The Saucony Endorphin Rift is a trail-running shoe built for speed, with a PWRRUN PB midsole and Saucony’s Speedroll rocker. It’s pitched as an Endorphin Speed for the trails, which sounds fantastic on paper. How does the Rift feel on the run? Tom and Nick have been out for a first run in the shoe to find out.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:12 – Design & Key Stats
02:11 – How’s The Fit
04:01 – First Run
08:11 – Early Verdict
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Hello and welcome to the Run testers my Name is Nick and this is our first run Review of the sakon Endorphin [Music] Rift so the Endorphin Rift is a new Entrance into sanes endorphin range for 2023 it is a trail running shoe and it Is designed to be the Endorphin speed For the trails if you will so s already Has the Endorphin Edge which is a Carbotex carbon plated Trail racing shoe The Endorphin Rift sits in the range Below that it doesn't have a carbon Plate but is still designed to be a Speed Focus shoe much like the Endorphin Speed is for the road price is high Though here for a shoe that is build as The trail version of the speed because It's more expensive than the Endorphin Speed it cost £180 in the UK and $170 in The US it weighs in at 281 G or 9.9 o in My UK size 9 which is pretty good pretty Lightweight for a shoe with such Extensive lugs and it's got a 6 mm drop From Heel To Toe with a stack height of 33 mm at the heel and 27 at the forefoot So the key part of the shoe that makes It part of the Endorphin range is the Midsole which is made from Sak PE based Power run PV foam the stuff we've seen On the Endorphin speed endorphin Pro in Dophin Edge and actually also there some Of it in The Exodus Ultra 2 trail Running shoe as well it's a very
Lightweight bouncy foam and you've got s Speedroll rocker as well which creates That nice fluid ride with the shoe Although there is no carbon plate in the Shoe it does have a woven Rock plate Which you can see under the foref foot Of the shoe there through the gaps in The out soole then you've got a mesh Upper lots of protection at the front There and it's quite stretchy with this Almost booty design on the front part of The shoe then at the back Sak's added This almost extra layer of material here That basically makes it less stretchy Get creates a nice cradle fit at the Back of the shoe you've got quite a high Collar here extensive internal heel Counter as well so it should be very Stable at the heel and it holds the foot In a nice strong lock down position There you have a pull tab on the back And a lace garage there if you want to Use that on the shoe and then you've got A power track outso with 4.5 mm lugs These are quite substantial lugs for a Shoe like this that is focused on speed You're going to get a lot of bite into Soft ground with these with these lugs And hopefully they'll be nice and Adaptable to we see how they feel on Harder ground as well as on soft stuff But they really quite an impressive Outsa with big lugs for a shoe that is Still quite lightweight and speed
[Music] Focused the fit for me in the sakon rift I'm a size eight this is a size eight UK There's plenty of room in this shoe There's about a thumb's width in front Of my uh big toe so prob of space which Is what you want with a trail shoe I Also found that there's quite a lot Space in the midfoot and the foref foot As well there's plenty of uh wiggle room For your feet uh room for your feet to Expand it's a very comfortable shoe I Would say that the upper is not Necessarily well designed for getting a Really tight lock down fit I did feel Like it was a little bit um moving Around a little bit as I was running not Too bad I managed to strap it down a bit But it's definitely not a really tight Secure upper uh which you'd probably get In some race shoes or faster pce shoes Uh the upper is made of this sort of Sock like material which is extremely Comfortable it doesn't have a tongue it Just has an all round wrap sock light uh Upper and it fits very comfortably There's plenty of padding around it as Well so I would say stick to your size In the shoe and um it's very comfortable The fit of the Endorphin Rift uh is Slightly Tighter and more cramped than He had with the Endorphin Edge for sure Like it was noticeable for the run but It did seem like I had quite a lot of
Room didn't look like a problem I Thought my normal size would be okay but Actually on the run today coming down Hill as my right foot was hitting the Front of the shoe a bit and I could feel A little bit of pain in my big toe you Know for a very short run with a couple Of not exactly hard downhills so that's A little bit of concern something I'll Try to start out over some longer runs Maybe I can rejig the fit with the Various options at the back to get my Footh hold a bit better at the back so I Don't slip forward into the front of the Shoe there my right foot is slightly Bigger than my left foot which is why it Didn't happen on the left side which is Lucky because my left big toe is the one That's really bruised from the ultra I Did a little while back so that would Have not been nice to have that banging So for now I'd say be a bit wary it's It's not the roomiest shoe for a trail Shoe [Music] So just heading out to do my first run In the Endorphin Rift I've got a nice Easy to steady 5 miles 8K on the plan Today which I'll be doing in my local Forest little bit of road to get there And then it will be quite well- groomed Forest Trails it has rained a bit since I've last been in there so they should Have softened up a little bit which will
Be fine in this shoe because has such Extensive lugs so yeah a bit of grass Running some Forest paths uh a little Bit single track that kind of stuff and Then home it's quite a nice day should Be a good run just moving through the Gears a little bit and a nice chance to Test the shoes for the first Time so just back from the Run uh which Was very nice like I thought it's pretty Nice in the forest it still some few Muddy patches but mostly it's still Quite dry in there did like I said bit Of grass and onto Forest Trails for a Bit bit of grass at the end running from About about 420 a at the start to 340 a By the end just moving through the gears Gently nothing too strenuous and then Little jog back afterwards um and the Shoe felt really good like it's got a Very nice fluid ride certainly feel a Nice rocker there home feels quite Bouncy when you're on harder stuff and Then you lose that little bit on any Kind of Trail really I think but you Still get the nice flowing ride from The Speedroll Rocker and a little bit of Extra um from the from the peber foam in The shoe there but just felt very Comfortable for that kind of run today Like um even though I was on quite some Dry Trails most of the time um they lugs Didn't feel too long and skittery like That and then they did bite and a couple
Of Muddy patches I went through just Yeah felt really good like some CS I Have probably about the weight of the Shoe like it feels like quite a big shoe Didn't really notice it much today but Wasn't pushing too hard and too much Speed there and yeah know the idea of Being an endorphin speed for the trails Is quite interesting the speed is very Nimble and lighter than the shoe Noticeably and you got the big outsole On this I wonder if maybe the outsa is Just slightly overdone I feel like Potentially they could have uh made Those lugs slightly shorter and Obviously it would give it less uh you Know versatility for soft ground running And stuff like that but it adds quite a Lot of weight and um that takes away a Little bit from the speed and fun of the Shoe but for the most part really liked It today I look forward to doing some Try and do some faster stuff if I can Just to test that theory about the Weight being a bit slightly big shoe and Go a bit longer in it but yeah felt very Nice today very fluid good enjoyable run In the Sun so I just got back from Berlin Marathon a week ago I've had a Cold I have niggles uh so I've done a Fairly easy run in the sakon rift uh I Did a five mile around some light Trails Uh around the parks my local area what I Found was uh there's a little bit of
Road section as well in there to get to The park um the it's a quite a Lightweight feeling shoe um it Definitely feels nice to running even on The road sections it felt quite Comfortable the midsole is quite soft You notice it straight away that there's A very soft Midol in it so when you're Running on harder ground it's a nice Bonus I think uh soy do mention that There's a bit of Bounce in the shoe Because of this power on PB foam I Didn't notice a lot of it but it did Feel very comfortable enjoyable to wear It did roll forward quite nicely it has Speed roll technology in it so it does Tick you along nicely feels very Comfortable you can get a nice cruising Pace in it also feel like you can go bit Faster in it it's a relatively light Shoe it feels light on the feet um and I Really enjoyed it over that first run It's pretty dry today so I didn't test It out on any wet muddy inclines or Declines but I did try a few um hilly Bits and it felt absolutely fine I'd say The outso grip is similar something like The sakon parag Grim range it's pretty Pretty good um it's not the most Aggressive lugs you're going to find on A shoe but there's there's quite a lot There and on the fairly easy terrain That I was Runing on today it felt Absolutely great very comfortable um
Didn't have any problems at all with Gripping the ground um on the softer Bits so I did a bit of running over some Grassy bits um felt fine uh but as I Always say when you get a shoe tro that Has a softer midsole um it doesn't Really deliver very well you're when You're on softer ground it gets a bit More sluggish and it wasn't great but Because it feels relatively light it was Fine not any issues that at all so what I would say is that that over that first Run I I really enjoyed it I think it was A very comfortable shoe the only Downside I would find to it is that it Was just a little bit difficult to get a Nice firm lockdown fit in it but other Than that it felt stable comfortable and [Music] Enjoyable so my early verdict on the soy Rift is that it is a really nice Comfortable Trail shoe um that is Probably quite good for varied terrain Uh I'd say that this is if you owned one Trail shoe uh from that first run I'd Say if you owned one Trail shoe and you Want something that could tackle lots of Different sorts of ground so harder Ground softer ground maybe you a little Bit of Road it does a great job uh I Like a soft shoe um and most of the Trails that I run on tend to be fairly Compact or grally uh so this works quite Well for those um and it felt very
Comfortable in the upper as well also I Like the fact that there's lots of space In the upper so it's a nice comfortable Shoe for most people if you've got a Wide foot you should be fine with this Shoe so it was really enjoyable first Run in the Endorphin Rift but I'm still Not entirely convinced by the shoe by The need for the shoe actually given it Is quite expensive and S has so many Good trail shoes that aren't a million Miles away from it obviously there is The Endorphin Edge which actually is Often cheaper than the Endorphin rift at The moment it's a slightly older shoe And it's got slightly higher stack it's Got the carbon plate in there which Obviously isn't as flexible as the woven Rock play you have in the rift but you Know I found it okay to use quite Generally the Endorphin Edge and I don't Think there's a massive difference in Terms of stability and all that kind of Stuff compared to the rift so yeah we Tempted to buy The Edge but you Obviously get a bit more pop from the Plate it's a slightly lighter shoe but The rift maybe is a little bit more Flexible it probably will come into play A bit more at times but over a short run Like today i' been just as happy I've Done that exact run in the Endorphin Edge and it felt you know quite similar And there's The Exodus Ultra too which I
Really like it's a bit cheaper and Obviously only has a core of power on PB And the frame of power run so it's not Quite as bouncy and dynamic as the Endorphin Rift a bit more uh heavy but It's another good cruising shoe that you Could use for lots of similar training Run so yeah again there's a little bit Of overlap there the perigrine has got a Power run midsize a bit less vibrant and Lively oner but get another really solid Trail shoot I just don't know if the Rift really stands out that much in the Range when they could have maybe I think Like I say taken off a bit of that out Soole had it as a lower lugged out soole Made it a lot lighter made it a really Speed Focus shoe compared to some of the Other ones in the in the so range I do Think they overlap a bit in all being Really very good shoes but there's just A lot of them and it is quite expensive So yeah obviously maybe I'll come to Love it a lot more over time and it'll Really stand out for me even within the Range but at the moment just seems a Clutch of pretty good shoes there with a Lot of similar characteristics also Really see it so much as the Endorphin Speed yet for the trails it's the Endor Speed is a lot lighter and it feels very Comfortable going really fast and I Think like the rift felt great today for The short amount of time I spent running
At a slightly faster Pace but I'm still Not convinced about it for really fast Stuff we'll try that for the full review But yeah so far I liked it I really Enjoyed using it but there are a lot of Shoes in so range I like for similar Kind of jobs and it's quite an expensive Shoe so think for it to really be worthy Of that price tag and I see something a Little bit more in the rest of our Testing for our full Review
