Brooks Glycerin 15 Running Shoe Review

Reinvent the way you hit the pavement with the latest member of the Brooks Glycerin family, the Brooks Glycerin 15 running shoes.

Josh shares his insight into this popular neutral running shoe that comes in a variety of widths to deliver the perfect fit to your natural foot shape.

It's no secret why the Brooks Glycerin 15 is a highly anticipated favourite. With its technical features including Brooks Super DNA, an optimal heel to toe gradient, 4 way stretch for snug security and supportive heel counter, the Brooks Glycerin 15 sets the bar high for its competitors.

Check out the full review with transcript below.

Hi guys, welcome to Sportitude. Josh here again for yet another shoe review.

This time we are going to be touching on the Brooks Glycerin 15 which is their premium neutral running shoe in that category.

I don’t like to be biased but it’s easily one of my favourite shoes to fit and the main reason being is it’s got a number of width offerings, pending on the colour of course because unfortunately not all widths are available in specific colours.

I’ll quickly touch on the women’s. With the women’s width offering you’re looking at a narrow 2A, B and also a D. You get three widths in that category, B being the standard and D being a little bit wider.

In the men’s we are looking at a B which is narrow, D which is standard and they also offer a 2E width which is fantastic.

From our perspective when someone comes into the shop and they’re a neutral foot type, have a higher pitched arch or an orthotic which doesn’t require any extra support on the base of the shoe, having three widths in both categories makes our life a lot easier in terms of fitting the shoe itself.

If you have any questions or queries on widths please don’t hesitate to email me, [email protected] and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can with how to assess your width offering.

The Glycerin 15 is available as of June 2017. We’ve come from the Glycerin 14 which has been a great shoe for us not only in store but online as well.

In terms of the feature structure changes between the two, again it is one of those shoes Brooks don’t want to tweak too much year in year out because you’re going to lose a lot of faithful runners that have been using the Glycerin throughout the years.

I’ll touch on the subtle changes looking at the 15 very quickly. I’ll go to the men’s version. Technically this wasn’t ticked off by Brooks but we put a ruler to it and had a look. We have come up with the understanding that the midfoot base is a little bit wider and we are only talking 1.5mm here.

We’re thinking 1.5mm, is it worth touching on? Yes, it is. When you’re running having a little more shoe creating a slightly wider more stable base through midstance makes life a lot easier. The midstance is the part of your running or walking gait where the force and the weight is on one leg because your other leg is picked up and in the gait cycle.

Another feature which I’ll touch on is the extra flex groove stability through the forefoot. The Glycerin 14 which is obviously the shoe the 15 superseded, had six flex screws through the forefoot.

They almost looked identical to what the Glycerin 15 has happening, but you can see where your first metatarsal joint or your big toe joint is sitting, there’s a little bit of encapsulated outsole.

What that does is when the foot is going from midstance and then toe off, having that little bit of extra stability in the outsole configuration makes your life a lot easier when you’re picking your foot up and putting it down again.

You won’t load up that big toe too much. You don’t want to inflame that little guy, he’s an important joint in the foot system and you want to make sure that you’re not overloading it and picking it up and putting it down for the next gait cycle.

One thing I’d also like to touch on is the cushioning system. Brooks have used a cushioning system for the last couple of seasons called Super DNA. Super DNA is their technical cushioning system. They use silicon particles broken down and injected into the midsole itself. The cushioning system is essentially the same as what they use in the Glycerin 14.

From my perspective and a few of the guys and girls that have tried them on the store, it does feel a little bit softer under the foot. Whether it’s a good thing of a bad thing, the jury’s out on that.

If you have a softer shoe the worry is it may wear out a little faster but we haven’t found that with the Super DNA in the past. When the shoe itself has come in from Brooks and they’ve still got their Super DNA technology and it feels little softer, it still held its miles pretty well.

The other reason I touch on that is brands can increase the height of the outsole which is the base of the the shoe to make the shoe feel a little bit softer underneath, but Brooks haven’t done that with the Glycerin 15. The thickness of the outsole is the same in the Glycerin 15 as it was in the previous 14.

Let’s talk about the offset or the heel to toe gradient. You’ve got a stack height of 24mm in the heel versus 14mm in the forefoot. That’s a heel to toe difference of 10mm. You’ve got a nice heel to toe gradient, nothing too flat.

24mm under the heel is substantial amount of shoe. It will provide plenty of crash pad cushioning support as the foot comes down. As you come through to toe off obviously you don’t want too much shoe through the forefoot hence that slight gradient.

Touching on the 15 and where it’s come from in the upper from the 14, 13 and 12. The actual 15 is a slightly shallower fit. We found going back to the 14 the toe box was quite generous in the forefoot, there’s plenty of toe space and you can wiggle your toes quite easily. You didn’t have that restriction through there.

The fit is different in the 15. It’s a more secure fit through the forefoot but they can do that with the 4 way stretch. Again a snug fit in the forefoot but having this shoe able to give and adapt a little bit just gives you a customised fit through that forefoot. It’s a great feature.

Also, I want to touch on the heel counter support. The internal heel counter is stable and strong. You don’t want to lose out on heel counter support because the upper of the shoe plays such an important role, and not only due to the cushioning system. When your foot comes down you really want it to be stable and get your foot locked in that back position with a nice internal heel counter.

One thing I absolutely love with the Brooks range is their foam or the lining they use. In the Glycerin it’s really soft, it's plush and probably one of my favourite heel counters. I say that because I don’t want to come across as being biased or don’t want to persuade you into a shoe that maybe isn’t right for you.

For me I just love how that shoe fits and feels through the back. It’s so plush, it’s so comfortable to put your foot in and you get a really secure fit through that back half.

I want to touch on the early days feedback on the Glycerin 15 from the customers that have come in store, tried it on and purchased it and a few guys who work for us that have ran in this shoe.

Feedback is that it is a little bit softer underneath the foot. Super DNA cushioning has evolved over the last few years. They’ve been able to make the shoe feel a little softer which is great.

The other major feature is the security in the upper and how that foot gets that hugging secure feel through the midfoot right through the toe. It’s nice and snug, you put your foot in and you know your foot has plenty of security.

A little bit softer and more security in the upper. Two great features. I rate this shoe highly.

Thank you for listening and that's a wrap. Happy running guys and we’ll see you next time.