Fast Running’s Gill Bland is a marathoner by trade so gets plenty of mileage in to test some shoes for us, with the latest being a review of the Saucony Ride ISO 2.

I have to come clean and say I’ve never trained in Saucony before, so when the chance to test them out arose (these were provided by Saucony for the purpose of this review) I was happy to try the company that heavily supports British club running.

Saucony sponsor the British Milers club, have supported Jo Pavey (the woman, the legend), Charlotte Arter (parkrun World Record holder) and National Cross Country amongst many others. They are a grass-roots brand and for that I salute them.

Don’t judge a shoe by it’s cover

First I have to ‘doff my cap’ to Saucony for making me like a trainer that otherwise I might have ignored in my local running shop. Let me explain why.

The ‘Isofit upper and Formfit technology’ equate to a very padded ankle-hold, cushioned tongue and flexible knit-type material that firmly but flexible holds the foot in place.

Basically it doesn’t look like a light shoe, despite the fact that at 279g/248g it is actually lighter than my Nike Pegasus 33 (283g/252g) and the Gel Nimbus (307g/255g) which, if looks where all I were going on, I would put in the same realm.

However, in the first five days of owning the Ride ISO 2 I ran 50 miles in them. That possibly tells you all you need to know. These shoes made me want to get out there and they made me want to choose them as my tool of choice.

From the box to the road

There is no break-in period required with the Ride ISO2, never once did I feel anything other than utter comfort. This seems to be a common experience too, a quick search of other’s views suggests that this is a shoe that suits a wide range of feet.

Unlike some of its rivals the Ride ISO 2 didn’t feel like the Powerfoam/Everun combo leeched energy in order to provide softness, though it also didn’t seem to offer any kind of energy return. This is the Mondeo of shoes, not the Mustang. But y’know James Bond drove a Mondeo once and he got that workhorse doing some cool tricks.

Looking back at the Strava titles I’ve assigned to these shoes over the last few months the big takeaway is that these shoes made me enjoy the journey: “headspace and miles”, “picturesque” or “pondering runcommute” sum up the kind of running that they lend themselves to.

It is a well known fact that Gill like to include police cars in her pictures, this one is undercover.  Photo: Gill Bland

I’ve never yet managed to persuade myself to do any kind of effort in them. It would be interesting to compare these to the Kinvara, which is a slightly lighter offering and looks to be more likely to inspire speed.

The tagline for the Ride ISO 2 is “endless comfort” and at 214miles, with no signs of wear, that’s looking to be pretty on the money. A previous iteration of the marketing line went for “reliable comfort” which makes them sound more like your favourite saggy jumper but is equally apt. I can see why they changed it, but they’re not wrong.

No drama. Get them on, get out there.

Miles run in testing: 214

Weight: 279 / 248g
Heel-toe drop: 8mm
Price: RRP £120 but if you’re smart you can fine them for around £60 at the moment

Pros

They make you want to run.
No break-in required.
Super durable = value for money.

Cons

They don’t make you want to run fast.
Might get a little sweaty in warmer weather due to padding.
On the heavier end of the spectrum.

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