Guide 16

Oof. Brooks adrenaline is not a fun shoe. Saucony Tempus and Puma Forever Run are both good. Asics GT2000 14 has updated foam (compared to previous versions) and it’s also a considerably more responsive option. As stability shoes go, those are your best options for something responsive. There are other options that still considerably better than the adrenaline (but not as lively as the first three): Glycerin GTS 22, Saucony Guide 17 or 18, Hoka Arahi 8, Topo Aura, and Asics Kayano if you like a mountain of cushion. There are tons of shoes out there in the “stable neutral” category - which can work very well if you don’t have significant overpronation. These are shoes that are inherently stable and provide a good deal of support without explicitly providing medial/pronation control. They typically have a very wide base, heel bevels that guide the foot and a pretty stiff heel cup/collar. The Doctors of Running have a lot of info on this topic. Insoles in any old shoes you like could also work well (although if you truly need stability, I’d steer away from massively high stacked shoes with very soft foam and no stabilizing elements). But honestly-the adrenaline 24 is about the most boring shoe out there. And although Brooks replaced/updated the foam in every other model they make with the newest models, the adrenaline 25 still has the exact same foam from like 1999. Committed to boring mediocrity and riding the name reputation like the Pegasus.

Giant stack heights and soft, “bouncy” foam are ALL the rage right now. Even many long standing models are moving in that direction (like New Balance 1080 and Nike Vomero). Hoka used to be the “OMG so much cushion” brand and now many traditional models have considerably more than Hoka. Brooks Ghost and Adrenaline have much higher stack height than they used to, but overall the feel of the shoe is much more similar to what shoes felt like 5 years ago. Glycerin (the regular models-not the Max or Flex) is also not too far off (but again, much softer and higher stack than what used to be the case). Adidas Supernova Rise is a really nice middle of the road option (also frequently available on sales for less than $75). Supernova Solution is the stability version. Saucony Ride or Guide (for stability) are again…softer and higher stack than shoes used to be, but are pretty close to what they were 5 years ago. Nike Pegasus (the regular Pegasus-not plus, premium, etc) hasn’t been updated since the ‘90’s. So that’s going to also be pretty close to how shoes felt 5 years ago. But generally speaking, everything is becoming max stacked, with “bouncy” foam that is generally quite soft. That is the rage these days and what people seem to buy up in droves. So that’s what shoe companies are creating. Example: nearly everything that ASICS makes. Those shoes can be tons of fun and a lot of them make running feel a bit easier with more energy return than traditional shoes. But they feel like pouffy trampolines. Which is dramatically different than the shoes of 5-10 years ago. If you want something a little lower stack that has more advanced foam, something like Hoka Cielo Road could be a good option. Brooks’ Hyperion 3 or Launch 11/12 could also work. New Balance Rebel is still pretty soft and squishy, but it’s lower stack than much of what’s out there. Hoka Mach 6 is also a nice shoe. Not squishy, lower stack and fairly peppy. And Saucony Kinvara is a nice bland, low stack shoe with foam that hasn’t seen an ounce of innovation in 20 years. So that’s always a low stack, safe bet as well.