"£200!" exclaimed my fiancée, "That’s a lot of money for running shoes". She had a point, £200 is a lot of money for running shoes, even if they do contain the fabled carbon fibre plate. The crucial matter is whether the £200 is well spent.
Saucony’s Endorphin Edge is a very focused trail running shoe. It aims straight for the top and to be a performance champion among trail running shoes.
We’ve been testing a pair of bold pink Saucony Endorphin Edge shoes in the hilly, varied terrain of Yorkshire to find out how they perform.
Features and design
In line with this shoe’s unshrinking ambitions, the Endorphin Edge (at the time of writing) is available in the UK in two vivid colours for both men’s and women’s versions: Ocean and Prospect Quartz. In other words, very blue and very pink.
The construction of the Endorphin Edge indicates it’s intended for mixed terrain, but leaning more towards rock, gravel and hard-packed trails. The upper is a lightweight and very flexible mesh, intended to offer fantastic breathability. In front of the toes, there is a minor toe cap and light mud guard for minimalist toe protection.
In the bowels of the shoe we know as the midsole, there is a lot going on. It has Saucony’s Speedroll design to try and make forward propulsion as easy as possible. Meanwhile, there is a load of foam cushioning called PWRRUN PB. The abundance of foam does result in quite a tall shoe. It has a stack height of 35mm-29mm respectively, so we’ll see what effect that has.
Along with the foam, the Endorphin Edge has a Carbitex MonoFlex carbon fibre plate. The high-tech name you can ignore, but the important bit you want to pay attention to is its form. MonoFlex manages to be stiff in one direction for foot protection and to give propulsion uphill but flexes the other way to turbocharge your running efficiency and give you downhill stability.
Beneath the midsole there is Saucony’s PWRTRAC outsole with 4mm lugs. The shoe has a moderate drop of 6mm and neutral support.
Performance and comfort
One of the first things you notice about the fit of the Endorphin Edge is the generous toe box. There is ample space for your feet to sit quite naturally, even once they’ve swollen a bit during a run. In fact, you could even opt for half a size down from your regular size. Those who have worn Salomon trail shoes, for example, or even Saucony’s own Peregrine trail shoes will be surprised and impressed by the toe box on the Endorphin Edge.
For those new to the PWRRUN PB foam, it is quite plush and spongy. That would suggest it has a tendency to flatten or compress over time, but throughout our weeks of testing it hasn’t. While the upper is lightweight, it’s reasonably durable. We won’t go so far as to say it’s super tough, but these shoes should ramp up a lot of mileage, provided they’re used across their intended terrain.
We found the Endorphin Edge can cope and grip quite well on soft and muddy ground but doesn’t feel at home on it. It’s better over rock and gravel, but at its best along flatter trails. Therefore, the Endorphin Edge is great for routes that involve a lot of road to trail transition.
The reason for this seems to be that the carbon-plated, PWRRUN PB-foamed, Speedroll midsole is a unit. It’s superb for driving you forward, powering uphill, and providing protection for the foot. But the upper is very flexible and appears to result in the shoe lacking stability on really technical trails. For those looking for long distance trail shoes, these should certainly be on your radar. But for those after a model for complex terrain, these aren’t for you.
Although there is a stability trade-off, one of the major benefits of the lightweight mesh upper is its breathability. It’s tightly woven to keep out dust and grit, but breathes incredibly well, which aids overall comfort appreciably. Indeed, it’s a lightweight shoe full stop, weighing 255g. Saucony has squeezed a lot of design and features into such a lightweight shoe.
Sustainability
The Endorphin Edge is a vegan shoe and ‘contains recycled materials’ but without any elaboration on exactly where. Or how much. Saucony’s sustainability efforts are a bit tricky to determine because there isn’t much detailed or clearly communicated information, even in its parent company’s Corporate Responsibility Report.
Saucony is part of a larger corporation called Wolverine Worldwide. In its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, there was some quantitative evidence of waste and emissions reductions in operations in the USA, but not much throughout the rest of its supply chain.
Saucony is part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, started in 2009 by Patagonia and Walmart. The Coalition uses its own Higg Index to make improvements in most areas including ethics and sustainability. Saucony also uses Leather Working Group-certified leather.
However, some of Wolverine Worldwide’s brands haven’t received particularly glowing results from industry watchdogs such as Good On You or in Fashion Revolution Transparency Index.
Price and competition
Addressing that initial question of price, the Endorphin Edge is more expensive than its chief rival, the Hoka Tecton X. That shoe won our ‘Best trail shoes’ award for 2022 for similar reasons why the Endorphin Edge excels, albeit with better stability.
It’s a curious battle between the two. The Endorphin Edge has more grip and is a better shoe for flatter trails thanks to that wicked midsole. But the Tecton X fights back by being better on uneven ground, and of course, less expensive.
Essentially it comes down to what type of runner you are. If you’re a long-distance trail runner whose trails often involve plenty of road to trail transition, you’ll love the Endorphin Edge. But if you’re one that takes to more technical trails or short runs there are better and cheaper options. These include the Salomon Speedcross 6 GTX, Merrell Agility Peak 4 GTX, or even Saucony’s own Endorphin Trail.
Verdict
The volume of features shoved into Saucony’ Endorphin Edge is impressive for a shoe that weighs as little as it does. That pays dividends on flatter trails where you can pick up the pace and run at speed. That is what this shoe is best for. Even on the road, the Endorphin Edge remains very comfortable.
However, it’s not a shoe for tricky tracks. Sure, the sole can grip on most terrain, but the shoe doesn’t have the stability to cope with really uneven and technical terrain. For that, you’d be better served elsewhere. Additionally, while the Endorphin Edge is vegan, the modest sustainability efforts of the brand might bother you.
Features 5/5 | Fit 5/5 | Comfort 4/5 | In use 4/5 | Value 3/5 | Sustainability 2/5
Overall score: 77%
Pros: Awesome midsole, lots of grip, great for fast runs
Cons: Pricey, brand sustainability could be better
Upper Mesh | Outsole PWRTRAC | Lug size 4mm | Stack height 35mm-29mm | Drop 6mm | Men’s sizes UK 6-14 | Women’s sizes UK 3-10
www.saucony.com