The Puma Fuse 2.0 has been my favourite finances CrossFit shoe for a while, turning in awesome convenience and a springy but supportive midsole that’s appropriate for just about any WOD. So when its successor was once launched with a $20 upper retail worth, the drive was once on for the logo to ship.
The dramatic nature of Puma’s redesign was once obvious to me once I pulled them on. The higher feels more impregnable, the forefoot turns out narrower, the shoe is noticeably heavier and the heel is a unique beast fully because of a number of new steadiness options.
Total, I do consider the improve has furthered Puma’s undertaking to make the most productive CrossFit shoe, however this may well be a case of taking one step again to take two ahead.
Puma Fuse 3.0: Worth And Availability
The Puma Fuse 3.0 prices $120 in the USA and £100 in the United Kingdom. That’s a $20/£10 worth upward thrust at the Puma Fuse 2.0 and brings the three.0 extra consistent with well-established CrossFit shoe manufacturers, which most often fee north of $130.
The Puma Fuse 2.0 was once continuously discounted and I’d be expecting the three.0 to practice swimsuit so it can be price buying groceries round after six months.
How I Examined This Shoe
I wore this shoe for 2 weeks of no-holds-barred coaching within the lead-up to the CrossFit Open, the use of it for 10 90-minute-plus coaching classes in that point.
Each and every one began with some power paintings or Olympic weightlifting, adopted via gymnastics observe, a various WOD and a few accent lifts.
It’s additionally been used for its fair proportion of shoe-destroying strikes comparable to wall walks, rope climbs and handstand push-ups that come as same old in a CrossFit coaching program.
Design
The glance of the Puma Fuse 3.0 isn’t to my style. The design is busy and blocky, with raised detailing across the Puma emblem and an angular heel.
A few of the ones parts do serve a objective, despite the fact that. The pointed edges on all sides of the angular heel imply it doesn’t roll when driven sideways, turning in a cast platform for catching Oly lifts.
There also are strong heel and toe guards for defense all over wall walks and handstand push-ups, along side additional raised rubber sections across the midsole for rope climbs and lateral enhance.
This catalog of recent steadiness options delivered simply that: awesome steadiness. However they do upload weight to the shoe, making it really feel much less nimble than its predecessor. The Puma Fuse 3.0 weighs 454g in my UK dimension 10. The Puma Fuse 2.0 is 405g and my one-time favourite TYR CXT-1 is 348g.
Is The Puma Fuse 3.0 Excellent For WODs?
I like the Puma Fuse 2.0 for WODs. It’s light-weight and breathable, with a responsive midsole foam that was once a dream when bounding onto packing containers.
The Puma Fuse 3.0? No longer such a lot. That is basically as it has an even quantity of weight to it and the heel particularly felt heavy each time I attempted to transport temporarily in fast paced exercises.
It beats its predecessor for steadiness because of the redesigned heel, and there’s no wondering the acquisition afforded via the PUMAGRIP outsole. Consequently I reasonably preferred the shoe for barbell-heavy exercises like Grace.
However once I needed to transfer rapid, I spotted the shoe’s heavy heel. This was once in particular obvious all over longer exercises like a 40-minute EMOM I tackled whilst dressed in them.
Is The Puma Fuse 3.0 Excellent For Resistance Coaching?
That is the place the Puma Fuse 3.0 is at its perfect. The angular edges of the outsole that flare out from the heel prevent any undesirable rolling and the PUMAGRIP design gives nice grip.
The midsole feels company beneath heavy weights too, with not one of the undesirable compression I skilled with previous fashions. Consequently, it supplies a company basis for producing energy all over squats, cleans, snatches and extra.
The one problem is that the forefoot feels slender and squashed, even if Puma claims it has “widened the final” of the shoe. This left me much less in a position to unfold my feet for steadiness than I might have preferred.
Is The Puma Fuse 3.0 Excellent For Working?
The restrictive forefoot and weight intended that the Puma Fuse 3.0 didn’t provoke all over brief (as much as 400m) mid-WOD working durations.
When compared with different CrossFit sneakers I’ve attempted, it didn’t really feel as nimble, springy or vigorous, despite the fact that it wasn’t as clunky because the Nike Metcon 9.
No CrossFit shoe is made to take care of greater than a few kilometers—this simply wouldn’t be imaginable whilst keeping up a company sufficient midsole for lifting. However maximum nonetheless be offering a bit of of soar from a skinny layer of midsole cushioning, and I felt that was once lacking right here.
Is The Puma Fuse 3.0 Value It?
I’m going to avoid wasting you some cash right here. If you wish to have a super finances CrossFit shoe, purchase the Puma Fuse 2.0. If you wish to have Puma’s perfect CrossFit shoe, purchase the Puma Fuse 2.0. In truth, if you wish to have a super CrossFit shoe complete prevent, it’s worthwhile to nonetheless purchase the Puma Fuse 2.0.
The primary drawback with the Puma Fuse 2.0 was once its loss of steadiness within the heel, with a bit of compression within the heel when beneath heavier weights. The Puma Fuse 3.0 has solved this drawback, turning in a perfectly solid heel with an cutting edge angular design to forestall undesirable lateral motion. That is one thing the logo had to repair to compete for the identify of “perfect CrossFit shoe”—however the enhancements have come at a value.
The shoe feels heavy all over WODs, the weighting appears to be off in prefer of the again of the shoe, the midsole lacks power and my foot feels uncomfortably cramped alongside the edges of the midfoot and forefoot.
I’m hoping Puma can marry the stableness of this shoe with the attributes of its predecessor with its subsequent useful fitness-focused unlock. However for now, the extraordinary convenience of the Fuse 2.0 makes it my most well-liked Puma coaching shoe.
