As for the ride, testers find the Saucony Guide 15 pleasant. They report it’s an efficient, durable, and versatile running shoe. Part of the confident fit comes from the foam padding around the heel cup and collar. Saucony added a soft, memory foam-like pad that creates a plush step-in feel but also gives you a snug, no-slip fit.

Stability shoes are not normally super plush, they tend to have hard, plastic medial posts under the arch, or stiff midsole foams, and the Guide 14 is no exception to this. I only had this issue in the heel though, midfoot and forefoot fit well, and I was able to run no problem in the shoe other than the small annoyance of my heel slipping. Boring looks Essentially, this is a lighter and less intrusive version of a medial post, and although I could sometimes notice it preventing the excessive inward rolling of my feet – particularly during the latter part of my runs where my gait tends to worsen due to fatigue – I didn't find it invasive. I also love how light the Guide 16 is for a stability shoe, which made it really enjoyable to run in. At 221g, it's around 50g lighter than the Asics Gel-Kayano 29 (another stability shoe) and lighter than many neutral shoes, for example the Nike Pegasus 40 and Adidas Ultraboost Light (both 240g). As a runner who overpronates, I tend to wear support/stability shoes for the bulk of my miles, and have found the Guide 16 suits me really well. I've run around 60km in the shoe so far during a range of sessions, including long runs, recovery runs, interval sessions and a few tempo runs.I think this is a great shoe for recovery days and long runs where you just want to dial into a pace and zone out. The stability elements weren’t overdone and I really like seeing what different brands are doing to the stability shoe in the last couple of years. The outsole consists of different densities of rubber—one firm for support, the other softer in the front. The grip is good on dry roads and less technical and wet terrain. The durability seems good, according to the testers. The plush shoelaces (that my cat likes playing with while I put the shoe on), anticipate the padded comfort of the rest of the upper.

The pronation control, provided by the Hollow Tech support frame positioned along the sidewalls at the heel and forefoot, is excellent. The 14 has a slightly different look this year, offering a bit more cushion to the tongue yet less around the heel than in the past, with more reflective material added to a similar-looking upper. Pronation is the natural inward roll of your foot as you land and begin the transition to your forefoot, but it can become a problem if you pronate too much. This excessive pronation can prematurely wear out the inside edge (called the medial side) of your shoes, which over time creates an unstable platform to run on. The Guide 14 gets its stability from a traditional medial post. Anyone who overpronates or who regularly wears stability running shoes will be familiar with the idea behind Saucony’s TPU guidance frame. While neutral running shoes don’t use additional structure, stability shoes like the Guide 14 use the extra technology to help mitigate the effects of overpronation.

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I personally don’t like stiff heels, they don’t work for my foot, and the result is noticeable heel slipping. On top of the mesh, Saucony added lightweight overlays to provide extra structure. The minimal overlays fan out across the midfoot, which helps the mesh maintain its shape and improves the shoe’s overall secure feeling when you tighten the laces. New Balance’s 860 is also a comparable shoe, with a 10 mm. drop and similar weight, in the half-size larger 860 that my foot needs. My first run in the shoe actually felt refreshingly light as I had been running in Gaviota 3. I ran some fast-paced intervals amid traces of melting snow from spring! The sidewalls of the midsole feature discreet cutouts. Hollow-Tech TPU technology adds to stability.

I was somewhat let down at how the ride didn’t match the weight and profile. This was very apparent when I tried taking these out on faster efforts. I can appreciate a shoe with a firm ride, but this just didn’t have any pep to get me moving off my feet. I did not run in the 14s, but I can’t imagine how heavy feeling these used to be. Personally I’d prefer a dual-density foam design over a TUP medial post, but I’m not a stability runner most of the time so the need for rigid support is not at the top of my list. Just a note, these laces feel insanely slippery in your fingers, I actually struggled to double-knot them and had to try a few times just because they kept slipping out of my hands.I was expecting a firmer medial experience through the midfoot transition, but it wasn’t as prominent as I thought it would be,” he says. “Overall, it feels more adaptable than your traditional stability shoe.” The 860 has a more streamlined cut and seems to bring me onto my toes more readily than the Guide, with Guide 14 providing a more substantial-feeling base underfoot.