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!

REESE: The echo chamber continues on road shoes plus Dirt Division. While I don’t get sent road shoes often, I do love running in them. They feel so good, so fast, so effortless.

I actually run on the roads quite a bit. It’s a little more convenient to run right from my house if I’m pressed for time mid-week. So I was pretty excited to get a new pair of road shoes to test out. I should note that I was sent a size too big, and I believe that impacted my take on fit just a bit. I’ve tried to hypothesize what the correct size would feel and fit like in this review.

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.

REESE: This shoe is a straightforward daily trainer, but I could easily see it coming in handy for a casual 10k or half marathon if you aren’t looking to buy multiple shoes. Its value as a trainer and potential race shoe (albeit not a top-performance race shoe, but a do-it-all kind of shoe) is maybe the best part about this shoe. It’s just an all-around good shoe.

That being said, I feel like the best supporting role goes to the Ortholite footbed. That little piece of foam is pulling more than its weight in this shoe. I typically swap out footbeds for one with a bit more arch support- thanks, flat feet- and when I did, I found that I really missed the comfort and softness of the Ortholite insert.

The ER3 rocker is also a great feature, and why this shoe might be your next 10k Turkey Trot shoe (assuming you aren’t buying the nicest $300 Nikes). The rocker provides a really nice feel and natural stride, but I definitely felt some propulsion forward and some nice bounce to my step. The Pursuit Ride 2 felt more responsive than I was expecting from a trainer.

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.

REESE: It seems like sizing was all over the place. I was sent a size too big. I think a US W7.5 would have fit me better. The larger size felt a bit loose in the upper for me. Perhaps a little too loose. While running from the sidewalk to the street and stepping off the curb, the shoe twisted under me, and I went down like a sack of potatoes, skinning my knee pretty badly.

I guess I thought I was safe on the road from falls, but apparently, I’m not safe anywhere. This has been the summer of terrible, no good, very bad falls and ankle twists. The shoe just never felt snug and secure on my foot. I don’t think this is a road vs trail issue, either. Compared to my Brooks Hyperion Max 2, the Pursuit Ride 2 was much less structured. The toebox and even the midfoot had plenty of room. A little too much for my foot.

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.

REESE: For the price point, it’s a great all-around shoe. Like I said, it’s not the high-end performance racer if you’re trying to win the 10k, but if you need a shoe that can do it all without costing a fortune, it’s a great option. I enjoyed its straightforwardness and simplicity. No crazy fancy tech, just a nice shoe that seems like it has the materials to last for quite a long training season.

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