Anyone run off road in Saucony Kinvara?

let me know how it goes, i'm thinking of picking up a pair soon for a winter shoe.

10:30I have been doing my trail runs exclusivly in these and love them.  Shed water quickly, lightweight and great feel of the trail which keeps me balanced.  Also like the semi-aggressive tread that provides good traction when needed.  I honestly bought them in interest of moving closer to barefoot running but their benefits on the trail where an unexpected surprise.  Love these shoes! 

My initial blog about these shoes...
http://batlou.blogspot.com/2010/08/saucony-kinvara-initial-take.html


Edited by Batlou 2010-10-12 9:30 AM

Just got a pair and I am dying to be able to run on those. They feel light, totally neutral and non-restrictive letting your feet do what want to when running. I also got some brooks green silence. I think those two models will be my running rotation once I can run again!

I have visited 4 different shoe stores over the past 3 weeks in Houston trying to find a pair!  Everyone is sold out, and I've been putting off getting a new pair of shoes until I can get a pair of Kinvara's.

I don't know how they would work for off road, but I'm doing all my running on their racing flats and love them! 

I was suprised to find them in our small town.

Thanks, I think I am going to give them a try. Have to see if I can get a few training runs with them first.

Can't speak to the off road capabilities of the shoe, but just wanted to echo that these shoes rock. I have two pairs and the only downside to them is that the bottom tread wears a bit faster than normal. This is coming from a pretty light runner. Other than that, def worth it if you like lightweight trainer / racers.

There are some people starting to bring forth minimal shoes when trail running, but those particular shoes you're mentioning don't have much tread, so hope it isn't wet/muddy.

I have not done any trail running in a light racer yet, but that is my goal for next race season.  As long as you aren't running on excessively sharp rocks they should be fine, there is a guy on ST trail running around on Luna Racers without any issues.

Inov-8 is a great shoe company for anyone looking for neutral trail specific shoes.

Edited by Bioteknik 2010-10-12 3:08 PM

A friend of a friend swears by their trail capabilities. He likes the lightweight, minimalism and the somewhat aggressive tread. I think Saucony is coming out with an actual trail version early next year called the Peregrine (or some other kind of bird)

Aside from wanting to get a pair of these soon, to comment on the lighter trail shoes, i did all of my winter trail running in zoot tempo TTs and had zero issue, almost no tread and thin shoes worked out fine.

Thanks for the heads up, I was looking at possibly buying something a little more aggressive for running trails in snow and these might fit the bill.  Love my Kinvara's but not sure how they will do in once the trails are covered up.

Have you tried Road Runner Sports?  RRS had the Kinvaras on sale for $58 (member price) when I was there on Saturday.

Awesome shoe that is very lightweight, yet provide a lot of cushion.  The only negative is that Kinvaras wear out very quickly, at least in my experience.  Off road runs may compound that. 

No comment on trail running capabilities, but I picked up a pair of Kinvara's online a while back pretty inexpensively. I think I bought them from Kelly's Running Warehouse....