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Saucony Endorphin Elite 2: Total Game Changer! IncrediRun Indeed! A Ground Breaking Supershoe
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Dec 9, 2024
In the video, we 00:000 detail the Endorphin Elite 2, take them for a run on the NH Seacoast and comment on 07:33 Fit, 09:00 Ride, and Comparisons with at 14:29 Conclusions. Releases March 2025. $275 Full multi tester written review real soon. Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 100's of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales
View Video Transcript
0:00
hello everybody we're going to take a
0:00
look today at this socony endorphin
0:02
Elite 2 one of the most exciting shoes I
0:05
think I've run since the original
0:07
vaporfly it's truly groundbreaking with
0:09
an incred run uh foam tpe foam which is
0:14
soft yet super energetic it's stable it
0:17
weighs uh 7.18 oun 203 G in the US 8.5
0:22
sample it has the full Super Shoe uh
0:25
stack height 392
0:28
312 it is one heck of a shoe video will
0:31
cover uh fit ride uh and comparisons as
0:36
I run along the beautiful New Hampshire
0:37
SEO stay tuned okay everybody we're
0:40
going to take a look at the sakon
0:42
Endorphin Elite 2 look at this beauty
0:46
and uh Sak's really striking kind of
0:49
radical here radical fun I've already
0:52
run in them once almost took down a
0:55
straa segment PR about a half mile
0:58
segment in super cold and wind my son's
1:01
been out on them he's liking them better
1:04
than the um SC Elite uh number four
1:08
we're also going to take a look and talk
1:10
a bit about some of the competitors
1:13
namely uh the alphal fly and both of
1:16
these um both of the cloud boom strikes
1:19
just got this one in today oh my
1:21
goodness look at that 6.3 ounces 178 G
1:26
uh so uh let's talk about our endorphin
1:29
Elite here
1:30
so it's uh $275 it's coming out in the
1:33
spring basically it has the same Max
1:36
super um shoe stack height as most of
1:39
the shoes 39 1/2 heel
1:42
312 4ot uh this sample is a US 8.5 that
1:48
s can he sent us and it weighs 7.2 o 203
1:52
gam uh in the US 8.5 so that's very
1:56
competitive with the alpha fly in my
1:58
size which comes in at 6.93 Oz and the
2:02
regular Cloud boom uh strike which comes
2:05
in at 7.18 oz so the the big story here
2:10
and it's so noticeable is this incred
2:13
foam incred run foam it's a
2:18
TP um so we saw at the running event
2:21
many many shoes with etpu or
2:24
TP it's really going to replace the
2:26
packs that we have in say the um Ally or
2:31
the cloud boom strike uh which I think
2:34
the cloud boom strike has some other uh
2:36
foam as the top helon level because you
2:40
get incredible softness with lots of
2:44
explosive rebound very very very
2:47
pleasing experience in my first run here
2:50
um in them so you you really get a lot
2:52
of energy uh return without punishment
2:57
and I think this is a really good Trend
2:59
because I remember the original um
3:02
vaporfly the the baby blue one back
3:05
2017 18 that was a forgiving shoe and
3:09
then things went pretty darn aggro but
3:11
there's a trend back towards uh a shoe
3:15
that's a uh with these new Foams that's
3:17
more energetic and softer I have not
3:20
tested the um meta speed um Paris Edge
3:25
The Edge Paris or the sky but that one's
3:27
said to have a a really energetic softer
3:31
foam at least softer than
3:33
before uh this foam is softer than say
3:37
in the evo1 from Adidas it's a little
3:39
bit firmer but some of the same
3:41
characteristics um and you'll see it
3:44
looks like super Bulba super huge well
3:48
the platform here is really comparable
3:51
to the other uh two the alphafly and the
3:54
cloud boom strike we have an 85 mm heel
3:57
for example the uh Alpha fly
4:00
is
4:01
85 and but what's different here is we
4:04
have a uh 70 mm at the broadest Point
4:07
through the midfoot and only 35 here and
4:11
what I'm finding already with this
4:13
softer foam and what they say is a
4:15
slotted new carbon plate is this Gap
4:18
here gets me forward to tow off much
4:22
easier I think than in a more rigid shoe
4:25
and I think that's good for some of us
4:27
who maybe aren't quite as uh
4:30
uh 4 foot to midfoot and I doubt many
4:32
can keep the 4 foot to midfoot going all
4:35
the way the first um endorphin Elite was
4:39
quite a bit firmer it had that HD power
4:42
run HD foam it was rigid uh this is a
4:45
completely different experience I
4:48
noticed right away and I'm going to take
4:49
him out for another run here maybe try
4:51
to break that segment uh after I tried
4:55
yesterday Without Really Trying uh you
4:57
really have a sensation here of a soft
5:01
heel Landing that has a lot of rebound a
5:04
tremendous amount of rebound for the
5:06
softness so this is a no way mushy and
5:08
then you roll very easily through the 4
5:11
foot and I think that's in part all due
5:14
to the soft foam but also this Gap here
5:18
and the narrower um narrower midfoot now
5:22
we'll see about uh stability it seemed
5:24
pretty darn stable uh but in later miles
5:27
uh so we'll have to get some longer run
5:29
some races in them now the upper is in a
5:32
really interesting very breathable
5:35
engineered mesh you can see it's almost
5:38
completely open one thing I noticed
5:40
right away um and this may be uh
5:44
potentially an issue for me is look how
5:48
firm that tow bumper is it's very it's
5:50
high there's plenty of it's definitely
5:52
true to size here but there's a bit of
5:54
constriction through here and I'll show
5:56
you on the run a picture right you know
5:58
right about uh
6:00
right about where uh my uh let's see the
6:03
bunions on the inside right about here
6:06
right about in here uh a little bit of
6:08
tightness this could maybe be opened up
6:10
um I think the shoe will will stretch
6:12
some now we have a a knit tongue Sally
6:15
our other reviewer uh has a very narrow
6:19
foot she's having some lace bite issues
6:21
through here I didn't uh this is one of
6:24
these uppers as you can see with these
6:27
strap the strapping for for support
6:30
that I don't think you want to lace up
6:32
too overly tight or you get that bite I
6:35
didn't have any we have plenty of
6:37
padding and you can see how much higher
6:39
it reaches up than nor than kind of
6:42
usual there's less on the side it's all
6:44
right up here in the Achilles area uh so
6:47
that part was really comfortable and
6:49
there's sort of an overlaid um uh
6:52
material that creates kind of a heel
6:54
counter but there isn't really a big
6:55
heel counter here um the other thing to
6:58
notice and maybe I can show you is you
7:00
can see that
7:02
yellowish there that's the side walls it
7:05
support other side as well and I think
7:09
they're pretty effective giving all this
7:11
soft foam and that narrow uh
7:14
midfoot so um I'm going to take them out
7:17
for a second run give you my Impressions
7:18
but from the first one I got to tell you
7:21
this is a completely different and kind
7:23
of marvelous marvelous experience in a
7:25
super shoe so let's go for the Run
7:30
okay let's talk about the fit of our
7:31
endorphin Elite number two I would call
7:34
it a TR to size fit um there's a few
7:37
caveats I'm feeling some bunion pressure
7:39
here I think it'll stretch out uh you
7:42
can see the length maybe a touch less
7:44
than the full thumb but this toe bumper
7:47
is really firm I think it really locks
7:50
the foot down well but this through here
7:52
seems a bit narrow when you go further
7:54
back everything is really really good uh
7:58
midfoot hole for me is is really good um
8:01
I haven't had to lace them overly tight
8:04
this knit tongue with this upper piece
8:06
here I think that sort of helps through
8:09
there and the heel hold is really good
8:11
there's no real heel counter but I think
8:14
the higher um achilles colar with the
8:16
padding up top is something I haven't
8:19
seen before they usually put it on the
8:21
side so what that allows them to do is
8:23
keep I think it allows them to keep the
8:25
sides snug they're easy to pull on with
8:28
the knit tongue but then they're locked
8:30
in really good uh it's really quite
8:33
quite surprising uh actually uh this
8:36
upper very breathable just have some
8:39
concerns about that width I think people
8:42
with that area of the foot being wide
8:45
having a wide area there may struggle a
8:47
bit it's pretty rare that I have any
8:50
bunion irritation very rare I think
8:53
they'll stretch out some maybe tomorrow
8:55
and tomorrow's snowstorm I'll get them
8:57
wet but I'm going to keep going okay
8:59
starting out with some slower paced
9:02
running I'm about 930 Pace here
9:06
and just as easy to turn over as any
9:10
training shoe with lots of rebound so it
9:16
goes slow paac is really nice is really
9:20
nice unlike like for example the alpha
9:22
fly I barely could turn them over at
9:25
this pace too rigid here we're sinking
9:28
into that credy run rebounding quickly
9:31
off the heel surprisingly stable I think
9:36
sometimes the instability in super shoes
9:39
that we note even though this platform
9:41
is the same as all the rest pretty much
9:44
is comes from the firm foam combination
9:48
with the rigid
9:49
plate and here we've got a softer foam
9:55
plate we're not sure just how rigid it
9:57
is there's a teeny bit of flex
9:59
you know Carbon
10:01
flex but things are very smooth at slow
10:06
pace now yesterday I did a progression a
10:11
little less than four miles and I got
10:14
down nicely below 8 minute pace with no
10:19
effort whatsoever felt just as good
10:23
super rebounding at that point so
10:26
there's really a lot of range in this
10:28
shoe
10:31
I'm going to keep
10:33
going okay so if there's one way to
10:37
describe the experience here is it is
10:41
super Pleasant hard to believe that such
10:45
a high-end shoe could be so much fun
10:49
just
10:50
surprisingly very very
10:53
energetic
10:54
soft easy to roll it's really kind of
10:58
amazing
10:59
and stable that's what really surprises
11:01
me so far very
11:04
stable uh which I would not have
11:07
expected with a soft
11:09
foam and I'm going to pick up the pace
11:12
some they sure go fast fun too we'll get
11:16
to that in a minute going by the harbor
11:19
here Ry Harbor nice quiet
11:22
evening so now my pace is for this last
11:25
mile well under eight 9 minute pace and
11:28
easy as can be easy as can
11:32
be so there's definitely the speed roll
11:36
in play out here especially when you get
11:39
fast from what I'm doing right now right
11:42
now just have an easy roll and a kind of
11:47
moderate impulse off the front but when
11:50
you pick it up and get further forward
11:53
you get a sharper response it's really
11:57
the same with the foam it's
12:00
soft so super pleasing but then when you
12:04
pick it up you go down soft it responds
12:08
super quickly it's really an amazing
12:11
package okay some are going to say soft
12:14
I remember saw for example the New
12:18
Balance SC Elite V2 and V3 well that was
12:22
just plain soft uh I found it quite
12:26
difficult to run the plate wasn't well
12:28
integrated
12:30
once you got into the syn into the soft
12:33
it didn't return very well uh so you
12:35
just kind of got hung up uh so and then
12:40
the other thing here is this is a TP
12:43
foam not paback everybody a lot of
12:46
people a lot of brands have used packs
12:49
last few years but now they're starting
12:51
to move to the TPU
12:53
TP first ones I ran were in the xstep
12:57
racing shoes and our whole crew who
12:59
thought it was amazing the tpe there and
13:02
now we're seeing it much more in other
13:05
brands and this I think is a a real
13:10
Improvement in terms of comfort energy
13:15
return maybe it's not the ultimate
13:17
ultimate as you know tested by a steel
13:20
ball in the lab but on your feet for a
13:24
long or short race this stuff will make
13:26
you smile and it I think because it
13:31
returns so quickly as you're running
13:34
once you
13:36
sink it's just a better way to to
13:39
approach a long run too I would run them
13:43
I you know I was going to run a race uh
13:45
tomorrow but it's going to snow and not
13:49
sure I want to do that and slippery with
13:51
my knee and everything but if um I would
13:55
certainly absolutely pick them up for a
13:58
5k because all that fun energy because
14:01
of the stability so far I'd go I'd go a
14:05
10K a half and for a marathon I think so
14:08
too you know it depends on your
14:10
preference but this one is likely to
14:13
have you smiling all the way it's just
14:16
stable enough which really surprises me
14:18
given the soft foam and so energetic I'm
14:23
going to keep going and try for that
14:25
straa segment up up the road here okay
14:28
second running a Row in our endorphin
14:30
Elite uh number two and it was another
14:33
Beauty so I started out at uh like 930
14:37
Pace uh and then gradually picked it up
14:40
and I got my straa segment PR by a
14:43
second um Ed up at about 902 pace for
14:46
the Run uh which is quite fast for me
14:49
for just going out um the perceived
14:53
effort here is very very low at that at
14:57
the what's kind of my you know slower
14:59
Tempo Paces there is just so much energy
15:02
coming from the the foam and the
15:06
geometry that works with the foam in the
15:08
plate you really you land you bounce you
15:11
roll forward and then a bit of the speed
15:13
Roll Effect off the front it's just very
15:16
very smooth very easygoing and super
15:20
Pleasant this is like an experience as
15:23
much as it's a fast shoe but it's a very
15:25
fast shoe for me anyway I think it'll be
15:28
a fast shoe
15:29
and definitely definitely to be
15:31
considered by the mid-pack runner who
15:33
maybe finds the more rigid firmer plated
15:36
shoes they uh you know they're just too
15:38
much for them but I think it'll also be
15:40
an elite shoe as named by saky I'm sure
15:44
they've tested it uh with their Elites a
15:47
lot because it is really different a
15:50
different experience I would I'm going
15:53
to say and you know maybe I'm all
15:54
excited because I've had such two such
15:57
great runs uh in them so far and I
15:59
haven't gone long long in them but
16:01
they're stable they're plenty stable I'm
16:04
very surprised by that um despite this
16:07
narrow platform underf foot I'm not sure
16:10
why or how but it maybe is because the
16:13
foot is conforming as it rolls forward
16:16
instead of being rigidly kind of locked
16:19
in place so if you're more of a bit more
16:21
of a heel Striker you'll roll through it
16:24
whereas in conventional shoes for
16:26
example for me the alphafly 3 you know
16:29
if I'm not really forward uh they're
16:32
hard to run uh fast but hard to run um
16:35
but I'm going to say um and and there's
16:38
one other I could mention but this one's
16:40
just much more balanced that this is the
16:43
most exciting shoot single shoe that
16:46
I've run since the original vaporfly I
16:48
may change my mind but it is really
16:51
something else it's a different
16:53
experience it's a fast experience it's
16:56
it's really something so we're going to
16:59
have a multitester written review real
17:01
soon for our socony endorphin Elite
17:04
number two completely different than
17:06
number one completely different than any
17:08
other super shoe and I've run most of
17:10
them except the A6 uh meta speed um uh
17:14
Paris Edge or uh Edge or uh sky so it's
17:19
it'll be
17:20
$275 priced like all the other ones in
17:23
this sort of category um it's uh it
17:26
weighs only 7.2 o 203 G in my us uh 8.5
17:31
so about 7.5 ounces in a nine so very
17:34
competitive not the lightest but but
17:37
certainly light enough certainly light
17:38
on foot the magic is the incred Run uh
17:44
TP tpe foam here the super soft and
17:48
super energetic foam uh thank you very
17:51
much for watching oh yeah and I I should
17:54
mention before that bunion issue much
17:57
less today it may just been a sock issue
18:00
uh today I'm wearing some compressed
18:01
Sport with their you know their PFT uh
18:04
fibers uh reducing friction so I'm not
18:07
didn't have as an issue today although
18:09
it was only a 4 mile run so thank you
18:12
very much for watching have a great run
18:15
and lots of smiles
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