Monday, August 29, 2011

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2011: Saucony Drops... Heels

Fresh on the heels of the success of the 4mm heel to toe drop  in its minimal road Kinvara and trail Peregrine shoes, Saucony is dropping the heels of most of its "franchise" models which will be on the market late 2011, early 2012.  The new road Triumph 9, Hurricane 14 and Guide 5 will all have an 8mm drop, down from 11 to 12 mm.   The Ride and Omni will not be heel dropped this winter as they are new models. I have been running roads in the Inov-8 Road X 255 lately and its 9mm drop is just about right for me.

The trail Xodus 3 will also feature a 8 mm drop and a new lighter upper.  This one really caught my eye as a shoe for technical trails.

Xodus 3.0: release 1/2012

While it always tricky to mess with franchise models Saucony is making the right call here. A lower drop will lead to a more natural stride and should reduce injuries and stress on the knees. These shoes can also serve as a transition to the more minimal shoes in the line such as Kinvara, Mirage, and even to the new Cortana, a plush neutral trainer with a 4mm drop and a recent Runner's World Best Debut shoe winner.

 Other Saucony news from Outdoor Retailer:
The Hattori will be coming in an AW-All Weather version. The Peregrine 2 is largely unchanged except for a lighter upper with more welded on support and less stitching.

Triumph 9: release 11/1/2012

Guide 5: release 12/1/2011

Hurricane 14: 2/1/2012



Peregrine 2

1 comment:

Johnpatw said...

Thanks for the Saucony update! I love the direction that they are going with the low heel - it's renewed by love of running!

Any idea when the Peregrine 2 will be released?
Thanks!
John in Ohio