I got some great direction on this site regarding shoe choices, so I thought I'd add my two cents in case anyone else is in the same boat.
First, its pretty obvious from all the differing opinions here that one persons perfect shoe might be the worst in the world for another with the same type of feet, so know that this is highly subjective. These reviews are based on size 10.5 narrow feet with high arches.
BARRICADE V: In the store they were an absolutely perfect fit. Better than the VI's even. They felt like Ferrari's on my feet compared to the Breathe Cage II's I was replacing which were very comfortable, but just didn't feel as "fast" if that makes any sense. I gave the barricades 2 or 3 outings of about 3 sets, and walked around the house in them for several days, but without fail, the day after the arches, heel, and achilles in both feet were extremely sore for the first 10 or 15 min after waking up. On these shoes I went up a half a size to an 11 in order to try several different insoles, but I just couldn't get them to feel right. The 10.5 might have been better, but they seemed to hit the front edge of my arch weird, so I went up. I hated to give up, but decided to try...
NIKE CB2.3: I had tried these when I bought the barricades, and they were pretty comfortable, but almost felt like I was wearing a heavy sock rather than a shoe. I thought they would be way too "floppy" and unsupportive. After playing in the barricades I decided to try the 2.3's again and decided to buy them. They are EXTREMELY narrow in the area of the bone just below the big toe but I figured they would stretch. I went up a size which helped the narrow issue, but the rest of the shoe didn't feel right. They did stretch out some, but it always felt tight there. They definitely had more cushion in the heel than the barricades, but not much in the toe. They were great to play in, but I kept feeling it squeezing my feet, and it was starting to make my knees hurt which I hadn't experienced with any other shoe. It felt like it wasn't letting my feet pronate like they needed to and maybe that was transferring up to my knees? Bottom line on this shoe is if you can get it to feel good in the store and the front of the shoe isn't too tight, it will probably be an awesome shoe.
I was going to stay with them, but was placing a TW order, and had read some good reviews about the Asics Gel Resolution 2, so decided to add them to the order and get free shipping!
ASICS GEL RESOLUTION 2: Wow!! Winner!! From the instant I put them on, it was extremely obvious that these were the ones I was gonna stick with. There was obvious cushioning in the forefoot and heel, yet they were very supportive. On hard changes of direction there was an awesome feeling of the shoes absorbing the shock yet turning very quickly. I've even been wearing these for everyday use rather than my typical running shoe. They were very true to size, and fit me perfect in the heel, arch, and toe. The arch isn't terribly high, and I have high arches, but that seems to work well for me. Supposedly high arches need to be able to pronate in order to absorb shock, and in my experience when the arch support is high it feels good at first but causes problems later??
Soooo, now I have a closet full of new tennis shoes that I won't use, along with 3 different pairs of insoles. Hopefully that info is useful to someone that might be trying to decide on some shoes, especially if they're local stores are like mine and don't carry SQUAT for tennis!! I would recommend buying 3 or 4 pairs from TW and returning whatever you don't choose.
First, its pretty obvious from all the differing opinions here that one persons perfect shoe might be the worst in the world for another with the same type of feet, so know that this is highly subjective. These reviews are based on size 10.5 narrow feet with high arches.
BARRICADE V: In the store they were an absolutely perfect fit. Better than the VI's even. They felt like Ferrari's on my feet compared to the Breathe Cage II's I was replacing which were very comfortable, but just didn't feel as "fast" if that makes any sense. I gave the barricades 2 or 3 outings of about 3 sets, and walked around the house in them for several days, but without fail, the day after the arches, heel, and achilles in both feet were extremely sore for the first 10 or 15 min after waking up. On these shoes I went up a half a size to an 11 in order to try several different insoles, but I just couldn't get them to feel right. The 10.5 might have been better, but they seemed to hit the front edge of my arch weird, so I went up. I hated to give up, but decided to try...
NIKE CB2.3: I had tried these when I bought the barricades, and they were pretty comfortable, but almost felt like I was wearing a heavy sock rather than a shoe. I thought they would be way too "floppy" and unsupportive. After playing in the barricades I decided to try the 2.3's again and decided to buy them. They are EXTREMELY narrow in the area of the bone just below the big toe but I figured they would stretch. I went up a size which helped the narrow issue, but the rest of the shoe didn't feel right. They did stretch out some, but it always felt tight there. They definitely had more cushion in the heel than the barricades, but not much in the toe. They were great to play in, but I kept feeling it squeezing my feet, and it was starting to make my knees hurt which I hadn't experienced with any other shoe. It felt like it wasn't letting my feet pronate like they needed to and maybe that was transferring up to my knees? Bottom line on this shoe is if you can get it to feel good in the store and the front of the shoe isn't too tight, it will probably be an awesome shoe.
I was going to stay with them, but was placing a TW order, and had read some good reviews about the Asics Gel Resolution 2, so decided to add them to the order and get free shipping!
ASICS GEL RESOLUTION 2: Wow!! Winner!! From the instant I put them on, it was extremely obvious that these were the ones I was gonna stick with. There was obvious cushioning in the forefoot and heel, yet they were very supportive. On hard changes of direction there was an awesome feeling of the shoes absorbing the shock yet turning very quickly. I've even been wearing these for everyday use rather than my typical running shoe. They were very true to size, and fit me perfect in the heel, arch, and toe. The arch isn't terribly high, and I have high arches, but that seems to work well for me. Supposedly high arches need to be able to pronate in order to absorb shock, and in my experience when the arch support is high it feels good at first but causes problems later??
Soooo, now I have a closet full of new tennis shoes that I won't use, along with 3 different pairs of insoles. Hopefully that info is useful to someone that might be trying to decide on some shoes, especially if they're local stores are like mine and don't carry SQUAT for tennis!! I would recommend buying 3 or 4 pairs from TW and returning whatever you don't choose.