Over the years I’ve had a good variety of running shoe brands but I keep coming back to Saucony. You might think this will therefore be a glowing Saucony OMNI ISO 2 review but please read on.
These are decent, proper running shoes, not fancy pants trainers to pose and look cool in. Just as well with the abuse they get from me. In fact you can see from the photo I didn’t waste any time putting them through their paces back in the autumn when I got the latest pair. Since then I’ve clocked up a few hundred miles and now’s probably a good time to write a review.
The Saucony OMNI ISO 2 shoes are ideal for runners who pronate (this is where your foot rolls inwards slightly) and apparently “we” pronaters are pretty common. Well, when I say “common” I mean there are lots of us, not that we are “common” in the other sense of the word….
Reading the official Saucony website about these shoes, they are supportive shoes suitable for road and trail running. I agree with that and as you will know by now, I like the break the rules and push things to the limit.
What about the fit?
Here are my feet, sorry if this sight puts you off. The point is my feet are pretty average – not too thin, not too fat – so the Sauconys fit me very, very well. They feel very comfortable and having tried many different brands (Asics, Brookes etc), I keep coming back to Saucony.
When I bought these, I got them from Up & Running in Milton Keynes. They suggested getting a half size bigger than my normal shoes size. The reasoning is our feet tend to spread out and expand a little after a longish run. Having tried that, I think this is good advice!
How do they feel?
The good bits are – feeling sure footed, well balanced and a natural extension of my feet.
The not-so-good side – they aren’t as softly cushioned as previous versions. In other words it feels like I need to let a bit of air out of the tyres for a slightly softer ride.
They are well balanced and my feet seem to do what I want them to do: I land securely and confidently over all kinds of terrain. The OMNIs feel responsive and natural, not like having uncontrolable, cumbersome lead weights on your feet.
Anything else?
Yep. Having said all those nice things, the ride is a bit hard, but they do seem to be wearing extremely well, much better than normal. Looking at the slightly worn tread pattern, I can see how the shoe corrects my moderate pronation and they’re wearing slower than I’d normally expect; I guess this is the trade with sacrificing some of the cushioning.
Just as well they’re proving durable as I always push to the wear limits. The normal rule-of-thumb is to replace running shoes every 600 miles. Myself, I tend to press on until I start getting tell-tale aching knees and that’s always a sign of an imminent trip to a running shoe shop (on occasions this has been over 1,000 miles).
Suitable for
- Average people like me – with average shaped feet
- Moderate to severe over-pronaters
- People who like ghastly colour schemes (especially with the men’s versions)
- Parkrun to marathon runners
- Road and trail running, light civilised off-road use
Less suitable for
- Trail running in muddy, slippery, sloppy conditions
- Wearing out quickly so you can invest in another pair of luridly coloured shoes
- Poverty stricken posers (expect to pay £100+)