A wide-foot test of the NOBULL Drive 2 Ripstop, including comfort, damp-weather confidence and the surprisingly easy-to-clean white upper.
The NOBULL Drive 2 Ripstop occupies that useful middle ground between a dedicated gym shoe and the trainer you reach for without giving the matter much thought.
At £98, reduced from a regular price of £140, it is not an inconsequential purchase, but nor does it need to perform miracles to justify itself. It needs to be comfortable, versatile and sufficiently practical to earn regular use.
After wearing the Classic White Gum version on wide feet, including in damp conditions, those rather ordinary demands have proved to be where the Drive 2 is most convincing.
There was some initial doubt. The ripstop covering across the upper looks remarkably slight, while choosing a predominantly white training shoe carries its own small act of optimism. Add wide feet to the equation and there appeared to be several perfectly plausible ways for the relationship to deteriorate.
It hasn’t.
A lightweight upper that looks more fragile than it feels
The upper was the first thing to raise suspicion. It looks thin enough to suggest that a damp pavement or wet patch of grass might quickly become an issue, and the light construction does little, visually at least, to suggest substantial weather protection.
In use, it has been considerably more reassuring.
I have worn the Drive 2 in damp conditions without experiencing the immediate wet-foot problem I had expected. That should not be confused with calling it waterproof; it isn’t presented as a waterproof shoe and I would not treat it as one.
But there is a considerable difference between a shoe designed for foul-weather protection and one that becomes miserable at the first suggestion of moisture. The Drive 2 has avoided the latter.
NOBULL uses a reinforced ripstop upper, with perforations intended to combine a secure fit with lateral stability. What appears rather delicate out of the box consequently feels more substantial once the shoe is actually being worn.
It is an instructive reminder that training shoes, rather like people, are sometimes poorly served by first impressions.
Comfort is where the NOBULL Drive 2 makes its case
For me, the strongest part of this NOBULL Drive 2 Ripstop review is also the least complicated: these are extremely comfortable shoes.
That matters particularly because I have wide feet. Plenty of trainers feel perfectly agreeable for the first few minutes before gradually revealing that their designers apparently had a narrower section of humanity in mind.
I have not had that problem here.
NOBULL describes the fit as true to size, although fit will always vary from one foot to another. My experience has been that the Drive 2 holds the foot securely without creating the pinched sensation that can make supposedly versatile trainers considerably less versatile after an hour or two.
The moulded Ortholite footbed sits above an EVA Strobel board, while the midsole uses a high-resilience EVA blend. The technical language is less important than the result: there is enough cushioning to make the shoe comfortable for general wear and cardio work without producing the overly soft, unstable sensation that can be irritating during strength training.
For anyone with broad feet, that balance deserves attention. I would stop short of declaring it a universally wide-fitting shoe — feet are too individual for such sweeping promises — but it has proved exceptionally accommodating for mine.
Stability without turning into a weightlifting brick
The Drive 2 is designed as a hybrid trainer, and its proportions reflect that.
There is a 23mm stack at the heel and 19mm at the forefoot, producing a relatively low 4mm heel-to-toe drop. A men’s US size 10.5 is listed at 275g. NOBULL also rates the shoe highly for stability and traction, with medium levels of cushioning and breathability.
Those figures translate into a shoe that feels grounded without being cumbersome.
There are dedicated lifting shoes that provide a more specialised platform, just as there are running shoes with substantially more cushioning for longer road miles. Trying to beat either category at its own game would rather miss the point.
The Drive 2’s virtue is that it can move between different kinds of activity without one aspect of its construction becoming an obvious nuisance somewhere else. The EVA midsole has sufficient response for more energetic training, while the multi-directional rubber tread and relatively low platform give it a reassuringly planted feel.
That makes it particularly useful for mixed gym sessions, general training and everyday wear — the sort of uses for which changing shoes three times would suggest life has become needlessly complicated.
White trainers without the usual maintenance programme
Then there is the colour.
The Classic White Gum version looks good, but white training shoes have always involved a rather obvious contractual clause: sooner or later, the world will attempt to make them grey.
What has surprised me is how easily the Drive 2 cleans up.
For a shoe likely to be worn for training rather than merely admired beside a coffee shop table, that is not a trivial advantage. Marks have been straightforward to deal with, and the white upper has required considerably less fuss than I expected.
Combined with its performance in damp conditions, that makes the colourway much easier to live with. I had assumed the pale ripstop would be the feature that required the most compromise. Instead, it has become one of the shoe’s more pleasant surprises.
A white trainer will never be the sensible choice for somebody determined to seek out mud. But neither should owning one amount to taking on a part-time cleaning position.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Extremely comfortable on my wide feet
- Secure fit without feeling excessively narrow
- Good balance between cushioning and stability
- Lightweight enough for mixed training
- Easy to clean despite the predominantly white finish
- More dependable in damp conditions than its thin-looking upper suggests
- Versatile enough for gym sessions and everyday wear
Cons
- The upper does look rather flimsy at first
- It is not a waterproof trainer
- Dedicated runners and serious lifters may prefer more specialised footwear
- The £140 regular price puts it into a more demanding part of the market
- White remains white, however cooperative it may be with a cloth
Who Is This Best For?
The Drive 2 is most convincing for someone who would rather have one good all-round training shoe than a small wardrobe devoted to marginally different activities.
It suits mixed gym work particularly well, but its comfort also makes it an easy shoe to continue wearing once the workout is over. My experience with wide feet has been especially positive, which gives it an advantage over trainers that deliver impressive performance only while slowly compressing one’s toes into a more fashionable shape.
Those chasing a pure running shoe or a dedicated strength-training platform should look towards those specialist categories. The Drive 2 is interesting precisely because specialisation is not really its job.
Is the NOBULL Drive 2 Ripstop worth £98?
At £98, reduced from its regular £140 price, yes.
That distinction matters. At £140, I would judge the Drive 2 more severely against specialist alternatives and expect its versatility to carry a considerable burden. Just below £100, the equation becomes more attractive.
You are getting a genuinely comfortable trainer with a stable, relatively low platform, useful traction and enough cushioning for mixed training. More importantly, the less glamorous details hold up: it has suited my wide feet, coped with damp conditions better than appearances suggested and cleaned up without requiring an elaborate ritual afterwards.
Those are not features likely to dominate an advertising campaign. They are, however, exactly the details that determine whether a pair of trainers gets worn repeatedly or ends up sitting pristine in its box.
The NoBull Drive 2 Ripstop initially looked like a shoe I might have to make excuses for. At £98, it has instead become surprisingly difficult to argue against.
