Saucony Ride 7 Review

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Intital Thoughts on Saucony Ride 7:

The Saucony Ride 7 is a neutral, lightweight road shoe designed for those who spend most of their days on the road or hard-packed non technical surfaces. I’m an ultra runner and I’ve been looking for a good road shoe that will get me through my mid week trainings when I can’t make it to the trails where I do most of my weekend long runs and this shoe delivered exactly what I needed. I typically don’t do a lot of road running, mainly due to my desire to get out into nature on the trails but I can’t always do that so I wanted to try a road shoe that would resemble the satisfaction of trail running but without the nature! My initial first impression was how attractive the blue version was and after running in it, how much toe box room there was, which resembles closely my trail shoes. The toe box doesn’t rub my toes on the top or the side but seemed to give my feet some great breathing room and kept them cool and dry as well with the RUNDRY inetrior. Saucony advertised this shoe as lightweight shoe with a large landing zone and with out a doubt, these features were noticed immediately. I ran in these shoes in wet rain surfaces, dry packed grass and gravel, and on the sidewalks and roads with little to no elevation gain or loss.

Saucony Ride 7 Performance:

Saucony Ride 7 Toe Box

Close Up of Toe Box

One of the features on the Ride 7 was the 8mm Heel to Toe Offset. This feature is much different than my trail shoes that have a zero drop from heel to toe. However, I didn’t find that this affected the feel of the shoe. When running, I normally focus on more of a forefoot strike due to the off road hills I run on trails normally so this minor drop was not a factor in feeling something adverse or different when running on flat surfaces. While running on the different surfaces such as road, gravel, and grass, I felt that the shoe has an extreme amount of stability in that when the surface was uneven or at a slope, my foot did not budge inside the shoe.

8mm Heel to Toe

The Saucony Ride 7 also boasts technology called the iBR+ sole. This is the lightweight rubber outsole in yellow you see. The sole gives you better cushioning and I am certain this is why I felt so comfortable so quickly in the shoe straight out of the gate. Most shoes I run in take time to get broken in but these felt form fitting and comfy from the start. Also, I want to note that the blue cushioning on the interior part of the rear heel of the outsole was quite impressive. I have flat feet and they really can cause issues in my foot and ankle so having a little extra cushion and build up on that section of the shoe helped prevent the interior of my ankle from collapsing. It’s always a plus to be able to walk without pain after a good run!

Ride 7 IBR+ Cushioning

Final Thoughts on the Ride 7:

The lasting impression for me was how quickly I felt comfortable in these shoes. The toe box gave me the space I like and the RUNDRY interior of the shoe certainly kept my feet dry and blister-free. I think that Saucony did a good job at the look of the shoe so one could wear them even in cross training activities like a rare appearance at the gym! The shoe itself looked like it would be heavy but it was in fact the exact opposite; very lightweight and breathable. Did I mention the breathable toe box?! My mid week workouts consisted of 4-6 mile short runs at a slight up tempo pace. I didn’t experience any hip flexor issues from having a heavy shoe and I felt the landing pad was pretty good on uneven terrain such as downward side sloping grass or dirt paths. I can’t say enough about this shoe. It brought back my faith in getting what you pay for and at a retail price of $120, you are getting every dollar worth on this one. For more information, check out www.amazon.com/saucony.