I've been wearing Wave Riders for the past several years and have always been happy with them- everytime it was time to replace my shoes, I always bought Wave Riders. The 18s fit differently than earlier versions and are a little uncomfortable. The 18s are more narrow throughout the entire length of the shoe so they are tight, but it seems the length stayed the same. I also was annoyed that the laces on the 18s are so much shorter than past versions.  Since the shoes fit tighter, I kept my laces fairly loose and the laces were so short I couldn't tie them in a normal bow, I had to knot them. I began to experience some hip pain since beginning to wear the 18s- now I don't know if these shoes are really the cause of the pain, but I had not changed anything else about my running so I went back to wearing my old 17s to see if it would make a difference. I've had less pain with my old shoes so I just ordered a new pair of 17s to start wearing again.  Pretty disappointed I wasted $100 on the 18s when I've been completely happy with all the earlier versions of the Wave Riders.