Cushioning Shoes - Please help educate

I have done well with Brooks Glycerine---have tried Nike Vomero and was with Asics Nimbus for a long time---the Glycerines are better, for me anyway.

Adidas Ultra Boost

Skechers Gorun Ultra Road

The Altra Torin 3.0 has quite a bit of cushion. The Altra Olympus 2.5 is a trail runner that some people use for road running. That one has a lot of cushion.

Altra's claim to fame is that all of their shoes have 0 mm heel to toe drop. I've run for years in shoes (usually minimalist shoes) with not much heel to toe drop, but a couple of days ago I bought the Altra Lone Peak 3.5 which is a moderately cushioned trail runner. I haven't run in them yet, but the zero drop feels strange to me even compared to barefoot or Vibram 5 Fingers. I think I'll get used to them, but zero drop with that much cushion is a new sensation for me.

Rerunner wrote:

The Altra Torin 3.0 has quite a bit of cushion. The Altra Olympus 2.5 is a trail runner that some people use for road running. That one has a lot of cushion.

Altra's claim to fame is that all of their shoes have 0 mm heel to toe drop. I've run for years in shoes (usually minimalist shoes) with not much heel to toe drop, but a couple of days ago I bought the Altra Lone Peak 3.5 which is a moderately cushioned trail runner. I haven't run in them yet, but the zero drop feels strange to me even compared to barefoot or Vibram 5 Fingers. I think I'll get used to them, but zero drop with that much cushion is a new sensation for me.

It feels strange because the heel sinks down in all that cushioning (even if you land on your forefoot first), so the dynamic offset will be negative.

Recommend Hoka Bondi 4 ( if you can find them) and Bondi 5.

The ultra boost are the only cusioned ones I would recommend, but I haven't tried Brooks or Saucony yet. And that recommendation comes with caveats. Nike Lunar tempo may also be plausible but it is very soft. The Zante is a good lightweight. The NB 1060 v6, v7 and Vongos are too stiff for mid distance runners as are the Hoka Clayton 2s.

Is the Altra Escalante any good or is it all hype?

I use the New Balance 1080. They use the Fresh Foam technology now. I love them,

I should have mentioned the Altra Paradigm 3.0 in the other post. That's their most cushioned regular running shoe.

Thank you so much for your responses. You have given me a lot of choices to think about. I briefly looked up each shoe and i like the way they all look. The soles all look like they will absorb a lot of the impact energy.

Two more questions:

1. What do u think the best value priced cushioning shoe is?

2. Upon more internet research, i found this site:

https://runrepeat.com/ranking/rankings-of-maximalist-running-shoes

. I noticed a few of the group's suggestions on this list. Is this a good list? What do you think about the Merrell at #6?

Thanks again for your help!

I looked on the site with the 22 shoes list---searched Brooks Glycerin which got a score of 93---but not on the list? Is Glycerin not considered maximal?

Just strap a pair of pillows on your feet. Seriously.

Seems like it should be on the list. Here's Runners World's description of it:

https://www.runnersworld.com/shoe/brooks-glycerin-15-mens

Hoka Tracer

Thanks, all, for all your suggestions. You have given me a lot of really good choices. I look forward to trying on some of these shoes.

Thanks! happy thanksgiving.