Saucony Kinvara impressions

wore them for 3-4 weeks for everyday running, 45 mpw, and loved them. BUT, i developed a terrible lower back pain that ached all day and would not get better until i switched shoes. ive heard of similar stories. i wouldnt recommend them

suburbanxcore wrote:

I don't mind the toebox. For me, the upper fits like a glove. They're the best fitting shoes I've tried in a while.

I just cut off the toebox, and wrap white tape round and round the shoes every day before running. They're the best fitting running shoes that I've found!

The Kinvara have a curved last/platform as far as I can tell. This might be what is making some people think the toe box is wide, that it's making them supinate, and many other such things.

I find it far more squishy than the Brooks Launch. The Brooks Launch certainly doesn't have hard cushioning, but I do think it's more solid than that of the Kinvara. The squishy feeling for me comes from how flexible the Kinvara is. It's designed to bend any old way and so it reminds me of running on a wrestling gym mat.

I think frequency of forefoot/midfoot striking is very important to whether or not a person will like this shoe. If you heel strike a lot, then this shoe is more likely to injur your calf/Achilles than it is to transition you into a different foot strike.

The one thing the Kinvara has over the Frees is that its sole won't pick up as many rocks!

hmm so you think the flexibility is a bad thing? Too unstable of a platform?

I want a light, neutral shoe with decent cushioning, but one that feels stable enough to wear every day. Ideally it'd also have a low heel to toe drop, since I'm a really bad heelstriker coming back from injury, and I'd really like to transition towards more of a midfoot strike. Not like running on a wrestling mat. There's a lot of research coming out now about how proprioception is thrown off by unstable/squishy cushioning.

If you like saucony you might want to look into the Tangent. It's very light and flexible with a low heel drop but not quite as pure minimalist as the kinvara.

do they fit to size or does one need to buy a 1/2 size larger?

another one wrote:

If you like saucony you might want to look into the Tangent. It's very light and flexible with a low heel drop but not quite as pure minimalist as the kinvara.

tangent is a stability shoe

Ha, That's hilarious people are buying these for training.

I just bought a pair to race in but I can't give up my other Saucony's I have been racing in the last 7 years. I have to have at least 90 races and 500 or 600 miles on those things and they feel like brand new after putting in a new pair of insoles.

gfdagagdf wrote:

tangent is a stability shoe

Not really. Maybe you're thinking of the trigon?

Keeping it real...

I tried on the Kinvaras at the local running store and was mighty impressed - they felt great. I brought em to an indoor track and ran a mile, alternating easy running with some pickups. I found they pinched my 5th little toe (length on shoe was fine) and were a bit too high off the ground and a bit too soft/squishy for my taste. Then I put on my Asics Hyperspeeds - now that's how a lightweight trainer should feel and fit (at least to me)! I returned the Kinvaras.

another one wrote:

Not really. Maybe you're thinking of the trigon?

Well it has a dual density EVA medial post. Very lightweight, but it's not a neutral shoe.

I only use the Kinvaras for 5K racing. It is too narrow to be an everyday trainer for me. Wish they would make wide minimalistic shoes.