Overview
I’m James, a knee, foot, and ankle specialist. I’ve been providing advice to patients on Footwear for over 10 years. Today, we will give you a full breakdown of the Brooks Ghost Max 2.
We try to keep our reviews as concise as possible, discussing the specifications and breaking down the comfort and fit; we talk about how useful the shoes are for walking, standing all day, and running. We buy all the shoes with our money to give an unbiased review.
So first of all, we’re going to start with the stack height, that’s the amount of cushioning you get in the shoe, so you got 39mm on the rearfoot and 33mm in the forefoot, giving you a 6mm drop. It comes in at 309g for men’s size 9 US and has the DNA Loft V3 midsole, meaning that it’s a little bit of a firmer ride than what you might get in something like the New Balance 1080 v13. So when you apply pressure to it, it gives you a little bit more feedback and bounce than what you get in the New Balance, giving you a smooth ride.
It’s got a little bit of a bevel on the heel and then a forefoot rocker from the late midfoot to the forefoot, so that’s that curve going upwards.
It helps with the push-through motion as you walk or run. It has some stability elements, so we classify it as a stable neutral shoe. What that means is it’s classified as neutral but has some stability elements to it.
There are sidewalls in the heel and midfoot, so sidewalls are a little bit like guide rails that you get in a bowling alley in a shoe. They try to keep you centred in the shoe. In the forefoot, we got some nice sole flare, so the sole comes out wider than where your foot sits in the shoe, again increasing the base of support for your shoe and giving that extra bit of stability.
The fit is super roomy throughout the shoe, so it’s quite wide in the heel and midfoot, with lots of space in the forefoot. It is true to size, so getting a longer or shorter shoe is unnecessary.
The tongue is super padded but not gusseted, so it’s important to put your laces through the loop so it doesn’t slip from side to side.
There is lots of padding around the heel counter and a really stiff heel counter, which keeps your foot nice and stable in the shoe, which is what we’d expect from a maximalist shoe. Overall, it is an excellent shoe, one of the best shoes on the market.
It’s a premium maximalist shoe, so you’ve got other competitors with this, such as the ON Cloudmonster 2 and the New Balance 1080 V13, which we’ve done reviews on.
