361º Meraki

From the distant lands of the People's Republic of China comes this new brand, 361º, which already has an important presence in the rest of Europe and is currently in full expansion. There are many details that add up in its conception of sports equipment to almost be able to ensure that in a couple of years the vast majority of runners will have used a pair of shoes that are offered in its catalog, since, on their own merit are called to open a niche in the market.

Without great innovations, the Asian Dragon makes its way with a strong and reliable product.

?sta 361º Meraki aims to honor to its name, which, as a result of the cultural fusion sought, finds in modern Greek the right word to express its way of construction, a translation impossible to make directly if not through the reflection of an idea and a whole philosophy, sinceMeraki" could be translated as: Doing something with commitment, which comes from the soul and transmitting a strong feeling in each of the steps to carry it out.

But let's leave the "culturilla" to focus on the analyzed product, this time has been the one that I have taken more time before getting with the review, since the absence of previous models and being a brand of recent appearance in the running scene deserved a study and subsequent analysis much more exhaustive, I have put it to the test in all kinds of conditions and situations as usual, but I have taken them a little further, doing with them both the work of series and extensive shootings to be able to include them with knowledge of cause in the correct segment.

So, with these 361º Meraki we are in front of a neutral shoe for daily training, but with a great stability and agile character, which would bring them very close to the mixed use, if it were not for the fact that they do not have the reactivity that this segment requires to be positioned in it.

Therefore, it is a shoe in which we must highlight its great versatility, so much so that its range of use in terms of type of runner according to weight encompasses all categories, both the light runner and the one who is in a high weight can find in the 361 Meraki that daily training partner to succeed in any situation, they are not flying for interval training, but they do support well the changes of pace and behave perfectly well rolling at paces >5' as tightening punctually at sub 4' pace.

Numbers: 9 mm of Drop and 280 grams of weight (size 435) a drop halfway to the current trends that is comfortable for daily training and at the same time nothing invasive, so they will fit well to any user, as for the size you probably want to know how they size, well, well, in line with the usual brands, that is, if you wear a 43 in most brands also in 361º you will use that same number, the 435 EU is equivalent to 9.5 US and 275 cm which is what the internal insole measures from toe to toe (measured not where the insole ends but where the heel cradle begins, the useful surface that forms the plane of the sole of the foot).

Upper

The upper of the 361º Meraki can be subdivided into two distinct parts, the part that wraps around the toes and metatarsus, and another part from there to the heel, where a very marked buttress gives a very strong stability and firmness to the whole.

Let's go back to the front part and start at the toe, since there are many parts that compose it and very differentiated.

The toe cap is protected by a layer of thermo glued rubber very strong for what a shoe that we would call "asphalt" has accustomed us, it integrates a reflective element in relief that adds attractiveness, it really is a very protected area that will make an excellent protection against a kick to a stone etc., although it is not the "off-road" mode its natural habitat.

Following back a double layer engineered mesh, very successful and with a good touch both in its inner layer in contact with the foot as the external much more ventilated, makes the breathability and flexibility of this element are of high quality, however I must say that the drawing that develops the framework resembles that used in other brands, not being this a "contra", on the contrary, is a plus, it is a plus for the foot. On the contrary, it is a plus that shows us the capacity of elaboration of the product at the height of leading brands in the market.

From the first eyelet of the seven that the eyelet has, an exoskeleton in thermo glued plastic that runs only 1/3 of the rest, becoming noticeably thicker from the number 3 that forms its logo and which in turn is also glued in relief, not ending up providing anything beyond the aesthetic and where precisely by reducing thicknesses could reduce the weight of the whole even more if possible.

The rest of the upper is made of a tougher Nylon in a Heptagonal lattice on the outside forming an attractive pattern and a second layer on its smooth inner side to provide comfort to the foot.

The padding of the collar part is more than correct, lined in a much softer material that will embrace our ankle firmly and without chafing, this will help its oversized buttress with a structure in the form of asymmetrical bellows gives a superlative firmness to the heel, to finish off the aesthetic part a3" in reflective background, sewn on the buttress, puts the colorful note and stands out remarkably if we use them at night.

Let's move on to the tongue, joined only at the beginning by stitching to the rest of the upper and with a similar pattern to the one described above, a thin intermediate layer of padding can be seen, but it only reaches the middle part, where using as a link the usual central lacing in the tongue to prevent it from moving (in this model in orange), it changes material to use in its upper a kind of perforated neoprene with internal foam, which with the 361º logo screen-printed on its upper ends up finished in "V" for the comfort of our instep.

Precisely here I have found one of the details "to improve" because, although it may depend on the user's taste, I have found this upper area of the tongue wet on the days that I double session, this means that it retains much sweat in this area, since the interval of use has reached 8 hours between workouts and the feeling of wearing a shoe with a wet tongue is not pleasant, but if you are not going to do double workouts this will not cease to be a mere anecdote and from one day to the next it will dry perfectly.

Midsole

The 361º Meraki uses two components in its midsole, this dual density is achieved with a combination of two materials, the so-called Quickfoam in the upper that gives a softer cushioning and a slightly stiffer and more reactive EVA underneath.

While we did not find much information on the manufacturer's website about these compounds, we noticed a great familiarity with them, and they are not exactly of bad quality, being clearly at the height of other compounds used by other manufacturers and at least in this model they are only behind in terms of reactivity, cushioning you will have all you need, it is not "gum" type, but a firm and progressive cushioning in the style of other giants in the market.

A carbon fiber plate is apparently inserted in the midfoot, which provides great stability and resistance to torsion in the middle part but does not have a "catapult" effect as it does not reach the rear part, being some "gel" inserts the ones that catch the eye just under the heel.

This is undoubtedly the comfort of the shoe as a whole and in my opinion its main handicap, they want to combine reactivity and protection through the plate, cushioning through the heel gel, but one thing counteracts the other, perhaps it is mixing too many systems in the same midsole.

General feeling: Comfort and stability, good cushioning, but not very responsive.

Outsole

The sole of the 361º Meraki follows the concept of bringing together several proposals from the rest of the shoe, there are two areas with different compounds, the rubber covers the front and metatarsals, as well as the heel, while the area under the bridge of the foot exposes the midsole itself, which adopts the shape of the studs that make up this peculiar sole.

The rubber used grips very well, this in counterpoint makes it have a lower resistance to wear, the middle area is true that hardly comes into contact with the ground, at least in my case remains unchanged while in areas of greater contact with the ground (metatarsal of the thumb) wear is more evident, about 200 kms on them accompany these lines and I can venture a high durability for what we are used to between 800- 1000 kms will be easily removed depending on the surface that we tread.

The flex lines incorporated in the outsole work perfectly until they meet the fiber plate inserted in the midsole, which makes it flex very well in the goals, but confers a rigid structure under the plantar arch.

The tread pattern favors traction on all types of terrain, even in the wet, and both asphalt and country roads, as well as parks and bike paths are good places for running with these 361º Meraki.

Conclusions

The 361º Meraki are a great option as a daily training shoe with pretensions of fast running, mentioning other brands they would be in the liga of the Pegasus and the Saucony Ride to give some examples and to place them among more established sagas, I have noticed them with a very similar feel to what the Japanese brands usually offer us.

While I think they try to concentrate too many technologies in the same product and this ends up saturating the shoe, which I think would appreciate having a more sober line and without mixing 3 different ways of understanding the upper and midsoles, this is obviously a personal opinion, but I firmly believe that if they pull for a purer line and focusing on a single way of doing things, thatMeraki" will be much more defined and clean.

A shoe for every day and for all audiences that comes knocking on our door to try to become one of our daily alternatives, we will have to see the prices with which they reach the shelves and their points of sale, where undoubtedly will lie its success or failure in the saturated market of Running shoes, a fight for which 361º comes amply prepared and we believe will give much to talk about.

It is not every day that we are at the beginning of a saga and today is one of those days. Long live the 361º Meraki.

PROs & CONs

PROs

• Versatility.
• Versatility.
• Cushioning.
• Comfort.
• Stability.

Opportunities for improvement

• Tongue.
• Unify the upper composition.

Runnea tester's rating

• Cushioning: 8
• Lightweight: 7
• Flexibility: 6.
• Responsiveness: 6.
• Stability: 8.
• Grip: 8.