Saucony - Kinvara 15

Everybody's feet are different, so that's a tough answer. I have collapsed arches and over-pronate, fairly severely with my left foot, and have had varying success with wildly different shoes. The key for me is a stable heel matched to a non-intrusive arch. I had to trial and error quite a bit with different shoes. I like running in the Saucony Hurricane 24 because it has a lot of good cushion, a lot of different stability elements going on, without having a traditional medial post. There's enough cushion that I feel protected, matched with enough guidance that I'm not moving/wobbling excessively anywhere. The New Balance 860v14 is similar for me, though it's less exciting and the arch-support is slightly more intrusive. I tried the Saucony Hurricane 25 on in store and they seem lighter and a touch more sporty feeling. The Saucony Triumph 20 oddly enough works great for me as well because the lockdown is flawless for me in addition to a stable feeling heel. I think a good, stable heel keeps my inner-ankle from rotating inward and is just enough that I'm not beating up my foot/arch. These next two are really oddballs for me and it took me years to even consider giving them a shot.  On a whim I tried a Saucony Kinvara 15 and Altra Escalante 4 recently and love them both.  I always figured this type of shoe would never ever work for me, but they do.  The light, low, firm setup is inherently stable and the ground-feel allows me to really focus on my form: not slamming my feet or heels down, running quietly is what I tell myself.  I think many shoes just have too much height and squish that allows too much movement for me and lower stack, firmer shoes leave less room for error.  The Kinvara feels both light and minimal but just protective enough at the same time. They also have minimal arch-humps so I never feel uncomfortable pressure there. I keep runs in these shoes less than 5 miles since they're on the more minimal side. Here are some that did not work for me: Saucony Guide 16: horrible, painful stiff medial post, slappy shoe New Balance 860v12: too firm, invasive arch New Balance 1080v12: insane instability Adidas Adizero SL2: I occasionally use these but they are very soft with minimal structure Topo Fly-lite 5: rock-hard, invasive arch support, wildly uncomfortable Brooks Adrenaline GTS 19: like running in a wooden clog 

Hoka Skyflow - 736km - bought these after a long time as a Clifton wearer. A bit disappointing tbh, heavy and unresponsive, though from time to time I quite enjoy a run in them. Wearing them on slow runs only now and won’t be buying another pair. Evo SL - 595km - loved the Hoka Mach 5 for longer and tempo runs, but preferred these over the Mach 6 (seriously Hoka, what have you been playing at the last few years?). My best all rounder, will certainly replace them unless the Mach 7 is amazing. Kinvara 15 - 134km - light and quick and the closest I get to a minimal shoe. Good for speed work, track sessions and fast stuff up to about 5 miles. Low drop, get me nicely onto my fore/midfoot and give the calves a good workout! Begin to feel the lack of cushion eventually though. Hoka Mach X2 - 253km - great for longer faster stuff and racing, quicker than the Evo SL and more stable. Should wear them more really, especially as it looks like the Mach X3 looks decent. Hoka Challenger 7 - 363km - my current go to trail shoe - not that exciting but suit the kind of mixed road/trail routes near where I live. Peregrine ISO - 168km - a heavier duty trail shoe which I’ve used much less than I thought I would since they’re fairly horrible on hard surfaces. Good in the mud though, and useful for XC where the ground isn’t suitable for spikes. Nike Dragonfly XC - 35km - have gone all in on XC this season, and these have been excellent, especially as I found them for £40. Light and responsive and a joy to run in.

Yea idk what that means because I run in bricks and sometimes soft. I run long runs in kinvara 14 which are firm as it gets but also will do mizuno Neo zens on long runs and they’re bouncy and soft. All just depends what your feet can handle which I got no help for you with that description.

This has been my experience with the Kinvara 15, which sadly seems to have gotten almost no fanfare. I understand it's no longer the absolute minimalist shoe the line was known for in years past, but compared to the clunky high-stack, high-drop options that seem to be in style these days, it's like running on air. I've also had good experience with the Asics Noosa Tri 15 for something with a bit more cushioning underfoot.

Saucony kinvara 14/15. That mf is fast boi. 4mm drop as well. https://preview.redd.it/u67nubarb45g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=c637217f5cf7b72aed58235b744e774ed30d4008 Costs around 5-6k on Flipkart.

Yep, just look what they did to the Saucony Kinvaras. The 14s and 15s are among the least responsive shoes I’ve worn

Saucony Kinvara is a pretty simple shoe. I think I have the 15 and they have a little more sole then flats. I like them for park runs and canal runs when the ground is forgiving because they have similar stack and geometry to my trail shoes. Even better, they are cheaper than the tall shoes ... Check them out.

“I recently ran a 21:55 (7:03/mile) 5k & I am targeting a 1:40 hour half marathon. 7:37/mile” I’m 5’9 170 39 years old. I ran a 1:39:55 Nov 9th and 28:14 4 miler turkey trot. Marathon goal is sub 3:30. I’m between D and E2 wide so all my shoes are E2. I used a pair of Saucony Kinvara 15 for all my workouts during my half marathon training and this current marathon training block. No assist, no plates, no crazy foam just light weight and responsive. I ran in NB SuperComp Elite V4 for my half and 4 miler.

The kinvara 14 are unfortunately changed to a much larger stack, they are less of a joy to me now (I ran kinvaras forever) :(

I run through a metric ton of shoes and I think people make too big of a deal out of which shoes to choose. Have a few trusted models that you know fit you well and just hunt for whatever is on sale. Personally Boston 13 and EVO SL are my go to for everything, and Boston 12 and saucony kinvara are the only shoes I’d say absolutely fucking sucked. But otherwise I’ll run in whatever.