Saucony Kinvara TR Review

And without further ado - my first running shoe review: Saucony Kinvara TR 

After 200+ miles, Kinvara TRs still look quite bright!

After my first attempt at writing a review of the new Saucony Kinvara TR trail shoes, ended up being a post about  why I shouldn’t be reviewing running shoes , I'm going to try to be a bit more of a "proper" shoe reviewer this time and actually write a useful review. Just to clarify, the Kinvara TRs aren't available in the UK at the time of writing (mid August 2012), and I was incredibly lucky to be sent a pre-launch pair to review. I haven't been paid for this review, or given any instruction about what I should or shouldn't say. I've just run in the shoes, a lot, in the 6+ weeks that I've had them.

Having run 200+ miles in the Kinvara TRs now, on a varied mix of on-road, gravel paths and muddy trails, I can definitely say they are amongst the most surprising running shoes I've tried so far, and amongst the most comfortable.

Not just Kinvara 2s with an off-road sole.

When I first read the information about the Kinvara TR, I assumed it would feel very similar to the Kinvara 2, but would offer much better off-road grip thanks to a sole designed for off-road use. In fact, the Kinvara TR feels very, very different to the Kinvara 2 when you first put it on.

 The first sensation I had when I put the the Kinvara 2s on, back in February, was that my feet had been "released". The Kinvara 2 has a very light, thin upper, that hardly restricts your foot at all - giving a very different, and very natural sensation, almost like not wearing shoes at all. The Kinvara TR on the other hand feels much more like a "normal" running shoe to me, but a very snug and comfortable one. For me the feel is fairly similar to my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which have been my "go to" long-run road shoes, as they are reasonably light and fast, but a bit more cushioned than the Kinvara 2 or the Brooks Green Silence shoes that I use for shorter distances. 

Very bright, and pretty light: 285g / 10oz - UK size 10 / US size 11

Light, and very bright. 

The first thing that everyone notices about the Kinvara TR, at least in the colour variant that I have, is that they are bright, very bright. My training partner Stuart (Capt. USA) calls them my "Health and Safety shoes" and I can see why - they definitely aren't for the shy and retiring :). When I put them on, I was surprised to feel that they were light, but not as light as I was expecting. It turns out that they tip the scales at 285g (10oz) in my UK size 10 (US size 11). My Kinvara 2, Brooks Green Silence, and my other trail shoes, the Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, all tip the scales at around 240g (8.5oz) so the Kinvara TRs are noticeably heavier.

Again the best comparison for me is with my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which are almost exactly the same weight and for me have a similar fit. I have pretty wide feet, and some brands of shoe don't work for me at all as a result, but I've found that Brooks and Saucony in particular suit the shape of my feet. The Kinvara TR is a better fit for me than the Kinvara 2 (which was only just wide enough) and doesn't feel like it's struggling to accommodate my abnormal feet in the same way that its road-going predecessor sometimes seemed to. 

Getting them dirty for the first time - many of my runs in the Kinvara TRs have been mud-fests 

The Kinvara TRs are billed as Minimalist shoes, and for anyone used to "traditional" running shoes, which have much more structure, cushioning and weight (most are 300g+ if not 400g+ in larger sizes), they will feel light and free, but for me, they are at the heavier end of what I'm comfortable running in (but not too heavy). 

Comfortable on road, as well as off...

A lot of the running that I do is on-road, or a combination of road and trail, and on my first run in the Kinvara TRs, I was immediately struck by how good they felt running on the pavement. This is in marked contrast to my Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, which just feel "wrong" running on concrete / tarmac (which I know is not what they are designed for at all). 

In fact, the first long run I did in the Kinvara TR was entirely on the road, when I ran a 14 mile leg of the Real Relay in them, just a couple of days after getting them. I loved the experience, and the shoes were absolutely fine on the harder surfaces. 

Since then I've logged around 400 miles in total, and around 1/2 of those have been in the Kinvara TRs - which have become my "go to" shoes for any run which is either all trail, or part trail, part road. I've been on some pretty muddy, steep and wet off-road sections, and they've taken everything I've thrown at them in their stride.

I planned to get this review done a couple of weeks ago, but being tardy in my writing has actually worked really well, as today I gave the Kinvara TRs their ultimate test so far...

20 Hilly & wet miles in the Peak District, wearing Kinvara TRs

Andrew shows the way to Mam Tor - the final climb of the day

Today's run was one of the toughest and most fun I've ever done - running the first half (20 miles, 2800ft of elevation gain) of the High Peak 40 event that I'm going to try to run next month! 

I was lucky to not have to run it on my own and was accompanied on a day of adventure and flapjack eating, by my very experienced running uncle: Chris, and 3 Twitter running friends: Andrew (who's done the High Peak 40 three times already), Matt, who I hope to be running with on event day itself, and Martin, who's also training for his first Ultra marathon.

The High Peak 20 running crew

The route for today's run was a great test of fitness, and equipment, especially our shoes, as there was a real mix of terrain. With everything from long downhill road sections, to incredibly steep (walking only) rocky uphill sections, through wet, muddy fields and gravel paths, if you could think of a surface to run on, we probably encountered it today.

Throughout the run, the Kinvara TRs were incredibly comfortable, and gave good cushioning and support, and my feet felt really protected on the many sections with sharp, loose rocks. They also gave good traction on the uphill sections, and the many gravel and muddy downhill sections. The only slight criticism I had was that on the really steep and slippery rocky downhill around Rushup Edge, I was struggling for grip more than the others, and didn't always feel totally in control. I suspect this may well be due to the lugs starting to wear down (after a lot of road running), rather than any inherent lack of grip from the shoes. 

After today's run, I'm feeling more confident that I can complete the entire High Peak 40 race - though I also know that I'll be using the Kinvara TRs as my shoes on the day - rather than my Inov-8 X-Talons, which wouldn't give enough cushioning for me over the 9 hours I'll be using them, and aren't designed for roads, which make up a chunk of the route. 


Summary: Surprising, Comfortable & adaptable. 

And that's it: after getting on for 2 months of running in the Kinvara TRs at least 2 or 3 times a week, often more, I've been continually surprised by how different to the Kinvara 2s they are, and how many different types of runs I find myself using them for. For entirely off-road runs, especially those with really muddy / slippery sections, I'd still choose my Inov-8 X-Talons, but for any other off-road run, particularly those with on-road parts too, I pick the Kinvara TRs every time. 


I guess that the biggest recommendation I can give for the Kinvara TRs is that I'll be running my first ultra marathon in them, and if anyone asked if I'd recommend they do the same, my answer would be an emphatic, "yes". 

Please let me know if there's anything more you'd like to know about the Saucony Kinvara TRs, or the other shoes that I've run in over the past year (I've been through quite a few!) - and if there's interest from readers of this blog, I'll happily review my other shoes too, even if the manufacturers don't ask me to...

Mike
P.S. Thanks to Andrew, Matt, Martin & Chris for a great run today.