Brooks Levitate 3 vs Bedlam 2 vs Ricochet 2 Running Shoe Comparison Review

Helping guide your running shoe selection for 2020, Josh highlights the similarities and differences between three members of the Brooks Energise family; the Brooks Bedlam 2, Brooks Levitate 3 and the Brooks Ricochet 2.

All these Brooks road running shoes feature an energy-returning DNA AMP midsole to spring you into every stride.

Brooks cater to different running styles, allowing road warriors to fit the right shoe to the right foot – whether you need a slightly supportive high mileage running shoe like the Bedlam 2, neutral high mileage running shoe like the Levitate 3 or a neutral responsive speed shoe like the Ricochet 2.

Check out the review with full transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh here from Sportitude and today we're doing a shoe review on the Brooks Energise running family. We’ve got three shoes that we’re going to talk about. We’ve got the Bedlam 2, the Ricochet 2 and the Levitate 3.

All of them offer the DNA AMP cushioning system, which is a combination of polyurethane and TPU, packed into a midsole which essentially offers a bit of cushioning and lots of responsiveness. Although they are similar shoes in regard to the execution, they do target different runners.

In no particular order, we are going to grab them and talk to you about what runner should potentially consider each and every one of these shoes.

I will dive into one thing straight off the bat. They are all on an 8mm heel-to-toe drop and they all come in standard widths.

When we’re talking standard widths, we’re talking B in ladies’ and D in men’s. It’s important to know because if you have a slightly broader foot, you can put a line in these for both men’s and women’s.

Without further ado we’ll get stuck in.

Brooks Bedlam 2   

We’re going to show you the Brooks Bedlam 2. For all three shoes we’ll go through the outsole, midsole and upper and talk about what they do.

Outsole

First things first, let’s talk about the outsole of the Bedlam 2. We’ve got a full ground contact construction. The outsole is purchased with the ground the whole way through the gait cycle - heel, midfoot, forefoot.

There is no intrusion from Trusstic beams that come into play because it doesn’t need it. The wide base through the heel is designed give as much grab with the ground as possible for the heel striker. If you happen to be a midfoot runner you’re going to get a nice purchase with the ground as well.

As we come in through the forefoot we have one, two, three, four flex grooves, one being a little bit earlier than toe-off phase.

I would argue if you had another flex groove it would be too flexible and you’d loose a bit of support. On the flipside, if you took out one of these flex grooves it would be too stiff and just wouldn’t perform that well.

Midsole

Coming through to the midsole which is essentially where most of the talking point is in the Bedlam 2, you’ve got GuideRails. GuideRails which is this black line around here, sits on top of the DNA AMP cushioning system.

GuideRails are essentially Brooks dynamic support system which they introduced many years ago with the Brooks Transcend, then they’ve rolled it over to the Brooks Adrenaline and they also have exciting stuff coming with other shoes in future.

GuideRails is a technical support system which is going to work when required. If you do overpronate it provides a little assistance to cater to that mild overpronator.

No surprises with pronation in the marketplace. A lot of brands have identified that pronation is not a bad thing, it is natural.

What we want to do with a runner is slow down that rate of pronation, that velocity of movement. We don’t want to stop or restrict the range of movement, we just want to slow it down. That is essentially what GuideRails have been able to do, which is fantastic.

Upper

Coming to the upper, what we have is a knitted construction, so a  nice and strong forefoot hold. Coming through to the midfoot, it’s got a nice piece of depth through that arch area as well.

We’ve got an internal heel counter with a little bit of foam which sits on the back of that Achilles. I like that add-on. Inside the collar it’s not too padded, but it’s just that little bit of extra thickness at the back which will give your Achilles extra comfort on that insertion point to your heel.

There you have it, that’s the Brooks Bedlam 2 – a very nice take on a slightly supportive running shoe which is going to cater to the high mileage runners out there.

Brooks Levitate 3

Moving onto the next shoe in the range. We’re going to go high mileage neutral and show you the Brooks Levitate 3. This shoe was the first of the Energise series going back three seasons now where Brooks decided to execute this midsole.

There hasn’t been any change whatsoever on the midsole component. There has been some subtle execution on how it looks and presents, especially in the ladies' you can see the colour variance between the midsole there and the midsole over here. 

With the Levitate, we are going to go through the outsole, midsole and the upper.

Outsole

Let’s talk about the outsole first. It’s not too dissimilar with what you see with the Brooks Bedlam.

You’ve got full ground contact, a subtle change in regard to the midfoot section. The Bedlam is a fraction more stable through midstance than the Levitate. However, being a little narrower is OK because this is targeted to a neutral to slightly supinated foot type, so you can sacrifice a bit of medial support through the outsole on this shoe.

We have one, two, three, four flex grooves. Again, I’ll harp on the fact that if you have one more flex groove in this running shoe it’d be too flexible and if you took one away it’d be too stiff. They’ve been really cautious on how they’ve executed that outsole and that midsole construction.

Midsole

It features a DNA AMP cushioning system on an 8mm offset. It has a great combination of feeling soft and plush underneath your foot but with that snappy feel on toe-off.

You get the cushioning on that vertical point of contact with the ground but as you come through mid to toe-off, the toe-off feel on this is very responsive. It has a nice popping feel to it as you go through the last phase of your gait cycle.

Upper

Now, talking about the upper. Again, it has a very similar execution to the Bedlam. We’ve got the knitted execution up top, a nice bit of depth through the arch area, and as you come through the heel counter it is almost identical to the Bedlam.

It’s got the lining on the inside and internal construction so it’s going to hold that heel in nice and stable as you make the first purchase with the ground. There is a lot about the execution of this shoe that is very similar to the Bedlam, it is just targeting a different runner.

The Levitate is targeting neutral to supinator, and for the Bedlam neutral to mild overpronator, so two different runners to consider.

Brooks Ricochet 2

Now going through to the final shoe of the Energise range and it is the Brooks Ricochet 2. The Ricochet 2 is a unique design. The reason being is the DNA AMP cushioning sits on top of the BioMoGo midsole, but we will get that in two ticks.

Outsole

Talking about the outsole first up, it’s very similar to the Levitate and the Bedlam. It has full ground contact and there is no intrusive Trusstic beam through the midstance section, so you get a nice purchase to the ground and a smooth transition the whole way through the gait cycle.

Midsole

As I touched on, the DNA AMP sits on top of the BioMoGo midsole. It’s unique because you get the cushioning from the BioMoGo technology, but the DNA AMP technology will provide that responsive feel.

Why have they done that and not gone in reverse? The reason is this shoe isn’t necessarily a high mileage shoe. Certainly you can run plenty of kilometres in it no question, but this has come into this category to provide an alternative speed shoe, session shoe or maybe a second shoe for someone looking for substantial cushioning support but wants a really responsive feel to their running form.

That's why this shoe has landed in this market. It is almost like a Brooks Launch with a slightly more cushioned feel to it. What we’ve experienced on the shop floor is that the Launch has a unique feel, but it sort of loses that subtleness in cushioning.

When someone might be contemplating getting a second shoe that they can do some speedwork in but are not sure what to look at, in theory the Launch is a great alternative. However, the comfort might be a little off because it doesn’t have that soft feel they're used to.

That is where this shoe enters that category. It has that element of cushioning but that performance base where it is a responsive feel underneath your foot.

Upper

Coming through to the upper, it has a similar concept to the other two where it’s a knitted construction. However, it is a little bit different in regard to the execution of laces.

The laces come ever so slightly further down the forefoot. We’re only talking about a couple of additional millimetres, but it still remains nice and deep through the midsection.

Coming back to the back of this shoe, it has an internal heel counter which is nice and stable. On the inside, it has a nice lining of foam to give you extra cushioning and comfort.

It doesn’t have the increased padding in the back of the Achilles like the Bedlam and the Levitate does, but it doesn’t need it. It has enough there to give you comfort inside and around the back of the heel.

There you have it guys, that’s the Brooks Energise family for the first half of 2020. Watch this space because I know Brooks are looking to take this concept, evolve it and make it better.

They’ve sat on similar engineering now for a couple of seasons and no doubt they’re workshopping on what they are going to do next with this product. It’s going to be pretty exciting potentially in the back half of 2020 and into 2021.

Right now as it stands, if you fit this category and you’re looking for something that has a bit of cushioning to it and some responsiveness, consider looking at the DNA AMP technology from the Brooks Energise family.

Thanks for watching guys. If you haven’t subscribed to our Sportitude YouTube channel, please do so. If you have any questions or comments about these shoes, please contact our Sportitude shoe experts.

Until next time, happy running.