Saucony Endorphin Rift Review. Upper Qualms In Midsole Paradise

[@ericperramond3463]

Agreed on all points; it's the upper. I did do a 30k race in these, and they felt great most of the time, but on descents, hello toe-piggies! These are even tighter up front in the taper than my Peregrines, so it's a no go zone for anything over 10 miles and it had better be only rolling terrain. But, I do love the PBx midsole and the outsole; they came so close, and hope they can re-work it quickly for v2. It is the first shoe design where I wrote directly to Saucony to encourage these kinds of changes! Spot on, guys - CP nails it again!

[@ConversationalPace]

Thanks for watching! I agree, I hope Saucony learns from this one and fixes what I'm sure were a lot of criticisms about the upper.

[@ericperramond3463]

@ConversationalPace Meanwhile, I have a question - you're running Black Canyon 100k. What shoe(s) do you go with? 😒

[@ConversationalPace]

I think there's a lot of shoes that would work well at Black Canyon. If I were racing it next year, I'd probably be considering something like the Nike Ultrafly or something similar

[@dustinmay4498]

It hurts me that some people don't get along with these shoes. I agree with you on the upper lockdown but after 250+ miles I am still enjoying them on most Colorado trails, everything from a 50k to tempo runs on trail, to even some road sections.

[@mtimbroims]

I like the channel and all but I have no idea what you guys are talking about no lockdown on the Rift. Just did a 10 mile run in the Adirondacks (northern NY), it was a technical clusterf**k of mud, roots, rocks, name it and I hit the bottom once in one shoe in a super steep downhill. I just sized up 0.5 and voila 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@ConversationalPace]

I'm envious that this shoe worked so well for you! I know that if one has the right shaped foot for this shoe it would be fantastic, and you hit the jackpot with this one!

[@arjohnstone]

I wore these for the Great Range and most of a 100 in Vermont and I'd agree, they worked well for me on notoriously not awesome NY/NE terrain.

[@RowOfMushyTiT]

Quick hack for this shoe: ◽Re-lace them using the alternative holes located further out on the webbing straps, the lockdown is much better. ◽Change the laces to non-stretchy ones. Before I did this my foot was actually lifting off the footbed every leg lift. Still there are some remaining issues with the shoe: ◽Stability is not that great, easy to twist ankles ◽Wet grip is bad (comparable to Nike 2022) ◽Speedroll is good, but somehow the lateral transition is weird. Like I roll inward heel to outward forefoot v.s the opposite in other shoes. Overall feels like a Tempo trail shoe, the PEBA really comes alive at higher paces. btw. Saucony has just launched new colourways for the Rift, so I doubt we'll see an updated Rift 2 this year.

[@ConversationalPace]

I tried re-lacing them and I think you're right, that would help with the lockdown if the shoe wasn't also a bit short on me. Re-laced and a half size up would likely make it runnable for me. Bummer about no Rift 2 for this year. I'll just patiently wait for the Exodus Ultra 3 to release 😅

[@RowOfMushyTiT]

@@ConversationalPace For me it feels slightly longer than my Nikes for the same size.

[@ConversationalPace]

I must have a wonky heel shape or something 😂

Nice review! I was guessing something like this based on the pictures 😃 I want to see narrower and lower midsole and matryx upper with lacing that extends further towards toes + a decent skin hugging ankle collar. Basically totally different shoe 😂

[@ConversationalPace]

Haha yeah that sounds like an entirely different shoe altogether 😅. Doesn't sound all too far off from a lightweight trail racer that they are working on though!

[@rattgas]

Great review! however they dont run TTS (at least to me). I wear size 10UsM in speedgoat 5 and Nnormal but these saucony rift "El cruce edition" do run smaller. I need to go up half a size (10.5).

[@ConversationalPace]

Shoot, I might have forgotten to mention that as well, but I totally agree with you on sizing. My size 10 definitely felt short as well and would have needed to go up to a 10.5 for the length to be correct. I did have to go down to a 9.5 for the Nnormal Kjerag and am a 10 in the Speedgoat. Thanks for your feedback and mentioning that!

[@loganholmes7814]

you guys should try the exodus ultra 2 very similar outsole and midsole but with a decent upper. im currently running it and the speedgoat 5 right now but the puwerun pb makes hokas eva seem pretty dull.

[@ConversationalPace]

That Powerrun PB foam might be the most fun trail foam on the market right now. Thanks for watching!

[@therson333]

I wanted to love this shoe, but one run left a massive gouge in my achilles. I'd love to see a redesign for a v2

[@ConversationalPace]

Agreed, I do hope Saucony continues to work on this one. Thanks for watching!

[@TrailRunnerReviews]

Just was thinking, if you change the outsole of the Xodus v1,/2 IMO that would knock out the rift and edge. The Xodus has such a great midsole, just needs vibram on the outsole (and swap the laces to less stretch) and it would kill it.

[@ConversationalPace]

You didn't like the Xodus Outsole? I personally haven't had any issues with Saucony's outsole rubber, and don't need the 20-30 dollar Vibram tax 😅

[@joshbrady4740]

Can’t believe that yall love this outsole. Took the rift out on a rainy day here in East Tennessee and it literally would not bite onto anything. On a 3.6 mile trail loop it didn’t once grip onto a rock or root. Slipped on push off every time. I honestly feel like this is the worst trail outsole on any shoe, even worse than Nike rubber. Changed into the adidas agravic speed ultra for the second loop, and even with its very west coast oriented 2.5/3.5mm lugs, it gripped everything. I went out of my way to put it into worse situations than the rift and it stuck every time. Lug depth and configuration aren’t everything, you gotta have a good outsole compound. I hate seeing what would be good trail shoes get wasted with bad outsoles, Saucony has zero wet weather grip, north face has zero durability. They both need to stop the complacency and improve. Salomon used to be in the same boat with wet weather grip but got better with the thundercross and genesis. Sunday day drinking rant over😂😂😂

[@ConversationalPace]

hahaha I definitely didn't log any miles over what you did, so I'm sure our experiences of the outsole were completely different. Appreciate the rant!

[@fraac]

saucony have a lot of shoes like this now. some are great

[@ConversationalPace]

I do appreciate them trying new things and making an attempt to really expand heir trail lineup. Thanks for watching!

[@TrailrunnerTroy]

Worst trail shoe of the year, and I was so excited about a plateless Edge. Unrunnable downhill exactly as you say. Do I want a redesign? No, I want to quell my urge to buy such poorly designed shoes when there are so many great choices out there such as the Salomon S/Lab Genesis or the new Speedland GS:PSG.

[@ConversationalPace]

It's a competitive market for sure. I am such a big fan of this midsole/outsole combo that I really do hope they fix this upper. Thanks for watching!

[@RowOfMushyTiT]

Thanks for saving me $170

[@ConversationalPace]

🤣 That $170 can just be transferred over to a different shoe!

[@RowOfMushyTiT]

@@ConversationalPace Exactly, now I have 170$ free. Maybe put it towards the GS:TAM or sth.

[@ADyess086]

On STP for 80.00