Scott Pursuit Ride 2 Review: Pursuing Happiness

Introduction to the Scott Pursuit Ride 2

JOHN: So, this review is a treat for me. I’ve done a lot of reviews here at Believe in the Run; however, I’ve never reviewed a straight-up road running shoe. It’s been trail, gear, and hybrid gym shoes, the closest review I’ve done to a road running shoe.

The Pursuit Ride 2 also came to me at an excellent time. I just finished doing a 50-mile race, so I’m doing a mix of easy to semi-hard runs (while recovering in the blazing heat) to prep for the upcoming Burning River 100. Burning River is a mix of road, gravel, and runnable trail, so the Pursuit Ride 2 is an excellent shoe for me to test right now.

I enjoyed reviewing the Scott Supertrac RC3, and other than some fit issues, I really enjoyed it. I am curious about Scott’s road shoes, so let’s see how the Pursuit Ride 2 did.

MICHAEL: Echoing John’s sentiment above, it’s not often we Dirt Division folk review road shoes. When we do, they’re usually relatively unheard of models or revamps of lines, that sort of thing. Of course, this is probably a good thing, since if I happened to receive a pair of the latest Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo on my doorstep, I’d feel tempted to lace ‘em up and send it down the gnarliest singletrack I could find whilst in the middle of my test miles on the road.

What’s really great, though, is that, as the reviewers of these lesser-known road shoes, we get to discover some real gems that might otherwise fall through the cracks of Thomas’s inbox. As you might have guessed from the ‘pretty decent’ pigeon score above, we largely enjoyed our time in Scott’s latest uptempo daily trainer. Read on to determine whether this shoe could be what you need to spruce up your rotation!

What we like about the Scott Pursuit Ride 2

JOHN: The fit of the Pursuit Ride 2 was comfortable. I normally wear a US M11.5, but the size M12 I was sent felt great. My favorite aspect of this shoe is the ride. It’s firm but soft and has a unique feel thanks to the Kinetic Nitrogen Midsole and ER3 Evolved Rocker. It’s fun to run in!

I’m a trail guy through and through, but for the sake of this review, I attended a demo of the Novablast 5 to get an idea of a comparable new road shoe. The Pursuit Ride 2 cushioning feels similar in ways, but I like the fit of the Novablast better. Realistically, though, this breaks down to individual foot shape and preference, and we’ll touch on this in the next section.

The outsole of the Pursuit Ride 2 is an amazingly durable mix of rubber and foam that doesn’t wear fast or get stuff stuck in it. It also has grip so it works on gravel and runnable trails.

The Florida colorway is quite possibly my favorite colorway of any shoe I’ve reviewed this year. I love Florida, and I’m going back in about a month. Every run I’ve done wearing them has sparked some kind of comment or conversation, and we usually end up discussing Florida vacations coming up. It’s a great vibe and an amazing colorway.

MICHAEL: Like John, I had no issues with the Pursuit Ride upper. It’s a simple, lightweight mesh with a straightforward heel collar and lacing chain. There is nothing glamorous to report here. The lockdown is good, the heel is comfy, batta-bing batta-boom.

Underfoot is where things get really interesting, with Scott’s take on a supercritical nitrogen-infused midsole featuring an ‘ER3 Evolved Rocker’ to help quicken toe-off and carry your foot through the stride. To be honest, the nitrogen-infused material here is nothing new in the shoe world; lots of other brands have been using it for a while. But where things get interesting is the difference in durometer between all the different brands.

On a scale from 1 being super soft (Like the FuelCell in New Balance’s Rebel v2) to 5 being a slightly firmer, more responsive ride (like the DNA flash in Brooks’ Hyperion Tempo), I’d put the Pursuit Ride 2 at a nicely balanced 2. Landings are soft but not necessarily unstable, and certainly feature some pop through the toe-off. That pop is accentuated by the rocker geometry, which is pretty aggressive and highly enjoyable if you decide to pick this shoe up for some tempo mileage.

That is to say, I think the Pursuit Ride 2 does a really nice job balancing daily mileage duties while being perfectly capable in tempo and long-run situations, should it be called upon to do so. Comparisons I can think of on the market right now are shoes like the Saucony Ride or the Asics Novablast, although the Pursuit may not be quite as capable as the latter.

What we don’t like about the Scott Pursuit Ride 2

JOHN: I didn’t have blister issues in the Pursuit Ride 2, but the toe box didn’t lock down my toes well. The rest of my foot felt nice and secure. The toebox is surprisingly wide, and the mesh upper has a lot of give to it, so your foot has a lot of room to move around. That’s the only big thing I didn’t like about the shoe.

MICHAEL: While John ran in a half-size larger than his normal US M11.5, I ran in a US M9, a half-size smaller than my usual M9.5. Despite the slight restriction in length, I had no issues with the toebox and found it to be quite comfortable. The slim Euro-based fit of Scott’s Supertrac RC3 doesn’t seem to have transferred over to the road line for this instance, and I think the toebox should be accommodating enough for most runners.

My only other issue with the Pursuit is its color scheme and styling, which I found to be just plain boring.

Final thoughts on the Scott Pursuit Ride 2

JOHN: To me, the Scott Pursuit Ride 2 works best as a training rotation shoe. The max long run I would do in it is 15-20 miles, just because the toe box fit is a little wonky for me. It’s not bad, but I don’t like how free my toes are in the VA heat right now.

With that said, this is a fun shoe: it’s lightweight, has comfortable foam, and a rocker that gives the shoe a great feel. Perfect to serve as an incredible rotation shoe for multiple surfaces. I used this shoe on the road, gravel, trail, and treadmill, and it worked great!

MICHAEL: Despite its understated looks, the Pursuit Ride 2 may be the perfect shoe for someone who’s looking to change things up in their rotation. While not a quiver-killer per se, it’s more than capable for 90% of training runs and workouts, and offers a great representation of the benefits nitrogen foams and forefoot rockers bring to the table when executed well.

I should also mention that the $160 price point is a bit high, but I have no doubt this midsole and outsole should be able to easily withstand 300+ miles.

You can pick up the Scott Pursuit Ride 2 for $160 from Scott by using the buttons below.