Product Review - Saucony Kinvara 7

I would usually write about a shoe after clocking a certain mileage, but not this. To be absolutely honest, I have only clocked less than 50 KM on this pair, saying that the mileages done includes the recent personal best half marathon time a couple of weeks back. So this pair deserved an exception with an early review write up

Never have I run in the famous Saucony Kinvara series before, when I was preparing for my recent Kyoto Marathon (report here) my training shoes (Nike Lunar Tempo) was already in the 500 KM and the Asics Gel Super J33 would be the race shoe to go with. At about the same time, Saucony announced their latest version of the Kinvara series the Kinvara7 (K7) with EVERUN and that makes me very excited after hearing so many good things about it and secretly hoping the latest iteration of the Kinvara series would come to our shore soon enough for me to put in some miles and maybe to race it in Kyoto

As the race drew closer, Frank informed the K7 would only arrived at our shore somewhere in Q2 2016...oh well!!! That means no K7 for Kyoto. Nevertheless, the shoe finally arrived end March/early April, I quickly texted Frank to keep a pair for me and would picked it up over the weekend and put in a 11 KM run the next day with the usual suspects.

The shoe weights at 7.8 oz for a US size9 with a stack height of 22mm (heel) and 18mm (forefoot) give the shoes a 4 mm heel to toe offset. Unlike the Triumph ISO 2, the EVERUN technology is only inserted at the heel section over the EVA midsole. The outsole sees a complete new layout compare the the earlier versions but continue to use xt900 carbon rubber at the heel area and some high wear and tear sections for durability over the iBR+ material. The combination of the outsole materials are proven across the range of shoes produced by the company.

4 mm Offset it says

xt900 over iBR+ outsole

The upper, although without running in the previous version, I can't tell you the differences / improvements over the earlier version, but really there are no big surprises on the material used for the upper. The breathable mesh used on the upper is well executed with strips of flexfilm overlays just enough to make the shoe looks cool and it also help wraps your feet snugly. Aesthetically, with the logo placed slightly to the front of the shoe helps to create a "moving forward" impression stamping Saucony tag line of "Find Your Strong" which is brilliant. With a wide forefoot, my feet felt comfortably at home even on my first run as the material used meant it is expandable and doesn't create the pressing feel on both side of my feet laterally.

FLEXFLIM

"Moving Forward" with EVERUN

With little less than 50 KM, I would describe the shoe's ride as responsive, firm and stable. The ride is not hard as it has the right amount of cushioning feels from the forefoot to the heel at the same time giving you a stable stride. The running experience is quite pleasant especially when you put the shoes into pace, it was evidenced during my HM race recently as I would be able to hold my stride form for a longer period of time than any pair of shoes I have ran in before. The forefoot area is flexible, giving the toe off performance a big plus while the heel counter offers further stability to keep the feet happy. I would not hesitate one bit training and racing with this ride

My feet doesn't go crazy over shoes that comes with 4mm heel offset, but this one is special, it has all the right recipe to pleased my fussy feet. The slight firmness feel, the cushion and the stability seems to have all the right balance for me at this phase of my running. It will definitely make it to the list of shoe choices for the next marathon, and in fact this is now at pole position!! Yes I'm bias to this one for an obvious reason and yes I paid with my hard earned cash for this pair.

Overall the K7 is a great shoes, the shoe can double up as a trainer as well as your racing shoes. With the light weight and performance, is hard not to put it as a contender for any one of you there when you are shopping for a new pair of running shoes for that even a walking shoes. Now, I can vouch that the K7 does live up to the expectation of the goods that Kinvara series has made famous for.

It is retailing at RM429 and can be found at your local Royal Sporting House. Go grab one, you will not regret investing in this one.