Saucony Ride 13 vs Ride ISO 2 Comparison Shoe Review

Josh reviews the Saucony Ride 13 running shoes, a versatile ride with the durability and comfort to tackle high mileage sessions out on the road and an energised feel to shake up your routine with tempo training when you’re keen to pick up the pace.

It offers heel striker friendly engineering with hard-wearing carbon rubber at the first contact point with the ground while staying true to the flex groove configuration of the Saucony Ride ISO 2.

When weighed up against the Saucony Triumph 18, it trades in the ultra-plush PWRRUN+ midsole for the firmer and more responsive PWRRUN midsole for runners that prefer a snappier pop on toe-off and unobtrusive cushioning. 

Saucony have put runner feedback into play, discarding the ISOFIT lockdown for a more traditional upper design and lacing system. It offers a deep and structured heel counter with just-right padding to hug your rearfoot in place like a seatbelt.

Check out the review with full transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh here from Sportitude and it's shoe review time. We're going to be talking all things Saucony Ride 13. This shoe has had quite the makeover from its predecessor the Saucony Ride ISO 2.

Like all my shoe reviews we're going to touch on the outsole, midsole and upper. We're going to profile the runner that should be considering the shoe with regards to mileage and their foot type and talk about the engineering changes from its predecessor.

Hopefully it’ll give you enough information at home to help you add this into your shoe rotation. Without further ado, let's get stuck in.

Runner Profile

Profiling the foot type that could be considering the Ride 13, we're talking about a neutral runner or an under pronator. It’s the runner that comes down on contact to midstance with most the pressure on the central part of the foot or to the lateral side as they go through their gait cycle to then get ready to toe-off.

However, we've had a bit of success with the Ride 13 with some mild overpronators and that's myself included. I've done a few runs in this shoe and I really like what I feel underneath my foot. I happen to have a slight bit of overpronation as I go through midstance.

We're selective with regards to putting someone with this foot type that needs a little bit of medial support inside the Ride 13. It's not for everyone but if you're a runner that overpronates and you've fought with arch support for a few years, you might want to get fitted to make sure that you can slip yourself into the Ride 13 with success.

Talking about the Ride 13 and the mileage that's within this shoe. It isn't as cushioned as the Saucony Triumph 18. It is a slight step down with regards to where it sits in their total range. It is a very similar shoe with regards to the heel-to-toe offset and the support it's offering.

However, being a slightly lighter shoe with the PWRRUN midsole, not the PWRRUN+ which is in your Triumph 18, you’re going to get enough cushioning underneath your foot. If you're a runner that doesn't really like a softer shoe like the Triumph 18 and you want a slightly firmer, more responsive feel this is the one you should be considering. It is a cushioned shoe, but it's not overwhelming cushioned with what it offers underneath the foot.

Outsole

In talking about the engineering breakdown of the Saucony Ride 13 and comparing it to the Saucony Ride ISO 2, we're going to start from the ground and work our way up.

Let's talk about the outsole. To the naked eye there isn't a lot of change. It's still full ground contact, meaning there's no Trusstic system that sits between the heel engineering and the forefoot engineering. There is a point of rubber that gives you nice plush contact the whole way through the gait cycle.

The main change with the outsole has come from the flex groove materials. The flex grooves through the forefoot of the Ride ISO 2 are all about crystallised rubber which Saucony have used for a couple of seasons with Triumphs and some other shoes as well.

They have removed the crystallised rubber and they've gone with the blown rubber which is traditional and common with mileage running shoes. They have placed harder wearing rubber which is your carbon rubber in the high impact areas at the back half of that heel strike zone for heel strikers.

As you come through to the midstance section that's where you start to hit your blown rubber and then through the forefoot as well.

With regards to the flex grooves, it is literally identical to what was on offer last season. It has the same amount of flexibility which is great, and I felt the Ride 13 may even be a bit more flexible, which I like. They haven't tinkered too much with the execution of the outsole, they've just changed the materials.

Midsole

As you're coming through to the midsole it’s consistent with regards to the amount of stack underneath your foot. Both feature an 8mm drop so not a lot has changed there, and they will never go higher than that. I shouldn't say never but for the last 10 years Saucony have stayed true to that 8mm heel-to-toe offset and lower with all their road running shoes which is great.

What we've got going on here is the PWRRUN midsole. As I touched on a little bit earlier, the PWRRUN midsole is a nice soft cushioning system but I’m not going to say it's overwhelming.

When you put a Saucony Triumph 18 on your foot you know you've got a really padded shoe on. However, the Ride 13 has that perfect combination of enough squish or cushioning underneath your foot but a nice responsive feel as you go through to your toe-off phase of your gait cycle.

It’s a smooth transition and probably more in line with the runner that wants a mileage shoe but doesn't want to be too soft and squishy underneath your foot, or the runner that wants a little bit of versatility and may pick up the pace from time to time.

This could easily be used as a tempo shoe for someone that wants a little bit more support underneath their foot in comparison to your traditional tempo shoes which are a fraction lighter.

Upper

Most of the changes with this shoe are in the upper. The Saucony Ride ISO2 was a miss. Let's be honest, I didn't personally mind it but it was a miss. I tip my hat to brands that change engineering with their running shoes. In this instance it was an alteration in the upper.     

The feedback was consistent and it was overwhelming that we don’t want ISO lockdown in running shoes anymore. The feedback was that people weren't getting the security they were offering up top and it just wasn't working for them.

Saucony went back to almost a traditional contact with their lacing system. You have 6 eyelets on offer down the lateral and medial side.

This shoe comes in widths being a D and 2E men’s and a B and D ladies’, so there is that variety to get the right fit pending the store you go to. We have the widths on offer so you can really dial in on that width.

In terms of that ISOFIT, out the window, see you later and they’ve gone back to a more traditional structure and design.

I need to say, it is a very good upper. I like to pay credit to when credit is due. I love what's going on up top and it's probably my favourite feature. It has an internal heel counter that sits in the back. It's nice and deep, secure and structured.

There is just the right amount of memory foam on the inside whereas there probably was a little bit too much in the Ride ISO 2. It felt like my heel was being swallowed by foam, but the Ride 13 has just the right amount of padding, protection, comfort and support at the back half.

As you're coming through to the midfoot and as I touched on earlier, having a traditional lacing set up you still get a really dialled in lockdown which is fantastic. Also, you get a little more generosity with the depth of the toe box.

I tend to find this has been a trend over the last couple of seasons with some brands offering a little bit more depth. Just note that when they create a little bit more depth they're not necessarily making the shoe wider, they're just creating a little more volume on top of your toes so you actually get more wriggle room, which is more of a comfort thing than anything else.

There you have it, that is my take on the Saucony Ride 13. It’s a great update and I love what they've done with this shoe. If you're a runner out there that has tried it, used it or you've got some comments going from the Ride ISO 2 to what they did in the Ride 13, please contact our Sportitude shoe experts.

Please subscribe to the Sportitude YouTube channel if you haven’t already done so and we’ll try to deliver as much running shoe content as we possibly can every single month.

Until next time, stay safe and happy running. We'll see you on the road. Take care.      

FEATURES

• Support: Neutral
• Upper: Mesh
• Midsole: Saucony PWRRUN

• Offset / Drop: 8mm
• Heel Height: 32mm
• Forefoot Height: 24mm

Men

• Weight: 277g / 9.8oz
• Width: D (standard), 2E (wide)

Women

• Weight: 244g / 8.6oz
• Width: B (standard), D (wide)