Thanks to Under Armour Australia & Running Heroes I recently got to try out the new UA Charged Bandit 2 running shoes. This happened to fit in nicely with my return to running, having been out injured for the past few months.
I really like my Under Armour Speedform Gemini 2’s and have been happily wearing them around for the past year, so I was quite keen to try out the new UA shoes and the Bandit 2’s did not disappoint!
They feel very similar to my Gemini 2 with a fairly rigid sole and light material on top. However unlike the Gemini 2’s the material on top is less like mesh and more of a stretchy fabric. Which I actually prefer as it means my toes are no longer being blasted by wind and freezing while riding my bike in the early hours of the morning.
The sole provides a good amount of cushioning while remaining fairly dense so I can push off hard, but can also run comfortably on a concrete bike track. There isn’t a great deal of grip on the bottom, but being the style of runner that I am, I took them off road and they proved themselves to be better on the trails then I would have expected. Although I don’t recommend them as trail shoes, for an everyday running shoe where there’s some bush tracks, parks and then it’s back on the road, these will work very nicely indeed. I also took them out on a raining day and while they did an admirable job on most surfaces they were a bit slippery on concrete tiles (I cut through an outdoor mall on one of my runs and found It quite slippery). This isn’t a deal breaker for me, it’s just worth being more aware of what I’m running across on wet days, plus they were fine on the road and concrete tracks which is more what I’d be running on.
The shoes fit great straight out of the box, of course I immediately took them for a run and they hugged my feet nicely, no rubbing and certainly no blisters. The black and grey colour even hides the mud which I quickly got them covered in. Plus being that colour it looks less like I’m wearing runners absolutely everywhere and I’ve been wearing these shoes to work consistently for the past 3 weeks… I can also recommend them for use at a standing desk ;)
In terms of quality they seem quite good. I’ve been wearing the Gemini 2’s to work, gym & lunchtime running sessions pretty consistently for the past year and they’re still in one piece, I suspect the Bandit 2’s will have equally good longevity considering what I’ve been using them for so far: Work, running, gyming, cycling, mountain biking, as my everyday comfy wearing shoe that I walk around in……
Recommended For
- Urban Running (Mostly road/paths but with some trails or parks thrown in)
- Bike Riding (The material on top is surprisingly good at protecting my toes from freezing cold wind)
- Everyday Shoes (They look good, and they’re comfy to wear around)
Want to know more?
You can find out all the technical details of the UA Charged Bandit 2 on the Under Armour site at: http://www.underarmour.com.au/en-au/womens-ua-charged-bandit-2-running-shoes/1273961.html?dwvar_1273961_color=002#q=bandit (I have the Black ones)
Running Heroes is a great website where you earn points by syncing up your GPS runs and can then enter challenges to win rewards like free race entries & running gear or exchange points for discounts on all sorts of things. It’s free to sign up and very easy to use. I have it synced to my Strava account so all my runs copy straight across and earn me points or count towards the challenges. Check it out: https://au.runningheroes.com/?r=1&code=mzk7 (This is my referral link, you get 25 bonus when you sign up using it ;)
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