Is the Saucony Endorphin Rift my new do-anything trail shoe?
Finally a Saucony trail shoe that doesn't kill my heel
I have a strange relationship with Saucony running shoes. The Endorphin Speed was the first time I’d bought any shoe from them and it instantly became my favourite road shoe of all time. V2 was equally good. My Endorphin Pro 1, whilst flawed, has more miles on it than any other pair of shoes I still have in rotation.
And then there are their trail shoes which have been an unmitigated disaster for me.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, March 18, 2024
The Brooks Caldera 7 is a step backwards from the 6
The main benefit of the 6 seems to be gone - smooth wet rock grip
I did most of my trail running over the past year in 2 pairs of Brooks Caldera 6. They did sterling work in my three Ultra DNFs and many training miles. Strangely I don’t think I’ve seen a single other runner wearing them.
I gave them a very positive review last year which I updated when I realised they had one terrible design flaw - the two parts of the upper separated during a run because they were only connected via a thin layer of glue.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, March 18, 2024
The Brooks Caldera 6 is an ultra-devouring monster (but)
My absolute favourite trail running shoe for Irish conditions
UPDATE: See below for a major proviso to this post.
My entire history with Brooks until a few months ago was one pair of Adrenaline 19s which did not suit me at all. I always associated the brand with big reliable heavy running shoes for conservative joggers. The Caldera 6 takes that reputation and shreds it, in the best possible sense.
The perfect shoe doesn’t exist I’ve been on the hunt for the ultimate ultra-distance trail running shoe since I started going longer in 2017.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, May 22, 2023