Saucony Kinvara 15 Introduction
The Saucony Kinvara 15 is a lightweight daily trainer that is meant to tackle the easy miles but also factor in the speed work as well.
A breakdown of the Kinvara 15 is quite simple: the shoe is a basic design which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The shoe has a nice low profile upper it wraps around the foot like a glove but it is not restrictive. There is thin layer of padding around the tongue and heel collar which compliments the low profile upper.
The kinvara 15 has a 4mm drop which is considered a low stack. So if you enjoy more ground contact and a firmer ride this will do it.
The more interesting part of the Kinvara 15 is the outsole: there are 2 small pieces of rubber outsole one towards the forefoot and one patch of rubber towards the heel. This is to help cut weight off the shoe. It only weighs in at 6.7 oz for a men’s size 9. That is pretty dang light for a running shoe.
The issue with the majority of the outsole being exposed foam is durability: it most likely will not last as long as other shoes with full length rubber outsoles.
Although Saucony uses the PWRRUN midsole foam which is know to be firm and durable and requires a break in period to really help soften it up a touch so time will tell if the exposed foam outsole will last. So far no issues at 50+ miles.
There is not any crazy technology built into the shoe it is tailored for easy miles and speed miles and the Kinvara 15 does exactly what Saucony designed it to do. I just did a review of the Asics Hyper Speed 4 and I would say the Kinvara 15 and Hyper Speed 4 fit perfect into the same niche of running.
I tried to decide which one I liked better and I honestly could not decide.
The Kinvara 15 is priced at only 120 dollars so that’s hard to beat especially for the casual runner who is not picky about what shoe they wear. There is definitely some value there in regards to the use of the shoe and the price.
Saucony Kinvara 15 First Impressions
When I received the Saucony Kinvara 15 on my door step I have to be honest I was not overly excited.
I have ran in the Kinvara 13s and I did not enjoy them. I just did not have a solid place for them in my shoe rotation. So I was imagining the same thing for the Kinvara 15.
My first impression of the Kinvara 15 when trying them on I immediately knew that Saucony added a touch more cushioning but still not enough to my liking.
I had a track workout the following day so during that workout I had to achieve 8 reps of 300 meters hitting 50 seconds each time and I was able to manage that every rep.
The shoes felt light and they could hand the 5 min average pace over 300 meters without any issues. I will definitely keep using them on track days.
Saucony Kinvara 15 Upper
The fit of the Kinvara was nice it is nothing overwhelming it slips on nice and when lacing up it fits like a comfortable glove. That could be due to what Saucony calls their “super responsive sock liner” I guess I did not notice it being responsive but it did make the upper of the shoe fit nice!
It is light weight so as one can imagine the shoe is very breathable. It is a simple design really nothing too crazy to target in this category nothing to complain about either.
I really enjoyed the fit and how comfortable it was. I specifically chose to wear the Kinvara 15 during the birth of my second child last week because of how comfortable the upper feels when laced up! So that must be saying something.
Saucony Kinvara 15 Sole Unit
The sole unit is personally one of my cons. To start there is not enough cushioning in my opinion. It is a low profile shoe but you can definitely notice ground contact. It is not uncomfortable it just does not help when you start to run over 10 miles in them.
Stability is fine there were not any issues there.
Traction is another thing I struggled with. As mentioned already the outsole consists of exposed foam and 2 small patches of rubber. I run a lot on farm roads that have a wide shoulder of gravel and when I am avoiding cars and running in that gravel I notice that traction is not the best just due to the majority of the outsole being foam.
The ride is not all that bad there is a good amount of energy return and the Kinvara 15 really helps propel you to stay on your toes.
I did a speed workout that ended up being 9 miles and by the end of it and the following day my calves were on fire because I stayed on my toes during the majority of that run. So that is not a bad thing because it can make you a more efficient runner.
I notice that I stay more in a neutral position when running in the Kinvara 15 where as the majority of the time my feet roll inwards with other shoes with more cushion.
Saucony Kinvara 15 Conclusions
The Saucony Kinvara 15 just does not have a home for me.
I like the idea of primarily using it for the track but even if I have an easy 4 mile run I have a few different options I would prefer that are much more fun to run in.
I could definitely see the benefit and the use for others to use it but for me not so much. I love simply designed shoes so I really do enjoy and like the Kinvara 15 but I would prefer some other options.
Saucony tailors the shoe to be lightweight meant for daily training and speed work and they delivered on that promise so there is not much to complain about here.
