Puma Tenos IV
I purchased a pair of these at Boulder Running Company during Bolder-Boulder weekend in May 2008. They sat in the box for a few months before I broke them in, early July. They were a $90 retailing shoe for $35 so what the heck, why not. I had never owned a pair of Puma shoes before. After trying on a half dozen shoes on at the big annual tent sale, these actually felt the most comfortable. Best of all was the price for such a comfy shoe, less than half of retail—and I don’t think I have ever seen a sale on shoes at Boulder Running Company outside of the annual Bolder-Boulder weekend.
Puma never struck me as a serious running shoe company, outside of sponsoring some African team athletes like Kenyan distance runner for example. Their serious running shoes are not easy to find in stores; when you do find a pair, they are more a fashion running style shoe rather than one that can take a serious pounding of many miles. Puma is known for fashion-cutesy type designs than anything these days.
Enter the Tenos IV. With a narrow fit, firm dual density support, great color scheme, outstanding insole, non-binding forefoot flexion and smart/durable lacing system, this turned out to be about the best $35 running shoe I had purchased aside from the 1980’s circa Nike Internationalist, Nike Equinox, and Vengeance shoes (I’m no longer a super huge Nike shoe fan though). The Puma Tenos IV has reflective material on the toes and heel, and “id Cell” (a fancy name for a soft blown rubber) in the forefoot. The forefoot cushioning “id Cell” as it is aptly named, did the job it was designed to do and provides a great landing pad keeping the ball of the foot safe and pampered upon landing. The only time the lush cushion poses a problem is landing on a rock. The rock will bite you through the sole so be weary of where you place your foot. The stable ride held up well over a month of running, and still feels like new, primarily because of the Arch Tec (fancy name for a plastic bridge on the bottom of the shoe).
On the con side, the black rubber on the sole of the shoe separated/became unglued after only two days of running. There is a durability issue on the heel of many shoes I have used, almost as if the shoe companies are using a inferior glue on the bottom heel tread, and the Puma Tenos is no exception. Despite this, the shoe is a pleasure to run in; certainly a nice break from the Adidas Supernova Classic which has an extreme durability problem (although great fit). I would consider purchasing another pair of Puma running shoes if one was more durable at the heel area. They could even become one of the better shoes I’ve owned in some time if Puma found an answer to this issue. Lastly, the tongue on the shoes should be about another centimeter longer near the tying area to protect the top of the foot from rubbing on the knot—and the laces could stand to be 6 inches shorter. Nothing more annoying than the old “Octopus laces” and wondering what to do with all the length. All in all, the Tenos IV has been a better shoe to run in than my last five pair of Nike shoes, so all is not that bad in Puma Land…keep up the good work!
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