Saucony Endorphin Trainer Review: On The Wrong Track

Introduction to the Saucony Endorphin Trainer

ROBBE: If you’ve followed us over the past half decade, you know there’s a special place in our heart for the Saucony Endorphin line. Originally comprised of three models (Endorphin Shift, Endorphin Speed, Endorphin Pro), the Endorphin line has positioned itself as the elite class, the pontiff of performance within the brand’s running segment. It’s shifted here and there over the years (literally, as the Endorphin Shift is no more), and has picked up a Shohei Ohtani-level talent in the Endorphin Elite– its upcoming version is quite possibly the best race day shoe out there. 

All that to say, we’ve generally loved Endorphins as much as we love endorphins– they’ve made us quite happy over the years and reduced the pain of running in bad shoes from other brands. I still remember my first run in the Endorphin Speed– the effortless roll through the stride, the perfect aggression of the Speedboard plate, the snap off the toe, the exact balance of cushion and response in the all-new PWRRUN PB midsole.

So when I hear endorphin, my brain lights up.

Enter the Endorphin Trainer. This is a new shoe in the Saucony Endorphin line. Kind of. Because it really isn’t new at all. It’s essentially a replacement for the Endorphin Shift and a rebranding of the Kinvara Pro, a one-off model that debuted in 2024. The Endorphin Shift never really hit the way the other Endorphins did; it could throw down some cruising miles, but all in all, it was more xanny bar than cocaine cola. 

Then there was the Kinvara Pro, which was confusing in so many ways. It was Saucony’s first foray into the true super trainer category and, well– we just didn’t get it. It was kind of firm– which is fine– but it was also flat. Sort of blocky and brickish and we didn’t really know why you would buy it. Lots of what to it, but no why.

So now we have the melding of those two things with the Endorphin Trainer (or an evolution if we’re talking in Pokémon terms).

Let’s get to the point: It’s remarkably similar to the Kinvara Pro in all the ways. It still has a three-quarter length carbon fiber plate. It still has a stack height of 42 mm in the heel, 34 mm in the forefoot. It still has a bottom layer of dense PWRRUN foam. It still has an engineered mesh upper. It added some rubber on the outsole but maintains a mostly exposed carbonized EVA surface. The big change, really, is simply the replacement of the top layer of the midsole; instead of PWRRUN, it now utilizes IncrediRun foam, a softer and bouncier PEBA-style foam used in shoes like the Endorphin Elite 2. Oh, and one more thing– it gained over an ounce of weight, now coming in at 10.7 ounces (305 g).

Let’s see if bringing a trainer into the mix can evolve the Endorphin line, or whether it will remain in the same growth stage as its predecessors.

THOMAS: I understand what Saucony is attempting to do with the Endorphin Trainer. Almost every brand is making a daily trainer with premium foams, plates, and a higher price tag – aka the Super Trainer. Some have had great success, Adidas with the Boston 12, Hoka with the Mach X 2 and Skyward X, Brooks has the Hyperion Max, Mizuno Neo Vista, and the New Balance SC Trainer. Conversely, there have been a lot of flops. The Saucony Kinvara Pro was a turd. Honestly, I did not expect to see a second version. But here we are, with high hopes for the Kinvara Pro 2– whoops– the Endorphin Trainer.

What we like about the Saucony Endorphin Trainer

ROBBE: I wasn’t a huge fan of the Kinvara Pro. It seemed like a shoe that existed but with no real purpose, especially when it was situated next to the Endorphin Speed. The PWRRUN foam got a majority vote in the midsole, but it somehow felt like too much and too little at the same time. I hated the rounded sculpting of the midsole that sent my ankles into full struggle mode over any uneven surface. On my second run in the shoe, I landed on a rock 100 feet away from my front door and it sent me sprawling to the pavement, followed by a gingerly limp back home.

I was excited to see how Saucony improved the shoe, especially with the highly touted IncrediRun foam. The good news is that it is better than the Kinvara Pro. The top layer of IncrediRun is indeed softer and bouncier and provides a better ride than the Kinvara Pro. Combined with the bottom layer of PWRRUN, it provides a decent ride. Honestly, there is part of me that loves it, because I do enjoy a bit of a denser foam that still gives back, like what’s found in the Adidas Boston 12, or the Brooks Hyperion Max 2. But there’s also a part of me that just hates it, and I’m constantly flipping between the two throughout the run. 

There are certain people that will absolutely love this ride, but I don’t think that’s most people. I understand this is confusing, because I’m confused myself. Part of me wants to run in this shoe again and again, but the other parts cancel all of it out (as you will see), which may be the worst thing of all.

THOMAS: The Step in feel of the Endorphin Trainer is promising. I absolutely love the IncrediRun foam in the Endorphin Elite 2, so I hoped the magical foam could save the Endorphin Trainer and give it some pep. 

As Robbe mentioned, the ride is improved over the original Kinvara Pro. The upper fits well, and I had no issues with hot spots or heel lift. 

What we don’t like about the Saucony Endorphin Trainer

ROBBE: Don’t be confused by the old bait and switch of the name– this is a barely updated version of the Kinvara Pro. And for those reasons, I’m out.

There are a bunch of brands that have done the premium/EVA combination of midsole foams correctly. When it works, it really works. Shoes like the Hoka Mach X 2, Nike Vomero 18, Asics Glideride, Adidas SL 2, have all hit it out the park with their layers of race day foams combined with a more traditional foam underfoot. Some have plates, some don’t, but they just work in perfect harmony to provide a softer landing and a powerful rebound to harness everything in the proper amounts.

Somehow, this shoe fails to do that. It feels blocky, it feels bricky, it just kind of feels unalive. Which is wild, because Saucony claims it’s “crafted for effortless speed, turning everyday runs into personal bests,” an oxymoron if there ever was one. Running in this feels like the opposite of effortless speed, it feels like all the effort needs to be made to bring it up to speed. 

Part of that is because it now weighs 10.7 ounces, an ounce more than the Kinvara pro and more than most daily trainers, including former heavyweights like the Adidas Ultraboost 5. Now, I will say that weight can be subjective depending on how it’s distributed. Shoes like the Nike Vomero 18 weigh even more, but it’s also intended as a max cushion daily trainer and yet it runs much lighter than its listed weight.

And it’s not that the Endorphin Trainer is overly heavy, but it’s not in the range of any uptempo shoe on the market, so I’m not sure why it’s marketed as such. In trying to shoehorn it into that category, it comes off– again– as blocky and bricky. Instead of floating down the Saucony river, it’s lost in a sea of shoe tech that just doesn’t work together.

The plate seems pointless, it doesn’t have that same Speedroll feel of other Endorphin shoes, and I just don’t see its purpose. It’s almost like Saucony is trying to combine the Kinvara, the Endorphin Pro, and the Endorphin Shift all into one shoe and all the cooks in the kitchen are just throwing in the curry, coriander, and cajun seasoning into the mixing bowl without thinking– hey, nobody ever wanted or asked for a Greek Indian French fusion entree on the menu. 

I don’t know why Saucony just doesn’t go the route of the Asics Superblast or Adidas Evo SL or even the New Balance Rebel v4 and make that lightweight and simple-yet-versatile trainer with a premium midsole foam, or some variation of it. They have the foams, they have the know-how, they just need the focus. I mean, hell, even the back-of-the-closet Asics Magic Speed 4 (which I actually really liked) beats out this shoe, because even if the underfoot feel is a bit harsh, at least it actually says it’s gonna do what it’s meant to do– get you going during workouts without much effort.

Also, this shoe is so loud. We’re talking Metallica “Master of Puppets,” Shaq in Nike Alphafly level decibels of loudness. You will not go gentle into that good night. Or morning. Or anywhere.

The small placement of outsole rubber is an improvement, but there’s not much there. Something is better than nothing, I guess. And yes, the carbon EVA is more durable than fully exposed EVA, but it’s still not rubber. For this much weight, you would expect more outsole.

Lastly, the laces suck. Whatever these floppy laces are, can we just agree to never use them again?

THOMAS: There isn’t much that I can add to Robbe’s sentiment. The shoe isn’t bad. It just feels like a regular daily trainer. With all the ingredients, it should provide a premium ride. In most design disciplines, less is more. You can achieve the same ride sensation with one block of foam. I received the Saucony  Ride 18 with a PWRRUN+ midsole that feels similar underfoot. The Ride 18 is $140 vs $180 for the Endorphin Trainer.

Final thoughts on the Saucony Endorphin Trainer

ROBBE: Saucony makes some of the absolute best running shoes out there. I know they know what they’re doing. Which is why this shoe is so disappointing to me. I don’t know who to even recommend it for, though I’m sure there’s a handful of people who don’t mind the extra weight or the dense feeling underfoot. I just can find a dozen other ways to spend $180 for a loud, confusing time in the dark, like trying to figure out why I spent my wife’s birthday budget on Keno, jukebox, pool, and booze at the Venice Tavern on a Saturday night.

Maybe we’ll see it come back, maybe we won’t. Either way, I don’t think anyone will notice.

THOMAS: The Endorphin Trainer falls flat. The shoe could have been saved if Saucony had used a top layer of the IncrediRun with a bottom layer of PWRRUN+. The regular rubberized PWRRUN kills any fun that could have been milked out of the shoe. This is a classic case of the squeeze not being worth the juice, with a lot of ingredients to end up with a half-baked, entry-level shoe. Saucony either has to commit to making the Endorphin Trainer feel like a premium running shoe or take the Kinvara Pro/Endorphin Trainer behind the shed, hit it with a shovel, and bury it. As Brennan Huff says in Step Brothers: “Close your eyes, let the dirt wash over you.”

You can pick up the Saucony Endorphin Trainer in Spring 2025 for $180 at Running Warehouse (featuring free 2-day shipping and 90-day returns) by using the shop link below.