361° Women’s Nemesis Review

361° is a reasonably new player in the market for trainers. Founded in 2003 in China, they’ve grown fast and expanded to the US, Europe and beyond. We’ve now tried a few of their shoes (most recently the Yushan trail shoe) and been really impressed. Our contributor, Kate Fogelberg, tried out a pair of their Nemesis road shoes. Here’s what she thought…

The best compliment I can give a shoe is to not think of it at all while I’m running. We’ve all been there – what should be a pleasant jaunt out on the streets, trails, or fells turns into a fixation of a shoe that is too heavy, too much drop, too narrow in some spots, or too wide in others. The 361° Nemesis was a pleasant surprise right out of the box. I don’t normally consider myself a road runner (my body, my choice), but I found I disliked running on the roads less with the Nemesis underfoot. A few factors contributed to me blissfully not thinking about these shoes at all over the past few months:

More cushion for the pushin’

Running on roads can be painful, but I found the Nemesis made them less so. The Nemesis uses a QU!KFOAM midsole to provide excellent cushioning without feeling too heavy and bulky. Sometimes shoes that are too soft or too comfortable make you feel like you lose momentum, but I didn’t feel like that during weekly speed sessions. 361 has developed the QU!K Flex 4Foot engineering, which mimics the foot’s natural motion, making me feel like I wasn’t losing that momentum chasing my parkrun PB.

Pressure free uppers

Between the seamless upper and the unique “stress-free” tongue, I didn’t experience any hotspots or irritation from seams. The secure fit, coupled with the wide toe box kept my feet feeling secure yet not constrained. The breathable mesh has been very useful this summer, keeping my feet cool during the hottest day on record.

Power bottom

Although these are a road shoe, I couldn’t help but take them on my regular trail routes around town as well. And the grip performed fine on gravel and packed dirt, without getting too many stones lodged in the tread. I rolled the dice and took them down a wet, grassy slope, which they’re not designed for, but was still standing at the bottom of the hill.

Easy on the eyes

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I just found the aesthetics of the shoes to be a pleasant change from many of the other road shoes on the market. Not that any serious athlete would make their shoe decision based on looks, but the Nemesis’s sleek -looking color coordination is an added bonus.

The Goldilocks of road running shoes

Some shoes seem to compromise comfort and flexibility. Or functionality and fashion. However, I found the Nemesis to be, as Goldilocks puts it, “just right,” allowing me to think about everything else except what was on my feet.

What a great review of the 361° Nemesis trainer by the team at Run247

Link to the full article here: https://run247.com/gear/reviews/361-womens-nemesis-review