The New Balance 880v15 is a daily cushioned running shoe designed for eating up miles in comfort. The Fresh Foam X midsole sees an increase in stack height compared to the previous model and a redesigned geometry. The shoe aims to provide a balanced ride, a good level of support and a smooth heel-to-toe-transition.
The Saucony Ride 18 is a daily shoe that receives a few updates to the popular Ride 17. The biggest of those is the addition of PWRRUN+ in the midsole, a foam designed to make the shoe lighter, softer and more responsive than its predecessor, as well as an improved level of energy return.
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Hey Tommy from the run testers In this Video I'm going to be doing a comparison Of the New Balance 880 V15 and the Sony Ride 18 Let's see what I [Music] Thought The New Balance 880 V15 costs £140 or $139.99 It weighs £275 g or 9.7 oz for Men in a size 8 and the drop is 6 mm The Succiny Ride 18 costs £130 or £140 It Weighs 266 g or 9.4 oz for men in a size 8 and the drop is 8 [Music] Mm The New Balance 880 V15 is a daily Cushioned running shoe designed for Eating up miles in comfort The Fresh F Midsole sees an increase in stack height Compared to the previous model and a Redesigned geometry The shoe aims to Provide a balanced ride a good level of Support and a smooth heel totoe Transition The upper uses a structured Engineered mesh for comfort and Breathability while the outsole features A modest level of rubber at the front And back with some exposed sections of The midsole foam in the center The shoe Is also available in standard wide and Extra wide versions The Sony Ride 18 is A daily shoe that receives a few updates To the popular Ride 17 The biggest of Those is the addition of Power Run Plus In the midsole a foam design to make the Shoe lighter softer and more responsive
Than its predecessor as well as an Improved level of energy return The Outsole also aims to have better Durability and grip alongside a smoother Ride due to flex grooves towards the Front of the shoe Finally there's a new Engineered mesh upper to increase Breathability and provide a stretchy fit To improve lock down and comfort In Addition there's an updated heel collar Designed for an improved level of Cushioning The shoe is also available in A wide version [Music] So the fit for me in these two shoes is Quite different actually So the 880 V15 Um it is a quite restrictive shoe So the First couple of times I wore this shoe I Did feel like it was a little bit um Restrictive around the midfoot and a bit Around the forefoot Um it took a bit of Time to loosen that up uh over uh the Course of about five runs Um and uh even Though it did loosen up a bit it's still A fairly restrictive shoe There's not Loads of space before the big toe and There's not loads of space around the Sides of the shoe So um I'm a size eight In the UK This is a size eight I'm okay With it Um I probably would have gone up Half a size in it um if I wanted to get Full-on comfort just because that that First two runs I wasn't sure if that the Fit was going to was going to work for
Me As it did loosen up it was okay I Think for some people you'd be okay with This if you've got more narrow feet and You're more on the edge of uh your size Um but you might want to size up half a Size in this shoe if you want a little Bit of extra space Ride 18 is the Opposite It's a really really roomy shoe There's loads of space before my big toe There's loads of room in the forefoot It's got a very loose fitting um upper Around that forefoot So it's very easy To get a nice bit of wiggle room with Your toes in this shoe Um and the Midfoot as well isn't particularly Restrictive It feels like there's quite A lot of room in there as well Not bad When you try and get a lock down fit It's not a baggy shoe in any way Uh but There's definitely a lot more space in This shoe than in the 880 B15 Um even For some people you might want to size Down half size I think most people will Be fine to get your normal size because It probably has the right amount of Space for most people Uh I normally like To have a little bit less space than Most people I don't really go for that Thumbs before my big toe Um so I think You want to go your own go to your size In this shoe but just take note that It's quite a big shoe Okay so these are two shoes that you're Going to look at if you're looking if
You want a daily shoe to chug out the Miles you want comfort but you want a Little bit of versatility uh and you Want it at a fairly cost effective price As well The I'll start with the Ride um 18 because the Ride series is one that We've talked about quite a bit over the Past couple of years We've all been big Fans of the Ride 17 Um just a very very Good solid daily shoe Good level of cons Comfort a nice balanced midsole It's not The softest midsole out there Um so it Means it gives you a bit of versatility Bit more responsiveness when you're Running Um and it's got a nice heel Totoe transition as well It's a very it Ticks a lot of boxes this shoe and it's Not too expensive either Uh what I found About the Ride 18 is that it's a nice Progression from the 17 It's not massive Departure but the midsole for me there's Just a little bit more softness to it Uh Just a touch Um and it's a little bit More comfortable overall Uh but really It's just a nice progression of that Shoe I just think it's a very slight Improvement on it Um it's a shoe that uh We've talked about the Triumph quite a Lot in the past The Triumph 21 was one Of my favorite ever shoes I used it for Loads of marathon training It was great For easy day runs It was great for long Sessions It was great for consistent Marathon pace runs where you need a
Little bit of energy return in it and You wanted loads of comfort for those Longer runs Try 22 was not did not work For me It the the midsole just felt Really dull to me Um I I just didn't Feel that shoe that shoe worked for me At all I used it for the London Marathon Last year and I wish I hadn't because it Just just didn't work for me The heel Totoe transition doesn't work and the The midsole just didn't feel like it had Any life in it for me Um the Ride 18 It's almost like the progression of of Of the Triumph line if you bypass the Triumph 22 because I'm getting the same Sort of things from this shoe as I got From the Triumph 2021 It's not as There's not as much energy return There's not loads of energy return in The the Triumph 21 but there's Definitely a bit more in it than this I Think it's just cuz it's got a slightly Um bouncier midsole foam in it But this Is definitely for me if I was going for The Triumph 21 I'd go to this instead of The Triumph 22 just because it's a much Better all round shoe for daily training Sessions for longer sessions for comfort All those sorts of things Um and it's Quite versatile as well because of that More balanced midsole foam You can pick Up the pace in it a bit It's not the Fastest year around but I think for most People if you're going out and you
You're doing a run where uh you might Want to pick up the pace you might want To do tempo sessions in this you might Want to do fat leg sessions It would be Fine Uh I probably wouldn't use it for Interval sessions If I'm going all out I Wouldn't race in it But I think some People it'd be fine for everything Really If you're sort more of a general Runner and you want one pair of shoes to Go from your easy day runs all the way Up to race day and you don't want to Spend ridiculous amounts of money on it This is a good option um the 880 V15 So I didn't know a lot about the 880 range Before this I hadn't tried any of the Previous versions It's always been a Shoe that never sort of cropped up on The radar uh as one that we we we'd be Interested in testing Um but this shoe Is really really good It is very similar In what it does to the Ride 18 It's got A nice balanced midsole It's not too Soft nice turnover very comfortable to Run in Um and it's quite versatile as Well very similar in pretty much all Ways to the to the Ride 18 They're Really difficult to to just choose a Favorite out of these shoes to be honest Um it it's a shoe that I definitely Would put in all the same things that I've said about the Ride 18 that Versatility that you know you might want One shoe and you don't want to spend
£180 on it this is a good option for That So they're both very comparable Shoes and really good solid options if You're looking for that daily shoe that Can do quite a lot um but still sits Very firmly in that sort of comfort World Uh the outsole of the A80 V15 very Good It's got a good solid layer of Rubber on It's got a fairly big bit of Exposed midsole here but this midsole Foam uh fresh is a bit sturdier than you Get in quite a lot of daily shoes So um No signs of wear or tear and I've done About 70k in the shoe now So um it's Yeah good solid outsole quite thick Rubber on it No real sign signs of wear Or tear on it so far Uh so very good Outsole and no issues with grip or Anything in it Uh Ride 18 Similar Similar level of rubber Quite a big Chunky bit of rubber on this Again Sturdy um midsole uh foam there So no Issues there A little bit of wear on There cuz that's where I pronate a Little bit and I scuff it Um but haven't Even got down to the rubber really Though So good outsoles on both of these Shoes I think they're very very Comparable in pretty much every way Okay so my verdict on these shoe shoes Really really difficult They're quite Similarly priced Um they're doing very Similar things Uh and to be honest I'd Be happy with either of these if if I
Was looking for a daily shoe to to put In my rotation between the Easy Day shoe And uh my race shoe and maybe faster Training shoe I wouldn't class these as Shoes that I'd use for faster training But they're the sort of shoe that They're like holiday shoes So if you're Going to go on holiday and you're Training for something and you want to Shoot just one shoe to take with you to Do all of your training in do bit faster Reps in it do longer stuff in it do easy Runs these two shoes tick all of those Boxes They're very good at all those Things The only thing I wouldn't say They're particularly good for is if you Are somebody looking for major Performance gains from your from your Running shoes you won't get either of These because you know you're going to Want something that's got a bit more Energy in the midsole You're probably Going to want something that's a bit Lighter You're probably going to want Something that's got a carbon plate in It Um but for all of those sort of daily Runs and those those more general runs These are both fantastic shoes I think For me it really just comes down to that Feel on the feet and that heel totoe Transition Uh and for that I'm going to Go for the uh the Ride 18 I just think It's a there's a little bit more to this Shoe um in that that transition and the
Smoothness of the ride but there really Really isn't a lot in it I think both of These shoes are fantastic um options if You're looking for that that price point Uh and you're looking for a really good Solid daily shoe that can do a lot of Stuff The other thing as well is they're Both very stable shoes cuz that balanced Midsole is not too soft Um so you get That benefit as well So yeah I'm going For the Ride 18 but that's a really Difficult comparison between these two Shoes That's it from me on these versus Thanks a lot for watching Don't forget To like subscribe and click that little Bell And if you're going to catch them Below you can find link to our podcast Which comes out a couple of times each Month Thanks a lot for watching Catch You next time [Music]
