As a side note, my friend's wave drive Z's lasted much less long than his wave drive 8's. However, these shoes have more differences such as a slightly different sole design and (judging by the transparency of the Z's sole) sole thickness. However, the Medal 5 and Z look exactly the same, so this problem might not exist with them.

TT-Japan has a limited edition of the Medal 5 for sale, this is what I use. 

http://tt-japan.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=2632" rel="nofollow - http://tt-japan.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=2632

It is the same as the normal Wave Medal 5, just a different colour and with some slightly different graphics on the synthetic part. They are on sale, and cheaper than the normal Medal 5. However, they only come in 28.0 cm, so they may not fit you. They used to have multiple sizes, but that is all that is left.

Thanks for such an indepth answer. I'll consider getting the WD8's instead of the Medal5 / synthetic Medal Z when i pull the trigger in 2 or 3 months / earlier if I deal comes up in my size / how i feel about the shoes given the information I have about them.

I wasn't really considering the Drive Z's, but its good to be able to throw them out completely - they cost a fair chunk and if they aren't durable, that's even worse $ wise.

I saw those purple limited editions, they seem pretty cool, unfortunately I'm a 28.5 so they are probably too small [and getting your feet crushed over an 8am till 8pm tournament is probably a rare and unusual torture!] I've also had 1 shoe that's a 28.5 [futsal] that I can't wear, so one bitten twice shy- i think 28.0 is probably too small, even though the Medal 5's run a bit larger.

Does your friend think the WD8's are a good shoe apart from the durability? Despite being very recent releases, they are a bit cheaper than the older Medal 5's [and a lot cheaper than the synthetic Medal Z] respectively, which is obviously a consideration [ not to mention shipping adds 15 euro no matter the shoe]

They are difficult to procure outside of these japanese sites [dandoy don't sell mizuno, TT11 barely have any Mizuno recently] so its difficult to get an opinion on the Drive 8's, they are also reasonably new so they aren't that commonplace hence the request.

 Plus your information on the Medal Z / Wave Drive Z is almost the first piece of info i'm getting on them, considering how they are editions that are only well stocked in these Japanese sites - not many reviews in English!

I got lucky, I got the purple medal 5's when they were available in 28.5. They are huge, as big as the 30.5 street shoes (Adidas) that I wear. 

The drive series, from what I have seen, is slightly less durable than the medals. They also don't have the extra sole on the inside heel of the shoes that the medal has, which makes them slightly less effective if you are playing with a lot of bending and the extra grip on the side of the shoe helps there.

It definitely does something if you step in a puddle.

I love my Medal 5's.  Easily the best TT shoe I've had over the years.

Cheers, I think I'll stick with the medals then [I purposely picked them over the 7's because of the increased support + durability, wider [have wideish feet] when i ordered from tt11 eight or so months ago. The extra heel i didn't know about, but i do play with a lot of bending and such when looping [I'm in my early 20's], so i can afford to play with an energetic style.

Yeah, they do run large, however the 28.5 is still probably the best choice for me, even though i wear 28.5's in everything [Nike runners etc] - its amazing that it runs 2 full CM's larger compared to your street shoes! 

Agree totally.   Wave Bolt 2, most comfortable shoe.  Wave Lightning 2, I can't wear them at all!

The Wave Lightning is the more expensive shoe, but totally uncomfortable.  I also owned 2 pairs of

Wave Drives, but sold them ... didn't have enough support.  Wave Drives may be good for young,

super fast players  ... but older players may want more support.

I wear 12.5 in nike/asics with a slightly wide foot. According to the chart i would need a 46 or 46.5? Do wave drive 7/wave medal 5 run large?

Also if anyone tried any of the above to compare with Asics Gel Rocket 7s, would appreciate it.

Wave medal 5 runs large, I'd say about a centimetre. I've never tried the wave drive 7, but it probably also runs large because they are both Mizuno shoes. 

If your foot is wide, then the medal series would be better, because they are wider than the drives.

Im more interested in WD7 than WM5 because of weight and upper material.

For some it runs a size large.

For me, I'd say it runs about 1/5th a size large [i.e. noticeably larger by a small amount than most shoes of the same size - big enough to notice, but not big enough to make them too large]. This also means if i'd gone 28.0, i'd probably want to murder my feet after playing.

I.e. I wear US 10.5 [28.5 CM] for all my shoes. Nike running etc. I cannot wear US 11s in any brand without feeling very awkward. I had to buy some cheap hiking shoes that are US11, and it doesn't feel good at all [They didn't have 10.5's, and if i hadn't bought them, i'd have to pay 4x as much in NZ].

I ordered the 28.5 CM Mizuno's. Don't get caught up in Euro size etc, just stick to CM because different brands have different Euro measurements. Seeing as these are Vietnamese shoes with strong links to Japan [that's where they are best stocked / all the limited editions are purchaseable] id stick to CM [JP = CM size]. They say 28.5 CM is EU 44, whereas all my nike's etc say 28.5 = 44.5.

Your feet are 1.5 sizes larger than mine in US [and 1 CM], so i'd. I'd try some nike running shoes and either buy the CM size that's on the nikes, or perhaps go 0.5 CM down when purchasing your Mizunos.

If your feet are wide, definitely go with the WM5's. Great support and more durable.

I have nike running shoes US size 12.5 (CM 30.5) which fit me nicely, not too tight or too large. My feet measured in CM are 29.5 with socks on. Usually I give about 1cm space in the back (1 finger in between heel and heel of the shoe test while shoes are on) so its not too tight when i try on shoes.

I asked iruiru, and they replied that Wave Drive and Wave Medal have the same width. This makes me confused.

table tennis shoes are unisize

court shoes come in mens and womens sizes

so generally speaking mens court shoes would be the most wide ....