Reebok Women's Nano X Cross Trainer Shoe (Open Box)

These just arrived, and I'm testing them out inside to see if they'll get more comfortable. My first impressions are so different from what others have said that I thought I'd post a review. I've been pacing around in them for long enough and here's what I've got. I'll update this if I keep them and find they break in. Which I might do, because I find the search for cross training shoes to be quite frustrating, and I wish I could just buy yet another pair of my favorite (long-discontinued and now not available) Asics "Gel Exert TR"s that I bought for years. After fairly thorough hunting, these were the only cross-trainer candidates I found that were available. I found these sneakers after reading glowing and promising (based on my needs) reviews for the Nano 9s, which are not available any more in my size. For reference, for any other shoe Goldilockses, I swear by Brooks Adrenaline GTSs for running or walking or anything forward moving. I've had no issues with any of the "editions" I've owned. They just don't give me lateral movement support for other workouts (dance, body weight exercises, lifting, etc.). Based on other reviews, I expected these to be *enormous* in the toe box. But the fit is just weird. I wear an 8 1/2, with occasional size 8s or (more rarely) 9s. Despite some reviews, I didn't size down and I got the 8.5. I have somewhat wide-ish feet, but not notably so. It's more that I find a wider/roomier toebox more comfortable, so I was excited for these. So, much to my surprise, I can barely wiggle my toes in them. It is like the sole of the shoe is wide enough, but the fabric upper is tight and unyielding - my toes are pressing against fabric as my foot moves. Or rather, the fabric is pressing down on my toes in a "this could get crampy" way. More concerningly, that fabric is also quite tight at the bone at the top of the ball of my foot (which is not at all prominent), which makes me worry about friction there in an actual workout. I could not fix any of this by loosening the laces. Also, without having even laced up the top eyehole, it is quite tight around my small-to-average-sized ankle. That could be supportive and secure - therefore desirable - for certain workouts, but you definitely would need to wear socks with tabs to protect your heel or else a blister is inevitable. I have fairly low arches, and these seem to fit well for me there. Anyone with high arches would likely find these very uncomfortable for exercise. I may exchange for size 9s and see how that works, since I don't have a ton of room at the tip of my toes in the 8.5s. Fingers crossed!