Do Mizuno Shoes Run Small, Big, or True To Size?

Do Mizuno shoes run small, big, or true to size?

Now that everybody’s ordering their favorite running shoes online because of the more size and color options you get, it is really wise to know how your favorite Mizuno shoes fit before you hit the buy button.

But, do all Mizuno shoes fit the same? Absolutely not.

Some Mizuno shoes are true to size, others run small or short while others are big.  

We’re going to be looking at the Mizuno Wave Rider 24 and 25, Wave Rider Neo, Wave Inspire 17, Wave Sky 5, Wave Horizon 5, and the brand-new Wave Rebellion. 

Let’s dive right into it…

Related:

• Running Shoe Size Comparison Between Brands

Do Mizuno Shoes Run Small, Big, or True To Size?

Related

• Mizuno Shoe Size Chart

Mizuno Wave Rider 24

Do  Mizuno Wave Rider 24 run small or big?

The Wave Rider 24 fits a half size long, but it’s definitely true to size on the Wave Knit version.

I describe the fit as generous across the toe box, which will give your toes the right amount of room to spread out.

Again, I found the shoe fitting a little bit long and I felt like the midfoot was a little bit wider and I really had to lace it down to get my foot a little bit locked in better.

It’s not like my foot was sliding around, but it wasn’t as seamless as the Wave Rider 23. So, it’s a good upper, but the fit was not as good as it was before and Mizuno could certainly tighten the upper a little bit.

I’ve seen some people going true to size, but you could definitely go a half size down if you want things a bit snug on your foot.

Weight

9.6oz (272g)

Drop

Women: 12mm
Men: 12mm

Related:

• Running Shoe Heel Drop Chart

Stack height

Women: 32mm in the heel / 20mm in the forefoot.
Men: 32mm in the heel / 20mm in the forefoot.

Related: 

• Do Brooks Run Small or Big?
  
• Brooks Shoe Size Chart

Mizuno Wave Rider 25

Do Mizuno Wave Rider 25 run small or big?

The Wave Rider 25 certainly fits true to size and I would not go up or down in size. 

While still being a little more roomy, Mizuno shortened it a little bit from the Wave Rider 24 which some people found a little long.

Weight

9.5oz (269g)

Drop

Women: 12mm
Men: 12mm

Stack height

Women: 36mm in the heel / 24mm in the forefoot.
Men: 36mm in the heel / 24mm in the forefoot.

Related:

• Mizuno Wave Rider 25 vs Brooks Ghost 14

Mizuno Wave Rider Neo

Do Mizuno Wave Rider Neo run small or big?

The Wave Rider Neo definitely fits true to size.

The Neo has a superb fit. It fits like a glove, really locks the foot into the shoe, and there’s just enough room in the toe box. The upper comes with that Dynamotion Fit technology to give you that wrap-around sock-like fit and feel.

Again, the Neo is very foot-hugging, but it’s actually hard to get the shoe on without using that heel flare pull tab feature. It fits a little bit of like the Nike Zoom Fly 3, maybe the Vapor Fly 4% Flyknit, or the Alphafly.

Overall, I refer to the Neo as this really good fitting pair of slippers.

Weight

9.3oz (265g)

Drop

Women: 12mm
Men: 12mm

Stack height

Women: 35mm in the heel / 23mm in the forefoot.
Men: 35mm in the heel / 23mm in the forefoot.

Related:

• Do Asics Run Big or Small?

Mizuno Wave Inspire

Do Mizuno Wave Inspire 17 run small or big?

The Wave Inspire fits true to size. It’s nice and wide across the forefoot.

One thing Mizuno does really well is they offer a variety of widths. So you can always get the wider version for men and women if you need that extra room in the forefoot for your foot to swell, especially for those ultramarathons.

Weight

11oz (311g)

Drop

Women: 12mm
Men: 12mm

Stack height

Women: 31mm in the heel / 19mm in the forefoot.
Men: 31mm in the heel / 19mm in the forefoot.

Related:

• Do Saucony Run Small or True To Size?

Mizuno Wave Horizon

Do Mizuno Wave Horizon run small or big?

The Wave Horizon 5 runs true to size and you don’t need to size up or go to a wide shoe if you have wide feet.

The standard width is nice and wide and it does come in wide as well. It fits and feels way better for people with wider feet than some other Mizuno shoes. 

The gusseted tongue gives you a great bootie feel that adds that great glove-like feel to the shoe. You won’t have to do anything to lock it in. It literally just locks your heel in with no rubbing, hot spots, or blisters.

Overall, the Horizon 5 feels like it’s made for your foot.

Weight

11.5oz (329g)

Drop

Women: 10mm
Men: 10mm

Stack height

Women: 36mm in the heel / 26mm in the forefoot.
Men: 36mm in the heel / 26mm in the forefoot.

Related: 

• Do Hokas Run Big or Small?
  
• Hoka Size Chart

Mizuno Wave Sky

Do Mizuno Wave Sky 5 run small or big?

The Wave Sky fits true to size. Mizuno have really nailed how this fits and how it locks down as well.

The Sky is one of the best road running shoes I’ve had for a long time. It fits really nice and it doesn’t move around too much. It is slightly shallower through the forefoot compared to the Sky 4.

Overall, Mizuno have updated a lot of the features to improve the fit and the feel of the shoe. The Sky 5 provides a really nice premium fit, it hugs the foot without being too restrictive, and it provides a more secure fit.

Weight

11.1oz (314g)

Drop

Women: 8mm
Men: 8mm

Stack height

Women: 38mm in the heel / 30mm in the forefoot.
Men: 38mm in the heel / 30mm in the forefoot.

Mizuno Wave Rebellion

Do Mizuno Wave Rebellion run small or big?

The Wave Rebellion fits true to size, but it does fit maybe a quarter size small. So, if you’re between sizes, I would definitely go up.

It has no issues at all as far as being too wide or too narrow through the toe box nor the midfoot or the heel.

The Rebellion reminds me of the Wave Rider in the terms of the way it fits in terms of width and length. It really accommodates a wider foot and it lets your toe spread out. However, the toe box might feel too generous for skinny feet.

I’ve read some people have found the Rebbelion to fit a good half-size short, especially because of that toe guard being prominent.

You might get some heel slippage because the tongue is paper-thin. And if you try to lace lock your heel, you might get some pressure on top of your foot.

Weight

8.1oz (229g)

Drop

Women: 8mm
Men: 8mm

Stack height

Women: 38mm in the heel / 30mm in the forefoot.
Men: 38mm in the heel / 30mm in the forefoot.

Do Mizuno Shoes Come In Wide?

We’ve answered this through the article, and yes, Mizuno shoes come in a wide and that’s one of the company’s strengths.

How to Size and Fit Running Shoes

We really encourage you to check their foot size often.

Related:

• Should Running Shoes Be a Size Bigger?

1. How To Measure Length

If you’re at home, we’ll show you how to do that now.

Let’s grab:

• Two sheets of paper,
• A marker,
• Measuring tape. 

This step might be a little bit easier if you have help from a friend, but you can probably do a pretty good job on your own. 

Make sure you’re grabbing the socks that you’ll be running in and stand up on each sheet of paper. Try to distribute your weight pretty evenly, trace each outline of your foot, and try to keep the pen as straight as possible.

Take your tape measure and measure from your heel to the longest part of your foot. Do the same thing with your right.

You need to take the longer of the two measurements and compare it to these charts.

Women’s Running Shoe Length Size Chart

Men’s Running Shoe Length Size Chart

Generally at this stage, we recommend you go a half size up. So, if you’re a size 8.5, I would get a size 9 shoe. 

We make this recommendation because when you run, your foot actually elongates and so you want to make sure your toes have some extra room to splay so they’re not banging up against the front part of the shoe. 

The next thing you keep in mind is width…

2. How To Measure Width

Let’s grab our tape measure again and measure our outlines. And we’re going to measure the widest part of our foot.

Once you have your measurement and compare it to the chart below, you’ll notice that you fall into a letter category.

In the U.S., width is measured in letters with “B” being about normal for women and “D” being about normal for men. 

If you find that your measurement is putting you past either a “B” or a “D”, then you might want to look for a model that comes in a wide. 

Now you’ve got your length and width.

Women’s Running Shoe Width Size Chart

Men’s Running Shoe Width Size Chart

If you’re still having trouble fitting into a size shoe and you know both of those measurements are right, another consideration might be volume.

3. Volume

Volume is basically the measurement of room inside a shoe that can accommodate your foot. 

There are some shoes with a pretty average volume, and there are other shoes that take up a little bit more volume, giving you a little bit more room. 

Now that we know our size and we have a pair that we think might work, let’s put it on and see how it feels…

How to Check Fit

Once the shoe is on, we can check for a few key things and we’ll start from the back and go front to make sure everything feels okay.

1. Heel

Starting with the heel, your heel should feel like it’s really cupping you in there and there’s not a lot of movement going around. You should feel pretty snug there.

2. Midfoot

The midfoot should feel like it’s giving you a hug. There can be some wiggle room, but you really shouldn’t feel really sloppy there. 

Next step is the toes… 

3. Toes

The toes should have enough room to wiggle them around and you should definitely feel like you have some length leftover. 

But how much length is too much? 

To check this, you’re going to make sure that your feet are equally weighted and see how much room is left between the end of your longest toe and the shoe. 

If you put your finger down, you should have about a thumbnail’s width between the longest toe and the end of the shoe.

Next up is a quick trick to check out the width and volume on the foot. 

If you take your two fingers and you put it down the center part of the shoe and you notice that it’s covering the eyelets, it might mean that there’s too much room in the shoe and you’re having to over-tighten.

Conversely, if you take your two fingers and you put it down the center of the shoe and there’s actually some laces leftover, it might mean that there’s not enough room in the shoe and you may look for a wider width or a shoe with a little more volume.

Keep in mind that this last trick is just a general guideline.

Common Fit Issues in Running Shoes

Bunions can be a common fit issue, so we’ll start there.

1. Bunions

If you have bunions or you think you might, you may have noticed that there might be more wear near the big toe or the pinky toe on shoes you already own.

You may also notice that when you try to put on a new pair of shoes, there may be some discomfort around those areas.

If you find yourself in this situation, you may want to try something with either a wider toe box or something that has a foot shape toe box to give yourself some more wiggle room and space. These two Altra shoes are a really great option.

You may also try a thinner sock to decrease the friction inside the shoe.

These are some great running shoes for runners with bunions. 

Another common issue near the toes might be blisters. 

2. Blisters

Blisters can form on any part of your toes but commonly occur on the sides or on the tops of your toes.

If you find yourself with blisters, I really recommend some toe socks. These Injinji socks are great for decreasing friction. They keep your toes nice and separate and so they decrease the rubbing up against each other. 

Next up, we have toe bang… 

3. Toe Bang

Toe bang basically means that your toes keep jamming into the front part of your shoe.

Again, we want to emphasize to make sure that you have a thumbnail width in-between your longest toe and the front part of your shoe.

If you’re pretty sure your length is right but your toes keep jamming up against the front part of your shoe, then the next thing I’d recommend is the runner’s loop.

Here’s a video to help you out…

The idea is pretty simple. You just create these little loops with that extra eyelet on the back part of the shoe, and then you run the laces through those loops.

Once you cinch down, you’ll notice that your heel tends to lock in and it’ll prevent your foot from sliding forward. 

Now, we’ll talk about some fit issues revolving around heels. 

4. Heels

One of the most common ones is heel slippage and heel blisters. This basically means that your heel is not snug enough in the back and it moves around a bit. 

Here again, the runner’s loop can be really helpful as it really locks down your heel and prevents it from moving around.

If you still feel like you’re getting some blisters in your heel and the runner’s loop is not enough, then we recommend getting some padded socks in the heel. 

Padded socks can take up extra volume, which basically gives you a snugger fit and prevents that heel from moving around.

If you’ve tried the runner’s loop and the padded heel sock and you still feel like you’re having some heel issues, you might need a shoe with a more narrow heel cup.

Check these great running shoes with a wide toe box and narrow heels.

Now, let’s talk about some fit issues that can happen on the top part of the foot. 

5. Top of Foot

This might be of concern, especially for folks that have higher arches.

Again, in this instance, we really encourage you to use the two-finger trick.

If you’re using that two-finger trick and you know you’re right in that zone to make sure that you have enough room in the shoe for your foot, then we can recommend some window lacing.

Check these great running shoes for top-of-foot pain.

Here’s a video to help you out…

The idea is pretty simple. Essentially, you find the area of your foot that’s rubbing up against the shoe or needs a little bit more room and you skip those eyelets and go straight up.

This essentially gives you a window of space for that part of your foot.

So, that covers some common fit issues that we see and we hope that’s helpful. 

Remember that if you’re having ongoing issues or more severe issues to check with your doctor first before making your next decision. 

So we’ve covered:

• Do Mizuno shoes run small or big?
• Finding your shoe size.
• Adjusting the fit.
• Addressing some common fit issues.

I’m hopeful that that helps answer some of your questions about fitting your Mizuno running shoes. See you on the next one 🙂