Nick from NK Active reviews the new Hylo Athletic trainers

Nick reviews the new Hylo Athletic trainers

Everyone knows Nick has a passion for athletic footwear and he tends to do quite a bit of reading around this area. So when a new concept in trainers came to his attention, reading quickly turned to buying!  

Welcome to the Nick Knight Trainer Family, Hylo Athletics.

Nick’s review.

On the face of it you look at the trainers and think that there is not much to them; and you would be completely right as, in my opinion, these are not out and out running shoes.  However, the big thing with these trainers is that they are completely sustainable and made from natural products, by a company that is net carbon positive, so it is putting more energy back into the system then it takes out. 

Sustainability.

The shoes are also completely 100% recyclable and the Hylo Athletics company gives you £10 credit towards your next shoes when you send them back to them.  The footwear industry is typically quite a dirty industry over the glue that is used and getting materials from multiple sources, so on average it can be anything around 15 kg of carbon to manufacture 1 pair of shoes, where as the shoes from Hylo Athletics take around half of that!

A 5k run, a HITT session and a day in the NK Active clinic.

I have been on a 5K run, done one gym session at work and then a HITT session; have also worn the Hylo trainers everyday at work and they are extremely comfortable! I was very sceptical to begin with about using some new materials and fair play to Hylo in trying new materials, as we are not sure how they will react long-term.

The run review.

So what are they like to run in? Overall the Hylo’s feel like a nice stable ride, they are pretty firm and they are nice and wide around the toe box and are extremely light.  As already mentioned, I am not going to use them for my out and out runs and they won’t replace my  Saucony or Hoka running trainers.  However, I think they are very good ‘naked’ shoes to go for a run in! What I mean by this is that when you get that feeling where you just want to go for a run, not worry about any technology, pace, time or wearables or anything else and just go out for a run.

The gym workout.

What are they like for your gym or HITT work outs? Again the Hylo Athletics are a good choice for this, nice and light and breathable and even when doing a class like a online les mills, where you have lots of side to side movement, the foot felt nice and secure and was not slipping off the base of the shoe; very nice and comfortable.

Hylo Athletics for daily use.

For day-to-day use they feel just like a pair of slippers, where they have the knitted upper it just conforms to the foot so nicely and feels very comfortable. My only small issue, is the natural material the laces are made of sometimes come undone, whereas “traditional” laces don’t.

Well done Hylo Athletics!

However as Hylo’s 1st attempt at a running shoe that was developed during the lockdown, I am very impressed and look forward to what they will do with version 2 and 3. 

I’m also extremely excited to see the footwear industry starting to turn the table with sustainability.

For clarity I did pay full price for the shoes and they cost £100, which I thought was reasonably priced considering the sustainability of the products.  Another nice feature on the Hylo Athletics website is that you can enter your current shoes online and it will then tell you which shoe size to buy, so you don’t have to worry as much about how different brands will fit your feet in different ways.

More information?

Nick filmed a Facebook Live after his first run in the Hylo Athletic shoes and you can watch that here. Any questions for Nick? Contact him here.

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