The Nike Vomero 18 and Brooks Glycerin Max are max stacked running shoes built for comfort that we’re definitely big fans of.
If you’re in the market for a new daily trainer and trying to decide on whether to go Glycerin Max or Vomero, we’ve put in the big testing time to tell you how these two very similar-looking shoes match up and let you know which one you should be picking up.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
00:29 – Price and key differences
01:36 – How do they fit?
04:10 – The Run Test
10:58 – Verdict
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Hey, this is Mike run testers. This is The Brooks and Max and this is the Night From 18. Two Max daily trainer shoes That we are definitely fans of here on The channel. Now, if you've been looking At these two shoes thinking they look Quite similar and fortunately myself and Kieran have put plenty of running time In both. And what we're going to do in This video is take you through the key Differences between the two, let you Know some running thoughts, and then Tell you whether you should go for the Brooks Cliff Max or the Night from 18. So, let's run you through those key Differences between the Night Frame 18 And the Brooks Glyph Max. Let's start With price. And the Vomero is the Cheaper of the two shoes, coming in at £135 or £150, while the Brooks Glypher Max is much pricier at £180 or $200. In Terms of drops, the MER 18 has a 10 mm One compared to the 6 millimeter one on The Max with a difference of a few Millimeters in the stack heights at both The heel and the forefoot. Weight wise, The Vera is just a touch lighter with Both coming just a single width size Option. Both feature mesh uppers with Padded tongues and similar levels of Padding around the heel collar. Into the Midsoles and Brooks uses its nitrogen Infused DNA tuned cushioning technology Which is made of two size cells with
Large ones used at the heel and smaller Ones in the forefoot. It also includes a Glide roll rocker to smoothly move you From heel to toe. The Vomero features Two foams with the Zumx sat on top of React X to provide comfort and bounce. Both outsoles use generous amounts of Rubber in high abrasion areas to make Sure that they can go the distance and Hold firm on roads and [Music] Pavements. So, when it comes to fit, I Would describe both of these shoes as Super comfortable straight out of the Box. They've got a fit which I really Like, which basically boils down to Having a nice roomy toe box. We've got Clearance across the top of the toes, But you've got these uppers that flex Really well. So, they hold the toe Knuckle areas. You can see they're quite Secure here, but they don't feel Restrictive. They actually move with the Foot. So, you've got a bit of room to Maneuver. You got a bit of wiggle room Up top. The Nike Vomero 18 feels a Little bit more spacious, a bit more Accommodating in the toe box. Both of These have good accommodating toe boxes. I get good lock down across the midfoot With no pinching. These big padded Tongues really help with that. You can Lash these down nice and secure and I Don't get too much movement in them at
All if any. They're nicely held back Into the heel collars. That goes the True as well. Big padded plush heel Collars in both of them that just offer That long mileage comfort. They have no Rubbing. It's all good in these shoes. And overall, I would recommend going True to size. So, in terms of fit, I Would say solid. Overall, in general, I Have got both in a UK size eight. That Is my typical running shoe size. is that It's generally the shoe size that does Work best for me in most of Brooks and Nike's other shoes. Now, I've got quite Skinny, narrow feet. These are Definitely very roomy, accommodating Shoes, particularly in the forefoot of These shoes. They really do open up in That kind of area of the shoes. So, if That's something you look for, then Definitely I think you get that here on Both. The nature of the upper materials Definitely creates very kind of similar Feelings of how these shoes fit. Definitely kind of, you know, padded in The key areas. They definitely feel very Snug in general throughout the shoe. The mid-foot hold is very similar as Well. The lacing and tongue combinations Are very similar. You've got a good Level of padding on the tongue. And you Know, I've had no issues with getting a Good lock down on both of these shoes. The level of padding around the heel
Collar and kind of around the killies Area, it's very similar. There is one Little difference I think that may be a Key thing to kind of take away here is That with the Brooks Glisten Max in Terms of the back of the shoe, it's a Little bit more narrow with that kind of Um hill collar that kit around the Achilles bits. It's a little less Flexible, kind of go rides up a little Bit higher which has the potential to Cause some irritation. I have found that I would prefer it to be a little bit More conventional like the Vimeo 18. And I think that's something to be mindful Here. Elsewhere, all very similar, but I Think the key thing for me is that Difference in those kind of hill colors, Particularly the kind of more narrow one That you're getting in the Brooks Max. I Would go true to size in these shoes. As I said, they're naturally very roomy Shoes even on my skinny narrow feet Without feeling overly spacious. I think Yeah, true to size would be the way to [Music] Go. Onto the run test then and I've now Run more than 40 miles in the Nike Vimera 18. I've done close to 50 in the Brooks Glycerin Max. I've tested both These shoes at a full range of paces. I've mixed roads with River Piles as Well to test the stability. I've also Put both shoes through runs of at least
Up to 90 minutes on feet. Now, first up, I think we've got two surprise hits Here. I thought I'd really struggle with The whopping great midsoles on both. I Don't tend to usually favor the biggest Mega stack kind of shoes, but I think These are among the better massive stack Max cushion shoes that are out on the Shelves at the moment. The main reason For that is because I think although They're soft, they're not sludgy. There Is a bit of energy here that adds a bit More versatility, a bit more agility to Both of these shoes on slightly Different levels, but they've both got It. You get it a bit more in the Vomero, I would say. So, while they're Definitely good options for the easy Miles, and I might consider them even For my upcoming Comrades 55 Mile Road Ultra, I think in both you can go up a Few gears, too, if you really have to. Now, if you're a heavier runner or a Casual 5K runner, these could be shoes To look at as well. They offer bucket Loads of comfort and protection in a Good all round package. Everything about The Vomero 18 is geared towards soft, Plush comfort. It's not as cushy as the Glitter in Max. And crucially, the Softness in the Vomero 18, isn't Overbaked like some Max Stack shoes can Be, I find. The dual foam setup here Makes for reliable, stable, cushioned
Ride that has a little pop if you're Feeling energetic enough to put in the Work. So, it's not totally devoid of Pace. All the extra padding in the Uppers, the collars, the, you know, the Big stack that you've got here does make It a heavier shoe, but you're trading Weight for guaranteed comfort. And I Think it runs lighter on the foot than It actually looks from the numbers that You get on the scales. For a max stack Shoe, I would say this almost doesn't Feel fully maxed stack. I'd say it drops In somewhere between a Nike Pegasus 41 And the Invincible. And it's a bit more Nimble and agile than the bulkier Glycerin Max, which does, I think, feel Max stack by comparison. Now, I've done A lot of miles in the Glyin Max on very Tired, beaten up legs, and what you get Here is a cocoon protective comfort. Now, you can get that from cheaper Rivals, but I feel some of the Comparable sort of big soft heavy daily Trainers cushion shoes can feel a little Bit like they're dragging you down. Where the glycerin max offers some Energy when you roll onto that smaller Cell DNA tuned foroot you've got here That gives you nice springy toe offs. So, some runners might find that they Can pick up the pace in this shoe as Well as do all those sort of Comfortable, slow, easy runs. And I
Definitely think like the Vimera 18, Many runners will be able to use these Shoes for their longer mid-paced sort of Range kind of runs. For a big stack, I Would say both of them aren't overly Sinky. Uh so you don't get that kind of Sludgy labored feel in either of these, I don't think. Now for the Brooks, There's still a bit of control to the Platform as well. Brooks is obviously Known for its stability. And the crucial Thing is I think even though you've got That whacking great stat, you still get That here as well. So in terms of my Running time in these two shoes, I've Done over 50k in both. These are shoes I've continued to use after our multi- Test reviews. I think it was the biggest Compliment I can really pay here that I've really enjoyed kind of generally Doing the same types of runs in both. Now, when I first ran in the 18, it Immediately made me think of the Brooks Glycerin Max. Now, there's loads of Max That kind of daily trainer shoes now, But I think, you know, look at things Like Superass 2, the Hawker Skyward X. I Think these two shoes in terms of how Those stacks of kind of foam and Midsoles feel underneath feel the most Similar, but they aren't, you know, Identical in terms of that experience of What they kind of offer on that front. Now, we'll start with the Brooks Max,
Which was the first shoe to launch of The two. Going to showcase that new DNA Tuned kind of midsole technology from Brooks, which is that kind of nitrogen Infused midsole, which we've seen kind Of work very well in other Brooks shoes. How that works is you've got these kind Of bigger elements of that DNA tuned in The heel of the shoe. And what that does Is create something that feels a bit Softer when you land on your heel. Kind Of gets smaller with that DNA tuned in The forefoot. And the idea is that it Creates a more responsive feel. You've Got a nice kind of very pronounced Rocker in there as well. And that helps To kind of make sure that you can really Kind of tick up over kind of that heel To toe transition in a really kind of Quick and kind of noticeable fashion. Now, what I would say about Brooks Glycerin Max compared to the Mer 18, They're both heavy shoes. You know, not Light shoes, but you notice the weight a Lot more on the Glycerin Max. Now, I Think it's crucial that you have that Rocker in there. The way that midsole Works and as a package, I think kind of Makes up for that kind of slightly Heavier feel. I think you still do get Something that you can roll through very Nicely despite its kind of kind of big Kind of stature. It's very stable as Well, given that kind of natural kind of
Roomy kind of accommodating kind of fit With the Brooks Glycerin Max. I found it Most comfortable for long runs, kind of Easy runs. I think also kind of moderate Paced runs as well. I think that's where The kind of rocker works really well. You do feel like it softens a little bit At the um kind of fore foot, the middle Of the shoe compared to the knife from MER 18, which I think is a bit more Balanced in terms of the way that Cushioning feels. You've got a kind of a Midsole makeup which has that ZoomX foam Which is bouncy and lively, but also Kind of rained in by the React X foam, But it's a bit more consistent in terms Of that spread of those two foams across The shoe. I think naturally again Creates something quite balanced and Smooth and has a rocker in there as Well. Maybe not as pronounced as the Glycerin Max one, but it definitely Helps to kind of roll through very Nicely in your kind of running motion. Again, I feel like it works for the same Types of runs. Very easy shoe to get on And run a mixture of paces. I think You're not going to do your allout Running, but I do think because of that Kind of, you know, the feeling of this Shoe in terms of how it works with its Weight. I think works for slightly Faster runs, kind of more tempo runs Where I think this maxes out at the kind
Of moderate paces. The Vomero I think Will give you a touch more kind of uh Variety in terms of the pace that it Will work at. But again, I think I would Be using the same types of runs. I think They will excel and offer similar types Of things. I think from an outsole point Of view, they've got a generous amount Of rubber in their kind of very similar Areas. I think you know there, you know, You can see there's quite a liberal Amount of rubber kind of the heel and at The fore foot, maybe a little bit more On the cliff mat. So it stretches the Back a bit more to that midoot area. Gripping wise, absolutely fine. No Pavements, roads. I wasn't I wouldn't Hesitate using these on lighter trails, Going and running in my local parks as Well. I think they've been absolutely Fine from that point of view. And I Think as Max stack shoes, they're going To give you a lot of life. And you know, That's really what I've seen in my time. So yeah, two Max daily training shoes I've really liked. I think definitely is Some overlap. Definitely is some things That shoes definitely are some things That where the Brooks work slightly Better over me 18 and vice versa. Which One you should go for? I'll get into That next Verdict. Bent and you've got two good, Highly cushioned shoes here that are
Ideal for slow mileage, easy runs, but Not restricted only to the slowest Recovery paces when you're feeling the Most beaten up and tired. They've both Got a bit more to them than that, Though. Because there's quite a lot of Shoe to the Brooks, a bit too much Weight perhaps, and it's a bit sort of Heftier in terms of the width and the Overall kind of feel of the shoe on the Foot. I'd probably stick to easier miles In it for the most case. I think the Vomero 18 can handle a bit faster, a bit Better. It's not the shoe that you would Choose first for uptempo efforts, but It's definitely a good suitcase shoe That if you just have to take one with You to cover a bunch of runs, it can Cope if you need it to. Now, because I'd Largely do the same types of runs in These two rivals, I think the decision For me here is pretty easy. It simply Comes down to the price, in which case I Go for the Nike 18 because it's will do Everything that the Brooks does in my Running at least, but just for a big Chunk less. However, there is one Caveat. I think if you're after that Really max cushion feel, I think the Glycerin max offers more of it. So if You're choosing between these two and You want that, that's your priority. Go Max. So my take whether you should go The Bricks Glisten Max or the Night Fra.
Now I've liked running in both of these Max Stack Daily Trainer shoes and I Think a lot of people will. Now Factoring in my experience, the price of These shoes. Personally, I think it's a Bit of a no-brainer. I will be going for The night 18. It's considerably cheaper Than the Brooks Gish Max. I think works For the same types of runs will give you A similar level of comfort, protection, Enjoyment in that ride and versatility. But I do think given the weight of these Shoes and how the Nike handles that Weight better coupled anything that's Going on in terms of that midsole, I Think it does work for slightly faster Paces and more tempo paces compared to The Glisten Max. This is not a bad shoe. This is a very good shoe and it beat the Vimera 18 in terms of launch. And I Think in terms of this shoe coming out Kind of really kind of maxing out what We got on the Glycerin Max and doing it For less money, I think this is the shoe That most people should be going for. I Think if you like a Brooks kind of max Stack shoe, you're going to likely get The Glycerin Max. But I think if you're Looking between these two, I'd be going For the Vimeo. Okay, so there you have It. Our multi test take on whether you Should go for the Brooks Glyph Max or The Nike Vimera 18. You know, if you've Got any questions about this video or
Either of these shoes or there are other Shoes you want to compare to either this Or this, do let us know in the comments. As always, like and subscribe. Hit that Little bell to find out about our latest Videos. And yeah, we'll see you next Fantasters video. [Music]
