Mizuno Wave Rider 29 vs Mizuno Wave Rider 30:
Which to Choose

The clearest split is cushioning and geometry. The 29 runs on Mizuno's Enerzy foam with no plate at all — recent Riders had stripped out the old plastic Wave insert, so the foam does all the work — giving a moderate, springy-but-firm platform on a traditional 12mm heel-to-toe drop. The 30 reverses course on both fronts: it stacks up max-cushion, nitrogen-infused ENERZY NXT foam over a full-length composite (plastic, not carbon) Wave Plate, on a 43mm heel / 34mm forefoot platform and a lower 9mm drop. In practice that means the 30 lands noticeably plusher and more protected for long time on feet, with the full-length plate firming and organizing the transition, while the 29 sits lower and feels firmer and more directly connected to the ground, with its steeper 12mm drop shifting load off the calves toward the heel. What doesn't change is the character: both score the same on responsiveness, and both are honest about it — rebound is willing but modest, and neither gives back as much as its stack suggests when you try to open up the pace. Stability is a wash too (both neutral, both riding a broad, planted base), weight barely moves between the two generations, and the best-distance profile is identical. So the 30 is the more cushioned, more structured, lower-drop evolution of the same fundamentally steady, non-explosive daily trainer — not a new ride, but a plusher one.