Saucony Havok XC3 Flat

Recently bought these bad boys as the first of many XC racing flats to test and review for dance game doubles, as my favorite dance game shoe (Asics Tarther RP3) appears to be discontinued by Asics in the USA. 

The rest of Asics' lineup now seems to be growing in stack height size year after year which is unfortunate, so the only thing I can do is vote with my dollar and stop buying their shoes. Big stack height is nice for comfy running, but it feels terrible for playing with the bar on dance games.

I was browsing my Amazon wish list randomly a week ago and saw that my size for this shoe (US Men's 10) was on sale for $35 USD (normally like a $70 shoe). Couldn't say no to trying it out. It lead me on a XC Flat researching and purchasing bender since they're relatively cheap compared to other running shoes, but seemingly have all the features I want for dance game doubles.

The good news, is that they feel really good. They're definitely on the much tighter/narrower side for fit, but I personally like that for dance game shoes because it makes the shoe feel like a glove and an extension of my feet. Having any sort of space around my feet to shift makes timing feel inconsistent when doing large/quick movements. They scrunch the toes a little at first, but the material stretches with wear.

I would definitely describe this particular pair, as one that has felt the closest to my Vibram FiveFingers V-Run but without the discomfort when using my heels for the sake of timing on particular patterns like drilling. The heel feels completely weightless when using these. The shoe feels like a "foot glove" like my V-Run's, but without heel discomfort when drilling. My form has also gotten better over the past year or so, so because of it I am not sure that I would recommend these to heavy pressers, but you can still be firm in them because they feature a tiny bit of cushioning that feels like it is more significant than what is found on barefoot shoes like FiveFingers or Xeros.

They were so light to the point where they completely threw my timing off on SMX because the delay from the weight that I was expecting when lifting up my heels was gone, resulting in a lot of early judgements. I had one timing graph where I created a consistent line early, but I forgot to take a picture of it. 🤣 

I had a run on Parallel Universe F25 where I hit the big footspeed across the pads run without breaking combo or rushing/dragging excessively which made me very happy. There's one transition I struggle a lot with in the pair of shoes I normally play in where I typically drop combo or start rushing excessively early when I screw it up, and I nailed it on my first shot and didn't break combo.

Since I felt like my timing overall from song-to-song felt inconsistent on SMX due to skill-issuing from the shoe change, I decided to play a Pump set in them.

It went very well. I played Pumping Jumping D18 because it has a lot of stretchy and twisty toe movement, and got hungry for the PG because I could feel the stretch speed buff.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something I haven't touched upon is that the tread rubber outsole on this shoe is really nice for a "consistent" feeling grip on dance game stages regardless of the dust conditions of the stages-- it's like a soft rubber that gets grip easily as it heats up from friction while playing, so if you're playing on particularly dusty stages it feels really good at gripping. The tread rubber outsole also extends for the entire length of the shoe underneath it. My friends were commenting on how the Pump stages were really slippery/dusty and needed to be wiped down, but I didn't notice anything while playing in these--everything felt perfect.

 

If you need a wide toebox shoe you definitely won't like these if you purchase them in your exact size. It is probably necessary to size up by a half size and then just lace up tight, but YMMV on foot shifting/losing the "foot glove" feeling if you half size up. 

 

To me, a new shoe that is tight fitting shoe and constricts my toes a little is a feature, not a bug. I want my shoes to be really tight when I buy them, because the materials stretch over time with repeat wear for a personalized fit where the shoe just feels like it conforms to my foot.

 

I like these shoes a lot better for Pump than playing SMX or DDR with them, mainly due to the fact that they are so light. I didn't have any sort of discomfort striking on SMX or DDR, though. Even though the material underneath is very little, it feels like it makes a significant difference compared to barefoot shoes because of how soft the outsole rubber is combined with the small midsole that is present on these. There's definitely less cushion/bounce than my Tarther RP3 which I'm using as my point of reference for these racing flat shoe reviews, but I think the other three pairs of  racing flats I purchased will be similar to the Tarther RP3 in the cushioning/bounce department compared to these just based off of how much thicker the midsoles on them look from the pictures. The Saucony Kilkenny XC9/XC10 Flat might be a better choice for those looking for looking from something from Saucony that features a little more cushioning, but the same lightweight appeal. I'll probably end up grabbing that one at some point too, as it looks nice and comes in black&white like the UA Brigade XC 2 and the Nike Zoom Rival Waffle 6.