Li-Ning Feidian 6 Challenger First Run Review | A solid but conventional speed shoe

Hey, Tom here from The Run Testers with another running shoe first run. In this video I'm going to be taking a look at the first of the Chinese road shoes that I've got hold of. It is the Leaning Fadian 6 Challenger. Let's have a look and see what I thought of this shoe. The Leaning Fadian 6 Challenger costs us £105 in the UK and we think it's $130 in the US. It weighs 211 grams or 7.4 ounces for men in a size 8 and the drop is 8 millimeters. The Leaning Fadian 6 Challenger is a performance focused shoe built around a lightweight responsive and stable platform for runners targeting faster training sessions and racing. The latest version features an updated midsole width to improve stability. It uses a dual foam midsole setup combining super boom foam for lightweight cushion and energy return with the Leaning's boom foam for added support and stability. A full length T700 split toe carbon plate sits through the midsole designed to help distribute force more efficiently and improve push-off during faster running. The upper features boom fiber technology which increases breathability and adapts to the shape of the foot for a close secure fit while the GCR rubber outsole is designed for grip and durability across both wet and dry conditions. So the fit for me in this shoe I've got a size 42 which is a size 9 in the US and it would be a size 8 in the UK. It's a pretty spacious shoe in the size 42 for me so there's definitely a bit more more space for my big toe than I'd normally have in my size and it's a fairly roomy shoe in the forefoot as well there's quite a plenty of wiggle room to around the size of the forefoot. It's got quite a high front section of the shoe as well so definitely there's a lot of space around there. The midfoot's fairly average I didn't have any problems with it definitely not the most narrow shoe out there but I think if you do have wider feet you are going to have a problem with this shoe. But I did find to be very comfortable there's a nice little bit of padding on it the tongue has got not loads padding but it's quite reinforced so yeah I would probably say if I was to buy them again I'd probably go down to maybe an 8.5 US sizing that doesn't have UK sizing on the website on AliExpress that you buy it from but I might go down half a size just to just minimize a little bit of space at the front but I did find it pretty comfortable. So we're playing catch-up a bit with the Chinese shoes and there's quite a lot out there to get your head around so I thought I'd start with the the Challenger one because it was easier to get than a lot of the other shoes it wasn't the main one I wanted but I'm struggling a bit to get the shoes from reputable well basically AliExpress and that doesn't have a lot of the ones in stock that I want. So I picked up this one because I thought I'd give this a go and there's a lot of people talking about this shoe online and especially the previous version of this so the the 5 as well which seems to be a very popular shoe. So this shoe is from what I understand it's really focused on that sort of tempo training, faster training, speed type stuff but the website and the brand do talk about it being a race shoe as well so it basically anything performance at a higher level you should be able to use it for and that's the idea behind it. And the first one I took out for it was a 10k and I mixed up my kilometers that I was running on it so I tried out a few easier paces for me which about 5 minute kilometers and I went down to about 4 minute 30 kilometers which at the moment for me is is fairly fast I would definitely say that's sort of my my tempo training pace at the moment and I was quite impressed with it over the over the course of that run. The first as soon as you put it on I did feel that it was quite it had a little bit of energy in it it felt quite smooth and and fairly nippy on the feet definitely there's a lightweight shoe on the feet it's got a nice little bit of responsiveness to it it's not the most bouncy shoe out there this foam is is a bit firmer than what I was expecting to be honest but I think there's probably going to be some of the other shoes I test from Chinese brands that have got the really bouncy energy return in them whereas this is a more conventional feeling shoe. So of course that 10k I'd say to begin with it felt I really enjoyed it to begin with it felt like a shoe that was designed to go fast I felt like I definitely was doing faster kilometers than I thought I was doing in this shoe which is always a good sign when I put on a performance shoe that if it feels like it's just making me go faster. By the end of the run I thought it was okay but what I did feel is that it's a little bit firm for me at the moment so hopefully it's going to it's going to get a little bit softer over time but I do know that a lot of people have talked about the 5 being a little bit more energy returning and a little bit bouncier and a little bit softer so there are changes to this shoe which have been designed to make it more stable so it's got a bit of a wider base on it and as a result and this is always happens with running shoes when people when the brand's tried to add stability in because people want a bit more stability you sort of lose the magic of the bounce from the previous version. So what I experienced was a more conventional feeling performance shoe and then there's lots of shoes that I would liken it to things like the Sockling Endorphin Speed Series Speed 5 I think it's quite similar to that in the way that this has got a and it's got a firmer more balanced ride so you get that sort of quicker responsive feel but you don't get the soft bouncy cushioning you get in lots of other shoes. So it definitely feels like that for me in fact it feels very much like a Sockling shoe for me I think it's quite close to like the pro range or the more recent pros as well the 4 and the 5 but it does feel nippy it does feel quick you do feel you get that that responsiveness back quite quickly and definitely feels to me like a shoe that probably I probably wouldn't use it for tempo as much because I like a little bit more bounce in a shoe that I use for tempo but maybe faster sessions intervals and things like that it's definitely a shoe that would fit into that realm for me but yeah very much enjoyed it on that run I think it's an interesting shoe to try the first of all I wish I'd tried the 5 earlier I probably should get hold of the 5 to see how that compares with with this one but other things about the shoe so the outsole really like the outsole on this so it's got this full covering of outsole rubber across the whole whole length of the shoe there's only a tiny bit of exposed midsole there and you've got this big gap here where you can see the the plate in there but it's really good layer of rubber on it for a shoe that's relatively light that's a good layer of rubber and it's quite grippy as well so I'm really impressed with the outsole on this I also like the fact that it has got it just connects the outsole all the way across so I can't rip it off like I do with faster performance shoes so my early verdict on the leading Fadian 6 challenger I think it's a solid performance shoe based on that run I think it is definitely a more conventional feeling shoe it's got more of a balanced midsole it's a bit firmer and as a result I don't really enjoy running in those shoes as much as I do things like the Evo SL things like the Mega Blast and the Kip Run and all those shoes have just got a little bit more bounce to them a little bit softer midsoles just feel a little bit more energetic to me this feels more like the Stockling Endorphin Speed 5 or even the Stockling Endorphin Pro 5 where they're a more conventional feel they're a bit more a bit firmer in their ride they're not giving you loads of bouncy energy return back for some people they work really really well Kieran really likes the Stockling Endorphin Speed series I've never been a massive fan in the last few few iterations of the shoe because I like those bouncy shoes more than the Speed series but I think if you do like the Speed series and you really do like that that more sort of balanced firmer ride which has got a little bit of kick to it I think this is this is very similar to those and definitely worth looking at if you want to save a little bit of money now the price of these you're not saving that much money I think when the previous 5 challenger was out that was significantly cheaper if you put it on things I got this for £111 yes it's it's cheaper than a new second Stockling Endorphin Speed 5 but it's getting into the realms of being the same price as an older version so if you're getting a Speed 4 and picking it up at a cheaper price or in sales you might not be far off this and then then you're sort of comparing two quite similar shoes so for me I think it's pretty well priced the shoe hasn't blown me away but for the price I think it's really good value I'm looking forward to trying some of the other shoes that people are really talking about things from Dynafish and from Leaning where we're talking about the more bouncy cushion shoes so I think I'm going to be more interested in those but I do think this is a solid shoe I just think it's a more conventional feeling shoe and also I might end up getting the 5 challengers so I can see what that shoe's like because it seems like a lot of you preferred that this is a little bit softer and albeit less stable but yeah I do think off that first run this is a solid enjoyable shoe and pretty well priced so yeah looking forward to doing a bit more in it and hoping it gets a little bit softer as I run in more that's it for me on this first run on the Leaning Fadian 6 challenger thanks a lot for watching don't forget to like subscribe and click that little bell and if you're going to catch me by finding your podcast which comes out a couple of times each month thanks a lot for watching catch you next time