Grozzlybear
Reviewed: 06 January 2013
A potentially very good shoe let down by a couple of niggles
It's light, flexible, low profile (4mm heel to toe) with an unintrusive touch of pronation control and looks pretty good too.
Forefoot area is a little on the narrow side and the midsole material produces too much heat. Upper material/seams kink easily and does not give a snug fit.
This review refers to the Mirage 3. I really wanted to like this shoe, and up to a point I do, but I feel it let's itself down on stuff that a company like Saucony should be better at by now. For a shoe that parades itself as a transition shoe, it's a little too narrow in the forefoot - why is that? It's supposed to be based on the same last as the Kinvara which is fine in the forefoot (go figure). It's also got a horrible rubber material at the top of the midsole (exposed directly under the insole) that generates too much heat for my liking - this becomes obvious after only 5 miles and makes running longer distances distinctly painful (burning feeling in metatarsal areas) - it also allows too much mushiness underfoot. More and more shoes seem to be using this material for cushioning (Adidas Glide 4, Brooks Pure Flow) and it sucks! I ended up having to run without socks to keep my feet cool but then I got blisters on my toes from the poorly shod upper shoe material that kinks sharply on push-off, rubbing the upper part of the toes. I ended up cutting my running socks in half so they just covered my toes and metatarsals which helped to keep me blister free and also a bit cooler, but far from comfortable. On the plus side, they encourage good running form, are light, flexible and look good. They also provide a bit of pronation control although I don't really need that.
