Brooks Beast is a tank. Great for those of us with wide, deep feet. Slightly heavy, torsionally stable (no lengthwise twist), with a heel slightly wider than the forefoot.
I must say, however, I was disappointed to see the change in this years model, compared to prior years. Today, someone came in having ankle and ball of the foot pain, which didn’t happen with his prior year Beast models.
Unfortunately, a quick comparision of 2006 vs. 2007 models shows considerable differences between the same brand name shoes. Today’s runner, started feeling the pain, with his new shoes.
Not only is this years model (blue) narrower, it also has a less thick (shock absorptive) outsole and a less deep toe box.
For many people wearing Brooks Beast, the above changes won’t make much of a difference and this shoe will still be fine. If you have ball of the foot pain though or need a deeper shoe, then these design changes may mean the difference between comfort and pain.
Even though a shoe keeps the name, you always want to compare it to the prior model, as design changes may help a shoe company’s bottom line, but not necessarily your foot.
Dr. Jenny Sanders Shoe Blog 
Holy cow, what a great blog! Where have you been all my life? Thanks for doing this work! Please do a follow up piece on the new Brooks Beast, coming out Sep 08 I think – and if you can do it before then, I can know whether to snatch up all the old models (which work great for me) before they sell out!
Yay foot doctor!
Thank you, thank you! I fell onto your website while looking for a deal on some new New Balance shoes (which I will most likely still go for despite the many anti NB comments that I read here, 😉 ) and WOW, I’m keeping this one! I have short, WIDE feet (approx. 6D) that, as a woman have given me lots of trouble fitting properly. At 33 I have already had one bunion surgery and learned from it, so would very much appreciate any advice on shoe style/brand for a short, wide, deep foot (preferably that don’t look like my grandmother’s shoes – though I love her dearly! :p)
Wow..this is a great website! I have had the Brooks Ariel shoe since 2001. I have never had a problem until 2 models ago…just as your article states! The Ariel 9 was great, but the Ariel 8 was horrible. I am curious to see how the Ariel 10 is and let us know if there are any significant changes.