Saucony Kinvara 16

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#184 in

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Sentiment score75% positive
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Last updated: May 23, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconAdmirable_Raccoon_28
9 months ago

4 pairs. I've heard that running in different shoes can help reduce injury risk, possibly by working different small muscles in each one. Seems to be helping me so far, as I used to be injury prone and I have recently been increasing my weekly mileage and speed work with no problems yet. Most of my shorter easy runs in Altra Rivera 2s, but this pair is pretty beat up and probably on its way out. It's a nice comfy zero drop shoe and I love it so much Longer (> 7 miles) easy runs in Saucony Triumph 19s. Higher drop and high cushion. Speed work in Saucony Kinvara 16s. Mid drop, extremely lightweight, love them! Other daily trainer is the Asics Gel Nimbus Lite. They're great at easy and quick paces. I also have a pair of Saucony Endorphin Pros that I haven't used yet but will hopefully whip out for race day It sounds like a lot but I got all except the Kinvaras used on Poshmark for less than $40 each. In great condition, too.

Reddit Iconcmessier
3 months ago

Saucony Kinvara 16 when I'm running outside. Trying out the Altra Escalante Racer 2 as my treadmill shoe. These are little interesting because of the wide toe box. They feel great though.

Reddit Iconfnrslvr
about 2 months ago

I saw your thread the other day, didn't get around to replying. You're probably looking for a flexible, lower-stacked shoe, something which'll ask you to more naturally plantarflex rather than having a more rockered transition. This isn't really Asics's forte (practically all of the forward-looking Asics lines are 40mm+ heel stacks, and most of their trainers are pretty high stack too), you might look at the Noosa Tri if you want an Asics shoe for this. Other options would be the Puma Velocity Nitro 4, the Brooks Hyperion 2 or Ghost 17, the Hoka Mach 6/7, or the Saucony Kinvara 16. More extreme low-stack options might include the Topo Cyclone or the Adidas Adios 9. An intriguing tech solution if you really want to go in on flexibility is the recent Brooks Glycerin Flex. The Brooks Hyperion GTS 2 might also be a really good idea, as a fairly flexible low-stack shoe that also has mild medial stability elements. Most of these are more uptempo shoes, which is kind of a consequence of more relaxed trainers going to higher stacks these days. You could also look for flexible shoes [on RunRepeat](https://runrepeat.com/guides/flexible-vs-stiff-running-shoes), their flexibility testing seems reasonable.

Reddit IconGreedy-Pie4439
24 days ago

I use Kinvara 16s only for speed work, it's been 300+ km. The ground feeling is pretty nice. They are very minimalist shoes, I don't even feel the cushioning which I feel normally which slows me down. Also, after doing your speed work in these shoes, you run amazing in plated shoes much much faster as they have more bounce and stack height.

Reddit Iconare-gae-1
2 months ago

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.

Reddit IconBeardedPunkGardener
8 months ago

Saucony for me, there shoes just seem to be right for me. Endo speed, Endo Pro and Triumph are all favourites. And kinvaras have also been favourite of mine 

Reddit Iconbeneoin
11 months ago

This. I'm a multi-time Boston qualifier (and finisher). I've never used carbon shoes. I run my marathons faster than 4 min/km and the carbon shoe advantage barely starts at that pace. Save your money. Get good training shoes. I love racing and training in Saucony Endorphin Speeds, which do have a nylon plate, but they're an affordable shoe. For long runs in recent builds I've used Hoka Rincon, Adidas Adizero, and Saucony Kinvara, all bought on clearance, all great shoes.

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