Brooks Hyperion Max 2 Unboxing and Review ~ TRISTUPE.COM

Two years since the launch of the original Brooks Running Hyperion Max, one extra season of new colorway and a few thousands kilometers in them, the Hyperion Max 2 (HM2) has finally landed. For record, The Hyperion Max (HM) has been my rotation for those fast days and uptempo days. I have worn 3 pairs of these with each lasting over 1000km and only replaced because I did not want to embarrass my sponsor by wearing really worn out but still functional trainers.

The Hyperion Max 2

Hello! It's been a while!

The HM2 was first viewed during the Sports paragon trade show in March 2024 post Chinese New Year and needless to say, a bunch of us has seen it and was excited with it. Brooks Running has finally introduced a nylon plated shoes that is meant as an everyday trainer - bonus, it is a legit uptempo shoe.

The HM2 made it's debut at KLSCM 2024 when the official Pacers were provided with the hot-out-of-Kastam DiRaja clearance Hyperion Max 2. Goh Jin Jing, one of the prolific runner and pacer has shared this in his Thread account.

Not easy to be pacer!

The same Hyperion Max2 was also provided to PBIM 2024 pacers like my friend Sheryl here, and they received theirs ahead of the race.

Blue colorway is limited!

Some of the Sports Paragon ambassadors received their pair as well, and me, unfortunately has to wait due to the sizing. But there is no FOMO there, as this allows me to observe, listen and learn what this new iteration has in store for me.

So, when Sports Paragon messaged me and said that they have one in US12... I was of course, excited and went to get them before it goes out of stock again.

And it has been a while since I update my blog with a shoe review, so here we go!

Men with big feet need big shoes

Hyperion Max 2 - Plated and Gusseted!

Quick Specs:

Lightweight Responsive Uptempo Trainer
260grams for US9 size
6mm Drop Neutral Shoe
36mm-30mm Race Legal Stack
DNA Flash V2 Nitrogen Infused Foam
PEBAX SpeedVault Plate
Responsive Racer Feel
RapidRoll Fast Transition
Excellent Stability
Highly Breathable Engineered Upper Mesh
Durable High Mileage Outsole
Sustainable Recycled Materials
RM799.00

The Brooks Hyperion Max 2 is a lightweight (260grams for US9), highly rockered (RapidRoll for quick toe off), nylon plated (PEBAX) performance trainer and can be used for both racing and training. It comes with Brooks full-length DNA FLASH V2 (nitrogen-infused EVA Version 2) cushioning that is both pillow-y and provide energy return, the ride is snappy, rolling, and quick.

DNA Flash V2

With increased stack height of 36-30 versus 34-26 on original HM, which was also notably lighter at 220grams, the increase of weight is understandable which include the full length PEBAX plate in the Hyperion Max 2. The 40grams differences is negligible in my opinion.

SpeedVault - PEBAX nylon plate present

Bonus is the drop on HM2 is now 6mm compared to the older model of 8mm. What this really meant is it can be considered as a near-minimalist trainer, providing a very neutral stance when standing stationery.

The top is a comfortable, sock-like fit which is 4-way stretch and fit is highly adaptable. True to size and I do have wide feet that still fit the D-width perfectly well. There wasn't any issue in the toebox as it allowed for my toes to splay out and yet provide a lot of comfort. No hot spot despite running sockless, which I do 95% of the time. Breathability is not an issue as I never felt hot running in them under the noon sun and hot tarmac for the past 10 runs. I've use it for both easy and hard runs.

Really comfy upper with many holes for breathability

The tongue is finally gusseted or stitched down on the side. Sock Like feel as I run sockless except during racing (more due to aesthetic and photo ops). This feature allows you to wear the shoe really fast instead of having to hold on the tongue when slipping your feet in - priceless feature for triathletes when they transition from bike to run.

Gusseted tongue

The laces that came with this shoe is flat and not stretchy, which help greatly in securing the shoe and lock it down on your feet. The same lace is seen across the Hyperion Elite 3 and above series and based on experience, no double-bunny loop required because the lace hardly come off once you give it a firm tie down.

Notched flat lace

The heel lock was solid, no movement that may cause hot spot at the ankle/heel area, and it is also padded for comfort. This is despite the heel tongue that is constructed higher than usual. Those of you that may have less ability to dorsi-flex or plantar-flex your ankle may have to test and try it in store to see if it may give you problem when running.

Take note of the heel tongue that is higher than usual

You may notice in the photo above, there is toe-guard to keep the shape and to protect against minor bumps on the front.

Padded heel collar that run around the ankle

Stick down insole and as thin as Hyperion Elite 4

The outsole is from green rubber aka recycled materials and significantly thicker than Hyperion Max. Sustainability in mind, and it is generously thick at 5mm. Based on experience with past Brooks, this pair will easily surpass 1000km of mileage with no significant impact to the foam integrity.

Thick outsole covering more area vs version 1 particularly at heel area

Not obvious, but the side/lateral did overextend past the outsole - and it actually lend stability overall, much like the Guide To Stability (GTS) that typically runs around the heel portion

The Hyperion Max 2 is an Elite 4 minus Carbon Plate

Do not be fooled by the "narrow" heel

I could not help but feel the similarity between my Hyperion Elite 4 (HE4) and the Hyperion Max 2. Almost everything minus the obvious carbon plate on HE4.

They are similar, but they are different. Same-same, but different vibe. Here are my observations after using both shoes for well over 100km.

Yes

Both shoes felt firm and grounded. You will feel the traditional racer shoes where you can feel the ground. Helpful as it allows you to gauge how much more you need to "push" on contact.
Both shoes are stacked an at race legal. Both are super stable. Stacked shoe and stability usually do not appear in the same sentence
DNA Flash V2. Expect the same responsiveness and ride

Carbon lattice in Elite 4 vs PEBAX nylon plate in HM2.
Elite 4 is lighter, but not by much.

Pretty slick and wide toebox even for D

Lets Run There in Hyperion Max 2

Sufficient to provide a first review

I have clocked well over 100km over 18 runs using the Hyperion Max 2. Coming from Hyperion pedigree, I was looking out for if this second iteration felt much different than the OG. All in, the Hyperion Max 2 can be summed up as follow:

Secure feel with lacing to be very spot on
Socks-like inner and zero hotspot
Heel cup perfect and I hardly noticed the thicker than usual padding vs Tempo
Doesn't feel "tall
Stable with minimal lateral (side to side) movement
Cushioned comfort and yet eager to go thanks to RapidRoll

Front view

But how does it compare to the Ghost Max that I was using right before this? As data will help me verify better than "feel", this is Hyperion Max 2 showed itself up in numbers. I have also taken the liberty to compare it against another shoe; The Peak UP3.0 Version 2. A full carbon plated, double PEBAX race legal racing shoe. A mouthful and it is as enjoyable running and racing in it.

First off, the comparison between Ghost Max and Hyperion Max 2. The three metric I was looking for to show differences between a fully cushioned daily trainer and a uptempo/speedwork trainer.

Ghost Max OG

If it often easy to tell "by feel". However, feel is subjective and differs between people. It would be easier to substantiate with data; and for that, i am comparing December 2024 where I used the Ghost Max vs January 2024 where the Hyperion Max 2 were in service.

Ghost Max Damon Brown - Retired January 3, 2025

Thanks to my Stryd pod where these numbers could be quantified, my running around the neighborhood which lends consistency with the data, with the only difference to be the shoe used.

Sharing 3 metric which I see useful. I left out CP and cadence as these two doesn't change much unless your running style changes.

The 3-metrics are:

Duty Factor: This refers to the proportion of time the foot is in contact with the ground during a stride, calculated by dividing ground contact time by stride time. An increase in duty factor indicates an increase in the ground time percentage, while a decrease indicates an increase in the airtime percentage.
Leg Spring Stiffness or LSS: Higher LSS meant there is an increase in energy storage and rebound. Think of the legs as a spring, and in this case the shoe as the modifier
Impact Loading Rate or ILR: Higher ILR equals to higher forces is applied rapidly on the foot, which meant your ground contact time will decrease as in this case, the shoe, shows it's responsiveness

As you can see above, between December (left) and January (right), the duty factor on Hyperion Max 2 decreases, which meant i had more "air time". It then corelates with the ILR, where higher ILR in January also meant shorter ground contact time. The Hyperion Max 2 also returned a slightly higher LSS.

I left out Vertical oscillation as there is minimal changes (5mm on average) which isn't as representative on some of the more graphical changes in comparison.

Dotted lines was December

But when I plotted both shoes/months on the Stryd Footpath, the Hyperion Max 2 showed my feet movement to be lifted higher than Ghost Max (about 5mm average on the VO chart). Bear in mind that there is minimal (0.04W/kg) increase in power between both shoes for the period of time (aka I wasn't pushing/running harder/faster to justify the changes).

Average pace did not change

I rechecked my other metrics and the average pace over both months were similar (5:15) but the overall power has decreased (240W vs 229W) which meant I am using less energy for the runs using Hyperion Max 2.

Power decreases with no changes to average pace

Next, comparing the Peak UP3.0 Version 2, a double PEBAX full carbon plated race shoe with the Hyperion Max 2. I had a similar run which involved 7x1min repeats at CP and looked for a segment that is similar in terms of elevation and path on the same route. It seems that for less effort (17W down), I completed the distance further with HM2. While this is not conclusive but it is interesting to see how HM2 "saves" me a bit more effort over the same intervals

An approximate comparison between Peak UP3.0 v2 and HM2

Bear in mind as well the Peak UP3.0 is a 18-month-old shoes with about 200km in them (which meant it did lose some of the responsiveness already at the time of testing). But does it also mean that I need to out in an all-out effort for another test/experiment?

Conclusion

The Hyperion Max 2 is indeed a different shoe than its predecessor. Plated and higher stacked, lower drop with newer (Flash V2) foam technology, though heavier and taller due to the nylon plate, it indeed performs well as a daily trainer for both easy and uptempo run.

With no breaking in required for me, sufficient cushioned foam, this model will allow for longer runs and racing as well - if you have choice of only one shoe and no rotation.

Pros

Relatively light and responsive fast trainer, even for long runs or races
You feel grounded at 6mm, yet you know the shoe will provide very good cushioning with the DNA Flash V2.
RapidRoll aka rocker moves you forward fast
Stable with upper that help reduce lateral movements, thanks to the nylon PEBAX plate as well.
Great fit and lockdown, secure heel. super secure laces.
No noticeable hot spot.
Very secure road-grip feel. No indication of slippage under faster pace.
Same price as OG Hyperion Max at RM799

Cons

higher and stiffer heel tongue may bite into some feet if you run sockless like me
Relatively light also meant it could be relatively heavy
Firmer than expected, likely due to the plate neutralizing the plushier Flash V2

The Hyperion Max is available in all Sports Paragon and Brooks store in Malaysia. It retail for RM799.

Sign up at Sports Paragon Reward and collect 25% vouchers using EEVANOFF25 for your purchase in store while collecting loyalty points. You can collect Sports Paragon vouchers using SPEV02 for up to 55% discount on older models as well.

Both codes will work online at BrooksRunning.com.my and SportsParagon.com on selected (non new arrival or already on sales item). Apply code at Check Out!

Fun uptempo trainer!

Benefits of following me here...

As part of my sponsorship with Paragon Vests under the Team Sports Paragon, I have a few discount codes you can use to purchase your next Brooks shoes if you want. Older models at higher discount is available in www.sportsparagon.com website. Sizing can be a challenge, which explained the better discount. If you want newer and better sizing, head over to www.brooksrunning.com.my and score a few newer models.

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