Pearl Izumi EM Road N2 Running Shoes (For Women)

My daughter uses these for her workouts. When the first pair bit the dust, we found these online and grabbed them--they are great.

I really wanted to like this shoes, mostly because it looks so cool, but it is definitely one of my least favorites. I've had other minimalist type shoes that I like much better. The cushioning is fine in the shoe, and the sizing is correct, but it runs extremely narrow, and I've never had this problem before so it took me a few runs to really figure out what was going on. I tried to lace it a few different ways. In the end, I decided to keep the shoe for light walking, etc., but would not recommend it for anything else. I have other Pearl Izumi shoes that I love, the H3 is a much better choice!

Very comfortable but not for running, or not for this runner. Decent support on sole, but rest of shoe is minimalist. Comfortable to wear walking around, looks good with jeans.

Due to some health setbacks, my usage of these shoes has been limited to casual wear and on a few long walks. But, I do naturally walk fast. I have not had them long enough to comment on their longevity.

Positives : These shoes are lightweight and very breathable (caution for winter wear, make sure you have room for thicker socks), have good, responsive cushioning, and fit like a glove. I usually have problems with heel slippage but with these I have none! I have slightly high arches and the arch support and heel cup are perfect. The construction of the soles does give your foot strike this amazingly smooth and fluid feel. I got them in the grey/pink first as they were the only ones in stock, but got lucky and was able to exchange for the orchid/blackberry (I don't like pink). Both color combinations look way better in person.

Negatives : My feet measure at 24.5 cm. I wear a size 8 in all my non-athletic shoes, 8.5 in running, and a 7.5 in snowboard boots. I purchased an 8.5 and they do run short by maybe about 1/4 size. Fine for just walking, but I'll probably end up buying another pair in a 9 once I start running again. My only other complaint is with the lace length. If you're going to add extra eyelets (and please don't stop, those of us who use them love them), seriously, make the laces long enough to go through them without having to tie the smallest bows known to man.

Do note, these are N = NEUTRAL running shoes for neutral-to-supinator running gaits, so if you are a pronator or need stability/support for any reason do not get these, go with the M (Light Stability) or the H (Moderate Stability). Also, the number after the letter represents the level of cushioning. Kudos to Pearl Izumi for having such a great system of placing all the pertinent info in the shoes name!

Hi have been wearing the Pearl Izumi Floats for 4 years and have loved them, but since they no longer make those I converted to these for the first time. They are lightweight and comfortable. I do notice the material is thinner than the Float, and I can feel the breeze coming through my toe box to my toes more than I could in the float. Nothing big, but not used to feeling that cold- guess I'll have to get thicker socks! I have run 4 full marathons and way too many half and 15k,10k, etc to count in Pearl Izumi's. I never want to run in anything else. I'm only a month in with this style, but my first run was a 9 miler out of the box and felt great.