroen van Geelen owns Total Running, one of the more important running and triathlon retail establishments in The Netherlands.]
