Saucony Triumph 17 Running Shoe Review

Josh reviews the Saucony Triumph 17 running shoes and explains the re-engineering and reduced weight that put it a step above its predecessor, the Saucony Triumph ISO 5.

This neutral high mileage running shoe is a popular addition to Saucony's max cushioned category with its fusion of responsiveness and protection. It is essentially a rebirth of the Triumph series, taking it back to its roots while delivering fresh technologies and design concepts for the modern road warrior.

Hard-wearing crystallised rubber on the outsole protects the lightweight and plush PWRRUN+ midsole to tackle tough miles without breaking down prematurely. An elevated toe spring provides flexibility to roll smoothly into your next stride and a deep, spacious toe box prioritises comfort as you clock up high mileage.  

It stays true to Saucony's tried and tested 8mm heel-to-toe drop for improved gait efficiency and features a deep, orthotic-friendly heel counter to lock in your rearfoot softly and securely.

Check out the review with full transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh from Sportitude here and it’s shoe review time. We're going to be doing it on the Saucony Triumph 17, a new shoe that landed towards the back end of 2019 and is ready to go in 2020.

First things first, if you're a Saucony or Triumph lover you haven't fallen asleep or time warped for 12 years. They've gone back to some original numbers here.

The previous version was the Triumph ISO 5. They have gotten rid of the ISO series or design engineering and they’ve gone back to the root existence of this shoe. For the new model they've gone with ‘Triumph 17’ so don't feel like you've missed out on 12 models because you haven't.

We've got a fair bit to get through. There’s a completely new configuration in the outsole and they've definitely played with the midsole. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. In the upper there's been construction changes as well.

They’ve gone back to the drawing board and have done a complete makeover with this shoe. In my opinion they’ve nailed it.

Runner Profile

First things first, we’re going to talk about the foot type or what runner should be looking at this shoe. It is a max cushioned shoe, it’s your mileage shoe. It's going to cater well for long runs like your marathons and it's going to cater well for shorter runs as well.

It is targeting that runner that’s seeking a lot of cushioning but has more of a neutral foot type. We’re talking about a runner that has a higher arch. Therefore, when they go through their gait cycle a lot of the pressure is on the outside of the foot.

I am a slight overpronator and I've done some Ks in this shoe and I loved it. I do flatten out in my arch area and I find sometimes when running in shoes with arch support it fights with my natural gait motion.

I really enjoyed running in this shoe. It feels nice and stable and it doesn't feel like I'm losing any support through the midstance region which is great.

Outsole

I'd like to talk about the outsole first. All the yellow or the golden mustard coloured area underneath the shoe is a crystallised rubber. It is a hard, durable compound that lasts a long time. The reason it’s a little bit harder is because it needs to protect the asset in this shoe and that is the midsole which we'll talk about in two ticks.

You have carbon rubber at the base of the heel. That's the traditional rubber that the majority of brands will roll out in that first point of contact with the heel for a heel striker. However, I am a midfoot runner and the crystallised rubber at the midfoot has worked absolutely fine for my strike pattern as well.

Coming through to the forefoot, they don't have the flex grooves that go the whole way across from the medial to the lateral side of this shoe. They've got a tiny Guidance Line slit which is going to cater for that supinated to slightly higher arched foot type that needs a little bit of assistance with flexibility through the midstance to toe-off phase of the gait cycle. 

However, the shoe has a really nice spring to it. You can see how the forefoot curls up and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the heat component of moulding the midsole to the outsole.

Saucony have curled the forefoot up so when you’re going from midstance to toe-off, you don't necessarily need to have extra flexibility through the shoe. It is flexible through that forefoot, purely and simply through the engineering construction they’ve designed. 

Midsole

We’ll talk all things midsole with this shoe now. We have a similar visual component in this midsole to what we had with the previous technology in the Triumph ISO 5 where they ran with the EVERUN technology. Now it’s going to be called PWRRUN+.

The biggest change in the previous technology to the new technology is this is 25% lighter. That's a ridiculous amount of weight reduction in a midsole. The majority of weight in a running shoe is taken up with the midsole component and making it 25% lighter is huge.

However when you put a running shoe on, especially a mileage shoe like this you still want to feel like you're stable, secure and safe inside the shoe. You still have that feeling. They haven't sacrificed stability in the weight reduction. It is still there but you know you've got a lighter shoe. When you're picking it up and putting it down it feels lighter and it is lighter than the previous version. It’s an absolute winner from Saucony with that design.

The technology is a TPU based midsole. It’s similar to what they have previously done however there has been some engineering changes in how they executed that technology.

The shoe in true Saucony fashion is on an 8mm heel-to-toe drop. That's true across the series of Saucony running shoes. They don't go anything higher than an 8mm offset. They play in that market where they're trying to drop the heel-to-toe offset to encourage a more efficient running cycle for all the runners out there. In the Triumph family there hasn't been any change in the heel-to-toe offset.

Upper

Coming through to the upper we have a nice internal construction and an awesome design around the back of the heel counter. I have to give them credit, it looks fantastic around the back of the heel counter but looks are one thing and functionality is another. It's nice and stable so the internal construction of this shoe is solid at the back.

It's deep enough to put your orthotic in, I’m not going to question that at all. There are some other deeper models in the high mileage neutral family, but this certainly from my perspective with my orthotic when I tried it felt absolutely fine. It's going to cater for a couple of varieties of orthotics with different variances in that heel lift at the back.

As you’re coming through to the midstance phase of the upper, they've stripped it of that ISO technology which they ran with for a couple of years and now they've just gone with some overlays. From the lateral side to the medial side of the shoe there's a nice construction. There's welding technologies that hold you and lock you down nicely through midstance.

The forefoot was probably my biggest criticism of the previous version. I didn't like how my forefoot felt in the Saucony Triumph ISO 5 and even in the ISO 4. The Triumph 17 for me feels nice and spacious through that forefoot.

Winding back the clock a couple of years now, I really like the fit of the ISO 3. I know that some people out there would disagree with my perception. I liked the feel of the ISO 3, didn't like the feel of the ISO 4 and ISO 5 through that forefoot and now with the Triumph 17, I really enjoy how my foot feels from mid to toe-off. It's a really nice shoe up top.

There is not much else I can cover in this shoe. It has a lot of change, it is a high mileage shoe and it is designed for that person that’s seeking a really plush feel underneath your foot and certainly a shoe that I would recommend.

If you can tolerate an 8mm heel-to-toe drop and you're looking for a neutral high mileage running shoe it's certainly one that I'm bringing out on the shop floor and introducing to a lot of power runners.

There you go, the Triumph 17 from Saucony. Like all of our reviews if you have any questions on this shoe or anything else please contact our Sportitude shoe experts and subscribe to the Sportitude YouTube channel for the latest on all things running related.

Happy running guys, we'll see you next time.

FEATURES

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

• Heel Height: 33.5mm
• Forefoot Height: 25.5mm
• Offset / Drop: 8mm
  

• Weight (women): 261g / 9.2oz
• Weight (men): 305g / 10.8oz

• Width (women): B (standard)
• Width (men): D (standard)