New Saucony 8mm shoes (Read 2860 times)

Saucony is coming out with some new 8mm shoes.  I am getting a pair, but I don't have them yet.  Also, Saucony is letting me give away one free pair.  You can enter to win at my site.  

 

I'd like to tell you that they are great and all, but I really have no idea.  I like the Saucony Kinvara 2's, but these have an 8mm heel and my Kinvaras are 4mm.

Tief:

I think you are being a bit misleading.  It shouldn't be "8mm shoe" or "8mm heel" just as Kinvaras cannot be "4mm heel".  I think what you mean is the "heel-to-toe thickness difference" being 8mm or 4mm of whatever.

It is the right direction but the shoe may have low heel-to-toe difference and still can be thick and inflexible so the number that represents the "heel-to-toe difference" is only one aspect of overall shoe quality.  I think Saucony has done a good job lately by coming up with a couple of low-profile shoes.  I hope it won't end up being just a fad...

Personally, I'm unhappy about Saucony's move to lower heel-toe drop shoes. I loved the Fastwitch 4 and the Type A2/A3; they were absolutely perfect for me. The Kinvaras gave me Achilles issues, and the Fastwitch 5 is now based on the Kinvara platform.

So, I am very curious about what this new shoe might be like.

Sorry Nobby,

 

I forgot to list all the specific details.  I meant heel to toe difference.  Here's a review that I did for the Saucony Kinvara 2 where I did do all the explaining of why a lower heel drop might be better for a runner's health.

No problem.  Sorry for being rather knit-picking here.  When I saw 8mm heel, I automatically thought of something in the line of Vibram; they maybe, what, perhaps 3 or 4mm rubber sole???  So I was curious to see "8mm heel". 

I checked your site and your evaluation.  Pretty impressive!

As a generally minimalist guy, I saw 8mm and expected something thinner than my Hattoris at first--but the review of the Kinvara is solid.  Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on these.

I knew what he meant -- Kinvaras are not 4mm thick.

Funny thing, Hattoris are perfectly comfortable to me. And even lighter than VFFs! I only use them for short recovery runs at present, but I may start trying to ramp up the mileage on them. My calves are a lot stronger now than they were last year when the Kinvaras gave me trouble. Maybe I can make the transition to lower-heeled shoes.

I just was on a conference call with the guys from Saucony and some other running bloggers and website folks.

Holy smokes - They are all smarter than me.  Well, that's not saying much really...

Anyways, the main thing the Saucony guys were pointing out is that these shoes are lighter, but they aren't minimalist shoes.  They said the new 8mm shoes will be like the older models, just with a different heel drop.  I haven't got my shoes yet, but that is basically what they went over.

They were pointing out that you could try to alter your stride and form a little more with a midfoot strike with these shoes, but they are still designed for people who strike heel first.  I asked if these were "transitional" shoes for people attempting to change their form, and they said yes, but you still can use them for heel striking.  It was the logical difference between the 4mm drop and 12mm drop of the shoes they are currently selling.  

Then they went into all this technical stuff about watching people run from different camera angles and so forth...  I'll write an article about it later, but I have to get the shoes first! I guess they're in the mail.

Yeah.  I just got a pair of the Guide 5 and my wife got the Triumph 9

Here's a complete review

A brief summary.  They still feel like regular training running shoes.  I like them, but I prefer the Saucony Kinvara 2.  It's hard to go from a minimalist shoe to a regular trainer type shoe again.  My wife is going the opposite direction - From 12 to 8 in the heel and didn't notice any difference as she ran.

A brief summary.  They still feel like regular training running shoes.  I like them, but I prefer the Saucony Kinvara 2.  It's hard to go from a minimalist shoe to a regular trainer type shoe again.  My wife is going the opposite direction - From 12 to 8 in the heel and didn't notice any difference as she ran.

FWIW, while both men's and ladies' models shed about 1.5oz ... the men's shoe decreased the stack by reducing the heel 2mm and adding 2mm to the forefoot.  (The women's model takes all 4mm from the heel.)  The ground-to-foot separation isn't going to make them feel minimal at all -- compare the new Triumph "8mm" at 29mm heel/21mm forefoot to such motion-control staples as, say, the Brooks Beast (31mm heel/19mm forefoot) or Saucony's own ProGrid Stabil CS2 (30mm heel/18mm forefoot).

Still, I have to applaud Saucony recognizing the market gap and trying to fill it.