Is the Nike Metcon Turbo 2 Really Worth It?

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These are basically a more lightweight version of the Metcons. They are actually more expensive than the current Metcons because they offer something different.

In this short Metcon Turbo 2 review, I’m going to tell you my thoughts on this shoe and whether you should even consider buying these over the regular Metcons. 

This is going to be quite a different review…

As you know, I reviewed the Metcon 8 and I will say I found them to be pretty good. I’d say they’re a well rounded gym shoe. 

But,I’ve always wondered about the Metcon Turbo. I considered buying the previous model to see what they were all about. I quite liked the design of them.

From the description you’re told that the Metcon turbo 2 is a more stripped down, minimalistic version of the Metcon, that STILL l have the durability, comfort and function of a Metcon.

They also have Nike Zoom technology which cushions the foot on landing. So this is great if you’re doing workouts with lots of slamming of the foot like box jumps, burpees, running and so on.
Sounds great doesn’t it? But I have to say, I’m actually not quite sure…

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First Impressions of the Metcon Turbo 2

So I opened the box up and checked them out. Visually they looked OK. They look as I expected them to look from the images, no surprises. I noticed they are very light and that’s what they promised. But this is where it started to go downhill for me.

First Try

The first time I tried them on, I instantly noticed that they aren’t too comfortable. There’s a small patch of material in the toe area of the shoe which gave me quite a lot of discomfort. Wearing thicker socks didn’t help at all and it’s not something I could ignore. I know every foot is different so it may not be the same for you.

Build Quality

I know this is labeled as a more minimalist shoe, but the build quality of this shoe did not impress me at all. It was actually quite shocking. The materials on both the lateral and medial side of the shoe feel very thin and flimsy.

It doesn’t fill me with confidence that the material feels like they could be ripped by hand. If you laced these up tightly and used them rigorously, as you should be able to with any workout shoe I would bet that in less than 6 months you would see tears in this material. 

Before I go further about the build quality, let me tell you what I wasn’t expecting with this shoe.

I removed the insole to see what the thickness of the insole was like compared to a regular Metcon or the Reebok nanos, and this is what the insole looks like.

I was actually surprised to see the Nike Zoom compartment is just basically attached to the insole of the shoe. Once you remove the insole of this shoe there’s pretty much nothing left, just a flimsy shell of a shoe. 

At this point I was done with this shoe. There’s no way I’m paying more for these than a pair of Metcons.

I have to be brutally honest, this shoe once you take the insole out is literally just a really cheap feeling shell of quite low quality material. I’m no shoe engineer but it doesn’t seem right that you should be able to bend the heel like this with one hand. 

The shocking thing is that these are actually priced higher than the Metcon and the Reebok Nano X2. Make that make sense.Two shoes that may be a tiny bit heavier, but are more comfortable, have better build quality and will most definitely last much longer than these.

Once I pulled that insole out and saw what I was left with, I was pretty much done with the review. I had seen enough.

To Sum Up – My Experience with the Metcon Turbo 2

1 They weren’t comfortable to wear

2 the build quality is bad and doesn’t give me confidence that these will look and perform as they should in 6 months time.

3 They’ve just given you a super thick insole in a flimsy shell of a shoe. 

If you’re someone who wears insoles in your shoes maybe you have pronation problems with your feet then you might have problems because effectively, you’d just be putting an insole on top of an insole. 

I over-pronate a little myself but it’s not so bad that I need an orthotic. If I did, I don’t think I’d go for these shoes. Let me know in the comments if you wear arch supports in your workout shoes.

If you’re looking for a gym shoe, I would recommend going for the regular Metcons or the Reebok Nanos over these. I will link to my review of each in the description below.

There’s no way on earth that these should be priced higher than either of those shoes, that’s just my opinion…

That was my quick review of the Nike Metcon Turbo 2, a good enough idea but in my opinion badly executed.