BMAI Carbon 4 - First Run Thoughts: Just get a Challenger 5

First run in the BMAI Carbon 4. In this video I’m sharing my initial thoughts after getting the Carbon 4 out on the road for the first time... How it feels underfoot, how the BoomMAX+ supercritical foam and carbon plate behave, comfort, responsiveness, stability, protection and where I think it fits as a lightweight racing shoe. These are purely my first impressions, so I’ll be putting plenty more kilometers into it before coming back with a full review at around the 30–50 km mark. I’m a heavier runner at almost 100 kg, so my experience with cushioning, foam compression and the overall ride may be a little different from lighter runners. After being a little underwhelmed by the Carbon 4 SL, the full Carbon 4 was definitely the better experience for me. It still has the firmer, stable and ground-focused character of the SL, but the plate seemed to give me noticeably more responsiveness and made the shoe feel more efficient at pace. It’s still not a particularly soft or bouncy shoe, and compared with some of the newer Chinese super foams it feels quite muted underfoot. But after looking into what BMAI is actually trying to achieve with the Carbon series, the emphasis on consistency, stability, affordability and ground feel started to make a lot more sense. Shoe: BMAI Carbon 4 Review: First Run Thoughts Runner: ~100 kg Size: US11 / EU45 / CN290 Weight: 204.4g Price: ~A$145 / US$104 Stack: 31mm forefoot / 35.5mm heel Drop: 4.5mm Midsole: BMAI BoomMAX+ supercritical foam Category: Lightweight carbon-plated race shoe If you’ve run in the BMAI Carbon 4, chuck your thoughts in the comments. I’m particularly interested in how other runners find the firmer BoomMAX+ ride, how it performs over the marathon distance, and whether you’d choose it over some of the newer Chinese racing options in the same category.