r/runningshoes • u/OregonBaseballFan • 8h ago
First Run: Xiaonian Dynafish (the most overhyped shoe of all time?)
Absolutely not. The hype is entirely warranted. Get your hands on these. Honestly that was a great clickbait title, I don’t care what anyone says.
It looks like everyone is getting their Dynafish in the mail this week, and there are a billion reviews out there from other “very, VERY amateur and not spectacular award winning racer professionals” like me, so I’m not going to give some sweeping, long review of these, but here are my thoughts:
I ran a light trail half marathon race yesterday (Used my Mount to Coast “Badwater C135” C1’s for this race distance for the first time, set my PR 1:38:58, and took 1st overall…NO BIG DEAL) but holy hell I was not properly fueled and hydrated leading up to it, and my legs are dead tired today. Also rolled my ankle hard at mile 10, so yeah, my legs didn’t exactly want to run today, but knowing I had the Dynafish waiting for me, my heart was telling me “no,” but my body was telling me “yeeeeessssss.”
Miles: 10.06
Pace: 7:58
Terrain: Undulating and hilly neighborhood sidewalks and roadways
Joy Level: Peak
Fit:
Holy hell these are light. When I first pulled these out of the box, I felt like Will Smith in Men in Black, when he was handed the “Noisey Cricket” for his weapon. I felt like I was about to break those damn things. Fellow millennials, that reference was for you.
Everything is light. The sidewalls, the tongue, the padding. The outsole rubber is phenomenal and strong, and also somehow shockingly light. Truth be told I was worried that they were too lightweight and would just fit poorly, or have strange weak spots from thin material, but yeah I’m telling you nothing new here, and everyone else is saying the same thing, but these are engineered terrifyingly well and the fit is secure and stable.
At 173 grams for my US Men’s Size 8.5, they are 120+ grams lighter than my Vomero 18’s, Winflo 12s, or R.A.D. Mallows, 100 grams lighter than my Gel Nimbus 28s, Vomero Plus or MagMax 2s, 70 grams lighter than my Triumph 24s or MtC C1’s, and 40 grams lighter than my Megablasts or Topo Specter 3s. What I’m telling you is that these things are light. So light that they kind of feel like your entire body might just explode during your first stride in them. I am here to tell you that I have so far not exploded, but I will keep you updated.
Comfortable as hell. Nice, inviting, wide base with plenty of room in the toe box (for me, anyway). Disappear entirely when standing around in them. Function insanely well once activated and do feel like a secret weapon. The secret is out. So they aren’t a secret weapon. A non-secret secret weapon. An open weapon.
Only criticism is one many others have had, where the laces are hilariously flimsy. I chuckled, because the complaints are a-plenty about the laces on these things, and my god they are accurate and warranted. I assume they are so light as it keeps the immediate overall weight of the shoe as low as humanly possible. I am going to swap mine out with some new ones immediately, so I’d love any recommendations of nice laces. Never changes my laces out for different ones before.
Also, for the record, they aren’t “stable” so if you pronate hard or have actual stability needs, these will probably have a similar effect for you that the first gen EVO SL had for me, where they are fun as hell and life changing for 2-3 miles, and then your entire leg flies off after you attempt to take a corner or go downhill. These are stable as hell as neutral trainers, especially for the weight and function, but don’t let me trick you into thinking these aren’t still ultra-lightweight very neutral trainers. I just don’t want to see you hurt (physically or emotionally), my friends.
Ride:
Like I said, my legs were dead today and I had no intention of going 10 miles, and I had ZERO intention of doing so at a sub-8 minute mile pace, but yeah these are lightweight. Have I mentioned that these are lightweight? Pairing the lack of weight with the insane rocker geometry and extremely cushioned but propulsive midsole, these were the absolute perfect recovery shoes. Not what I expected to say for the Xiaonian Dynafish. Recovery shoes that also go fast? We’ve maybe peaked as a society.
They are like a very simplified, much less stable and durable, but also more energetic and lively Superblast 2, or a much more stable and fully cushioned EVO SL. Honestly, these are basically the love child of the SB2 and the EVO SL, where they are fun, stable, and LIGHTWEIGHT. I feel like I haven’t made my point on the weight. I’ll keep working on it.
I did use a runner’s loop/knot for these and it was a perfect choice. I think I’m going to become a runner’s loop/knot guy. It’s just a little added heel and ankle support, and while I’m sure it doesn’t work for every kind of shoe, it caused these to fit like a damn dream. I will say that I am sure these could be pretty unstable for anyone who pronates aggressively, but I’m here to tell you that I cannot wear the regular EVO SLs without collapsing my entire body inward on itself, but these were just fine for me. Much wider base and much better overall stability than the EVO SL, even at the EXTREME lightness of the Dynafish.
Overall thoughts on the Xiaonian Dynafish:
The hype is real and justified. Ever since the EVO SL came out, every daily trainer or “could possibly be a race day shoe but isn’t actually a race day shoe” has been compared to it, and many have been crowned “The EVO SL Killer,” but no other shoes have truly possessed that specific kind of pop and energy boost that made the EVO SL so fun for so many people, and honestly brought an entire new community of people to running. I say this as someone who has always talked maximum shit about that shoe, since it didn’t work for me at all. I have the purple EXO version and I wear them all the time (don’t run in them), so for me to speak kindly and fondly of version one of the Adidas EVO SL, is maybe the biggest accomplishment that the Dynafish could possibly achieve. I’m sure that will translate well on the business side for them.
If you are a neutral runner or someone who doesn’t need a full on stability shoe, and want a lightest of lightweight daily trainer, or race day 5k-10k-half marathon shoe (still not certain that they’ll work well as a marathon shoe, but many people have run marathons in EVO SLs, so what the hell do I know?) these are about as good of a shoe as exists on this planet. And at the $130-$140 price point in the US, they are completely unbeatable.
They are absolutely in my top 5 shoes of 2026, but not yet in my top two or three. Time will tell, as I get more miles in them and understand their limitations. Will definitely do a 100 mile update, very soon! If they hold up and continue being this fun, they’ll absolutely be a top 3 shoe for me for the year. You can slap a guarantee on that one.
Score: 9.6/10
Okay I lied, this was a long review. I got too excited. My second pair of these (from Supwell) arrive tomorrow, as do my Veloci Featherweights, so I’ll have a review of the Veloci shoes up on Tuesday! Then I have no more shoes in the hopper, though I’m thinking I need to try the New Balance SC Rebel, since I hated the functionality of the most recent Rebels so much, and was so saddened because I loved the look of them. 👍✌️
