Topo Phantom 3
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The Shakeout
If you’re unfamiliar with the Topo brand you aren’t alone. Topo is a smaller fairly niche brand in the running space that favors a range of lower drop shoes with a wide, natural foot shaped toe box. While they don’t make a ton of shoes in a million colors, they focus on creating high quality shoes and an excellent runner experience.
Statistics
Men: 9.2 oz
Women: 7.5 oz
Drop: 5 mm
MSRP: $145
Mileage at time of review: 51
The Breakdown
The Outsole
The outsole of the Phantom 3 is built to last. The rubber under the heel and forefoot has excellent grip and will keep the shoe going for a few hundred miles while they use an exposed EVA in the middle of the foot to save weight. I was a bit concerned about the exposed EVA getting chewed up but the rubber placement and the firmer EVA employed in the bottom half of this midsole have kept that middle section from breaking down.
The Midsole
The Phantom 3 employs a 2 part midsole, with a denser foam below and a softer foam above to provide a really nice step in feel but add stability and durability to this shoe. You can see the two piece midsole in the cutout in the middle of the lower midsole and see how much softer the upper layer is. The zip foam formula that Topo uses has a great ride on the long run while also providing a responsiveness allowing for increased pacing in a run.
The Upper
The upper fits nicely and gives plenty of volume for a very wide range of feet. The tongue and heel collar are very well padded and I never noticed any hot spots during or after a run. While there is not a gusseted tongue (no secret, I’m a huge fan of them) Topo does something on the tongue with the lacing that basically creates a gusseted tongue without the sense of having elastic squeezing the inside of the foot. No matter how it’s formed, I’m a fan because it means that the tongue stays perfectly in place and I don’t have to worry about laces cutting into my ankle. The use of the wider forefoot also means that it’s almost impossible to get the wrong fit. I went true to size and the shoe fit perfectly.
Runners and Walkers
This is shoe is built to take you on your daily miles and long runs. The beauty of the wider forefoot they use is that it’s hard to run out of space regardless of how far you are running. If you have an issue with swelling or you’re training for longer races, Topo in general makes an excellent choice.
The shoe is well cushioned but not overly so, somewhere between a Brooks Ghost and Hoka Clifton. While I do feel that there is an ability to pick the pace up, I wouldn’t call this a speed day shoe by any means. It finds the sweet spot in the easy, long run pacing. We now live in the era of max cushion shoes and while I am all about the cushion, I do find myself gravitating toward shoes with a little less squish when I’m on the treadmill, and I found myself reaching for this shoe often for the treadmill days. The firmer outer layer of the midsole really helped offset some of the natural softness of the treadmill giving me the same feeling I would get from max cushion shoes outside while inside.
I didn’t take this out on any rainy days to run, but I did get through a fair number of puddles to get the outsole nice and wet and I still felt solid with traction under foot.
One feature I really like about Topo in general is their arch shape and placement. Topo has a much higher arch that is placed further back in the shoe which works really well for me but could be an issue for some athletes.
The Gym
There aren’t a ton of running shoes out there that I like for everything at the gym, but this shoe comes close to being a great running shoe and a great gym or even lifting shoe. It’s not as rigid as a true lifting shoe is, but I do like that it is a low drop with that firmer EVA shell on the midsole. It gives a really solid base to work with and I feel comfortable doing squats and deadlifts in this shoe as well. No running shoe will ever have the firmness and the platform a true lifting shoe has but unless you’re looking to really focus on lifting, I think this is solid option.
With the advent of the hybrid athlete, I think it gets really easy to feel the need for a different shoe for every possible session, but I think that this shoe can do really well as a solid utility shoe.
Daily Wear
Everything from the price point of the shoe to the comfort I have wearing it recommends this shoe for daily wear. Topo is a smaller brand so they don’t offer 30 colors per shoe like some of the bigger brands do, but they do offer some more subtle options than the one I chose that would do very nicely in a business casual situation.
If you’re on your feet all day the wider toe box provides ample room for any swelling you might experience.
The Cooldown
There isn’t much that is flashy about this shoe, but it gets the job done and I think that’s the whole point. If you’re looking for relative comparison points in other brands look at the Brooks Ghost, New Balance 880 or the Asics Cumulus to get an idea of where this shoe lies within a larger lineup. It’s made to be a workhorse and it does the job as asked.
It’s not a max cushion shoe in a world where everyone is trying to get softer foams and more stack height in, but I think that’s a good thing too. This shoe is built for utility and to do a bit of everything in my opinion.
The arch height and placement are different so I definitely recommend trying the shoe or making sure that you know the exchange policy if you’re purchasing online. It works really well for me, but what is great for me may not be the best for everyone.
