the 2004 version was the most comfortable shoe i have ever run in. breaking 'golden rule no. 203 - never do a long race in brand new shoes' - no problems whatsoever. in fact it was the most comfortable 20 miles i ever raced. I went online annd bought up 2 more pairs right away. Luckily there were few changes to teh shoe until 2007 ( much like the 2008). Th eshoe now looks far more speedy, but lost the great flexibilty across the toe joint, it feels a little constrained. I still have 2 pairs though ;o)