Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18 Running Shoe Review

Treat yourself to a cup of tea as Josh shares his insight into the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18 running shoes, fresh off the shelf.

Brooks have injected this latest evolution of the popular Brooks Adrenaline family with a lighter upper compared to its predecessors and a DNA cushioning system for a soft feel. 

Engineered for support from heel to toe, this running shoe is the ultimate choice for runners with a pronated foot type and is available in numerous widths for the perfect fit.

Check out the full review with transcript below. 

Hi guys, Josh here from Sportitude coming at you with the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18. 

This little guy is one of my favourite updates of 2017 and I don’t say that lightly because I’m a shoe lover. I love a lot of shoes, but this running shoe has got some unbelievable changes which I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into. Without further ado let’s get cracking.

Firstly I’d like to start talking about what foot type fits inside the Adrenaline GTS 18. When we’re looking at this specific shoe in store we're looking at a foot type that rolls in, a pronated foot type. 

To give you a bit of an understanding of a pronated foot type we look at what is happening through the midstance phase. 

When your foot comes down on heel strike, or even if you’re slightly tended to hit more midfoot forefoot as you come through gait transition, does your foot roll in over that arch or does it stay stable and pitched? If it rolls in through that arch this little guy here is a shoe we certainly entertain. 

"Why is that?", I hear you saying at home. It’s because on the medial side of this shoe they’ve got a dual density foam. If I push my thumb on that region it's firmer and tenser being dual density. 

Therefore when the foot is going through that transition phase that doesn’t collapse. It doesn’t give like the lateral side of the shoe which is designed purely on that cushioning impact. Take the weight of your gait cycle and transition through the midfoot on the cushioning side, however on the medial side we're talking about the dual density foam. 

Now coming to the back of the shoe, you can see the slightly darker shade of grey. Not many shoes do this in terms of offering an early heel strike zone support. 

As the foot comes down, that tiny dark slit isn’t quite as firm as the midstance phase but it’s certainly a lot denser than what you get in the cushioning region. 

If that wasn’t there and you’re in heel strike you could tend to come over a couple of degrees, which will put a lot more stress on your midfoot as you go through to toe-off. That’s what that little colour there is if you ever wondered at home. 

The Adrenalin is by far the most consistent shoe in the Brooks range. I wish I had the first addition here to show you because you’d be blown away what can happen in 18 years. 

In terms of this shoe they don’t tweak it too much year in and year out because it has such a massive following globally. If you go back to the drawing board and re-engineer things you’re going to have a huge percentage of runners who have loved this shoe previously who are going to be stuck. 

It’s going to be chaos, chaos in the world. They won't know what to do, they’ll probably go back to barefoot running. 

The upper changes this season are quite dramatic. They’ve gone for a lighter upper but still kept plenty of support for that midstance and navicular region. 

When you put this shoe on it feels like you don’t have anything on top, its really nice. It’s unbelievable how they’ve been able to do that but still keep the support. It has a nice internal heel counter, so obviously you’re getting plenty of support when your foot is coming down through the upper region. 

In terms of the actual cushioning system, we're looking at a DNA which they’ve been using in their running shoes for five years now, give or take. The DNA cushioning system essentially is a silicon blended cushioning system that they sprinkle through the EVA. 

Yes, it's a slightly softer feel on the foot than what we’ve had previously from the Adrenalines, which is not a bad thing. I’m not talking about an astronomical changes here just a slightly softer first fit and feel. What that'll essentially do is, when you go out on the footpath to go for your run it's going to give you a little bit more impact guidance underneath your strike zones. 

One thing I do like about this shoe is that yes, it's targeted for the heel striker. However, I’m a midfoot striker when I go for my runs, and technically in the past I haven’t really found the Adrenaline too comfortable. This is purely and simply because I’ve found the arch support a little bit intrusive when I’m going through my strike zone, which is midstance. However going for a run in the Adrenaline 18, I was blown away by the support.  

The outsole is encapsulated. There’s no Trusstic system, it comes across and breaks up between the heel strike zone and midfoot zone. Therefore when I’m hitting midfoot forefoot I’m getting a consistent feel underneath my foot.

As you're looking at the outsole, take a good look at that forefoot configuration. What we've got in the forefoot is a flex groove from the medial to the lateral side. 

However you’ve got a two thirds flex groove right under your big toe. The reason they encapsulated that outsole is when we’re toeing off, you can see as I’m bending the rubber ever so slightly, that rubber gives that outsole a little bit of support.

If that wasn’t there it'd be really flexible and therefore would defeat the purpose of having that arch support. It’s Brooks way of giving more toe-off support.

The widths are very important to know. The two shoes I’ve got in my hand are the width stories from Brooks. Get ready to go make a cup of tea because there’s a lot to talk about here. 

We’ve got a B which is narrow in the men’s and then it goes to a standard D, a 2E and a 4E. That’s four widths, that’s massive. 

In women’s we’ve got a 2A which is narrow, we have B which is standard and we’ve got a D, and then they offer a 2E as well for a broader foot type.

At home you might be sitting there going "2E, there’s not many shoes in women’s sizes available in 2E".  Well, it’s great that this little guy comes in 2E. 

It’s sad to say this, but in the past we’ve had ladies come in and they’ve got broad forefoots, and in cases we’ve had to look at men’s shoe to make the shoes feel comfortable for them. 

However, it's fantastic the Adrenaline GTS 18 is available in 2E. It allows the lady to wear a cosmetically driven shoe, a pretty shoe and get the width they’re after.

There you have it guys, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 18. Brand spanking new shoe, love it.

If you’re a pronated foot type and haven’t used it before, get it on your foot. If you’ve been an Adrenaline user before you’ll be pleasantly surprise with this shoe. 

It’s important to know the RRP on this shoe has dropped $20. Brooks have dropped it from $240 to $220, which is fantastic. They’ve improved the shoe but they’ve also made it a little bit cheaper. Win-win. 

Happy running guys, well see you next time.