I was reading about the new Saucony Kinvara Pro, and it seems to check a lot of the boxes I look for in a trainer, but I've never used a plated shoe for easy mileage before. Anyone tried it or a similar shoe out and have thoughts? Especially curious about durability, I usually run in the Hoka Clifton or Bondi, but if I could get a couple hundred extra miles out of the Kinvara Pros, it would make the price difference worthwhile.
bump, i wanna know too
I don't really see the point.
Are they just for people who are obsessed with making their "easy" runs look faster on Strava?
my buddy who is decently fast wears them. He has the nike version. He takes his training really seriously so carbon insoles is probably good
Have trained in the Nike Zoom Fly 4 (carbon dailyish trainer), Invincible 2, and Asics Superblast. I can say If someone only wants to buy one pair of shoes that they can train in and also maybe pick up the pace and even perhaps race in, then yes, something like the ZF4 would definitely be worth the money. However, for athletes with at least 2 shoes in their rotation it would kind of become useless as it has for me. I consistently see myself grabbing superblasts/invincibles for easy runs while threshold or faster I just seem to go with the vaporfly. If you want something cheaper than a true supershoe though it can definitely work.
I'm curious what people think here. I'm past my competitive prime and I run all my mileage in carbon plate shoes for the improved recovery. If you aren't concerned about the cost premium I don't see a downside to super shoes as a daily trainer.
I'll occasionally wear some old alphafly on an easy run. Esp if I'm doing a double / recovery run and the body is trashed and I'm near the end of training cycle. I wouldn't necessarily say its a lot quicker than a different shoe but it does feel great.
Aren't our feet already weak enough??
I'm not sure if the kinvara pro will get you the durability you are looking for.
As far as daily plated shoes, I'd stick with something that isn't fully carbon. A full carbon plate might be too stiff for daily use and put strain on tendons that aren't prepared for the load. Pebax plates and tpu plates are more forgiving, but still give a nice propulsive ride.
In the end, it's up to you. My current rotation has:
Zoom Fly 5
Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3
2 pair next% v2
2 pair of Alphafly v1
Some of these are at end of life as racers, but are still good for tempo/Lt work. The Zoom Fly 5 is the only plated "daily" shoe after I retired a pair of Boston 11s, but the Zoom Fly gave me bad Achilles issues. I wear regular trainers for all things not involving speed/tempo work. I'm currently loving Adios Pro as the shoe I reach for tempo stuff.
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