Nike Vomero 18 Review | I wanted to hate this shoe

As the title not-so-subtly hints, I went into this review dragging a heavy bias behind me I was a huge fan of the Vomero 17, a simple minimalist shoe aimed at those every day miles. It was a shoe I would regularly recommend people look at if they were getting into running. It was reliable, fuss-free, and handled whatever the training calendar threw at it.

Then Nike decided to do what Nike does best. It pressed the nuclear button with their shoe line up, which you can read more about here, and launched the Vomero 18, their most cushioned road shoe to date (until they release the Vomero Plus). It looked like the 17 had swallowed a trampoline. I was convinced I’d hate it. It didn’t look or feel like a Vomero any more. I was wrong. Very wrong. With two marathons clocked up in this shoe so far, I have some thoughts…

Disclaimer time before we hit the review. As with every shoe I review; I paid for it with my own money, no one has a say on the words I write and all opinions are my own ✌🏻

Start Line Stats

• Price: £135
• Stack Height: 46mm
• Drop: 10mm
• Weight: chunky boi 325g (UK 11.5)
• Fit: true to size

First Impression

There is no getting away from it; this is a chunky boy. Like, slow-cooker Sunday stew levels of chunky. If you’re used to the Alphafly, popping this on will feel like you’ve laced bricks to your feet. But while the world of max-cushion shoes is falling over itself to trim grams and court the featherweight crowd, Nike has gone in the other direction—and I respect that.

Instead of chasing buzzwords, they’ve delivered a stable, planted ride that holds its own against the Brooks Glycerin Max and Puma Magnify. And—whisper it—it’s actually cheaper than the 17 was. In a market where shoe prices are inflating faster than your Strava ego on a downhill segment, that alone deserves a slow clap as they putt itself apart from a lot of other shoes in a very loud, very busy marketplace.

What even is a Vomero?

Nike rarely names their shoes after real places, but with the Vomero they’ve taken a little detour into the poetic. Named after the hilltop district of Naples, place where cobbled climbs meet panoramic views, the Vomero nods to terrain that demands effort and rewards it with beauty.

Fitting, really. This shoe is built for the long haul. A little rugged. A little refined. A companion for those days when you don’t need fireworks, just a damn good shoe that can keep up with whatever chaos your training week throws at it.

The Upper

This is probably my least favourite part of the shoe to be honest. With plush prioritised above weight and crucially breathability the tongue is probably the thickest I have worn in many years. The engineered mesh is breathable, but it’s more “wrapped in a duvet” than “wind in your toes.”

It’s not a dealbreaker, but on warmer days it definitely leans more cosy than cool. I suspect Nike will lighten things up in the 19s. But you get the sense that with this upper, Nike wanted to draw a hard line between the Vomero and everything else in their increasingly streamlined line-up.

The Mid Sole and Cushioning

Okay, full disclosure before I wax lyrical: I’m a 90kg, 6-foot bloke with a five-hour marathon in my legs. I’m not light. I’m not fast. I heel strike like it’s a lifestyle. So the carbon plate revolution has kind of passed me by.

But the Vomero 18? It gets me. It cradles every footfall with a dual-density slab of ZoomX on top of ReactX, and honestly? It’s glorious. Like running on a stack of marshmallows—if marshmallows also gave you a bit of bounce.

It’s not a shoe for chasing tempo sessions or PBs. But it’s a shoe that wants to do everything else. Easy runs, steady runs, long runs. It’s a throwback to the pre-super shoe era, when one pair could carry you through every session, every start line, every misjudged hill rep.

I’ve run two marathons in this shoe this year. Neither was fast, but not once did I feel like the Vomero was holding me back. In fact, it made every mile that bit more forgiving. Like a coach in shoe form whispering, “You’ve got this,” even when your legs are begging to differ.

Outer

Now this is where I saw a lot of negativity during the initial reviews that people wrote in major publications. Casting doubts on how it would cope seeing as there are sections of exposed foam. And yet with 100-150 miles now clocked up in my pairs I can confirm that they show little signs of wear and once again highlights why consumers shouldn’t always trust the initial reviews 😉

While it isn’t necessarily the outer itself what I love about the Vomero line up and this shoe specially is the shape of the shoe. I cannot get on with the Pegasus and its plus model with the toe box being narrow and sharp pointed and the overall narrower width of the shoe so the Vomero is a welcome alternative if you are a diehard Nike fan with a wider hobbit like foot like me.

So who is this shoe for?

In my eyes it the Nike Vomero 18 is for three different people:

1. People looking for a marathon shoe that isn’t plated with comfort at the forefront of its design with performance a close second. This is a race day shoe for those of us that don’t get the benefit of plates.
2. Someone looking for one shoe to do everything from their training to race day.
3. A Nike fan boy who buys every shoe regardless… you know who you are.

Oh and me. The Nike Vomero 18 is my favourite shoe of 2025 and it is going to take something pretty incredible to knock it off the top spot. Much like an awful 90s romcom the thing that I hated has become a thing that I love.

Final Mile

It’s not flashy. But it’s dependable, forgiving, and quietly brilliant. A bit like the runs that matter most. And right now it’s my favourite shoe of 2025…