Mizuno Wave Horizon 6 Introduction

Mizuno returns with the 6th edition of their max cushion stability trainer the Horizon 6. The biggest and most noticeable update in this edition is the new knit upper.

This is meant to compete with shoes such as Asics Kayano, Saucony Hurricane, and the Brooks adrenaline. It’s price tag is as heavy as the shoe feels coming in at $170.

Mizuno Wave Horizon 6 First Impressions

Cosmetically the shoe looked great. I liked the grey with yellow accents on the knit upper and it was pretty comfortable right from the start just walking around. The shoe felt HEAVY in my hands. It was not very flexible and it was just a lot of shoe.

My first run in them was an easy 5 miler. They rode a little faster than I thought they would, but I still felt like I was dragging the entire time.

Mizuno Wave Horizon 6 Upper

The upper was the best part of this shoe. It is a knit upper that breathed great in the heat and was warm in the cold. It fit true to size so I see no need to size up or out.

The heel is quite built up and locks you in nicely. There are no issues with hot spots or rubbing there or with the laces. The toe box gives plenty of room and is not snug at all.

Mizuno Wave Horizon 6 Sole Unit

The outsole tread was very sturdy and built up. The tread pattern gave great traction in all weather types and I never had any issues losing control. There was very minimal wear at the end of my testing and I could see this shoe lasting quite a while.

In the middle of the shoe Enerzy, Mizuno’s responsive compound that boasts high energy return (hence the name). There is a section of the outsole cut out to try and reduce weight but also show it off as it is bright red.

The Enerzy foam is paired with U4ic, a much firmer foam compound which helped provide the stability aspects. There was just way too much of it for me. It was overbearing to the point where it started to cancel out the benefits of the Enerzy foam.

I could tell on every step that it helping aid my foot to land straight and not cause them to roll inward. I eventually got used to this, but it was pretty annoying and uncomfortable for the first half of my testing. The 8mm drop had my landing and lifting off mostly on my midfoot.

Mizuno Wave Horizon 6 Conclusions

I had a hard time finding a place for these shoes in my rotation. I would probably wear them on days where I wanted to go as easy as possible or if I needed to run to the store.

It took a really long time to break these in but once they broke in, my opinion did sway a little bit but not by much. There are just other stability shoes (or even max cushioning neutral shoes like the Nike Invincible) that can do so much more and don’t feel like you are wearing bricks on your feet.

Unless you have major issues with overpronation, you can steer away from this. If you are looking for a stability shoe from Mizuno, save your money and go for something like the Wave Inspire.