Saucony Nomad TR General Info

The Saucony Nomad TR is a trail shoe intended to “Run Anywhere” as its tag line suggests. It is a lightweight trail shoe that still delivers plenty of cushion as well as underfoot protection.

It was designed for a “natural” feel, with plenty of room in the toebox for your toes to spread and the flexibility to allow your foot’s natural motion.

I have had really good luck with Saucony trail shoes in the past, so much so that I wore their Peregrine 2 in my first 100 miler, and the Peregrine 3 in my second. (Spoiler: I ended up wearing the Nomad TR in my 3rd 100).

These shoes are really light, especially for trail shoes. I found the last pair of trail shoes I wore to be incredibly light (the New Balance Leadville 1210v2), and these came in over half an ounce lighter.

I really liked the looks of them, primarily a darker blue, with just some flashes of bright coral.

I can’t say enough about the fit. I loved the feel of them immediately. The toebox was wide enough to give my toes room, the heel snug enough to prevent slippage.

The smoothness of the interior and padding in the collar kept my feet happy for many miles.

Saucony Nomad TR Sole Info

The sole unit was well cushioned and fairly flexible for a trail shoe, while proving sufficient protection underfoot. I would have liked to see a bit more toe protection for wear on more technical, root-y trails.

The sole encouraged a natural foot motion, which, as a neutral, mid-to-forefoot striker, I really appreciate.

I found the traction to be quite good, and had no problems on sandy or steep dirt trails. It’s been quite dry in my neck of the woods, so I was unfortunately not able to test them in mud or wet slippery rocks.

I will say that the hexagonal design of the outsole seems to do its job as intended, to give good traction without feeling like you’re wearing cleats.

I wore them in a race that had sections of road, and unlike a lot of trail shoes I’ve worn (looking at you, Brooks Cascadia), I didn’t feel like a clomping elephant on asphalt. And the hexagons look pretty cool, too.

The Saucony Nomad TR utilizes Saucony’s POWERGRID technology to center the foot and evenly disperse foot strike forces, and has a 4mm heel to toe offset.

I generally like a bit more offset, but I found it quite easy to adapt to a slightly smaller drop.

Saucony Nomad TR Upper Info

The upper of the Nomad TR uses Saucony’s Flexfilm technology, which is meant to provide an external frame for the upper, allowing the inside to have minimal seaming and a smooth texture next to the foot.

I’m usually quite picky about the fit of a shoe and can easily find flaws, but the Nomad TR, for my foot, just didn’t have any. The toebox was wide, the collar snug, the inside smooth. My feet were happy for a ton of miles.

I am even a big fan of the color scheme, a dark navy blue with splashes of bright coral, and the darker blue speckling, which reminded me of raindrops on pavement, were a nice touch.

Saucony Nomad TR Conclusions

The Nomad TR is getting nothing but raves from me. To illustrate how much and how quickly I fell in love with them, consider the following:

I wore them on a long (18+ mile) trail run, then immediately wore them in a trail marathon, a 30k, and a 24-hour trail race, all within a month of receiving them.

To add to the rave, through all of that, I only got one tiny blister. The cushioning is minimal but effective, the foot motion is incredibly natural, and the upper is comfy as can be.

I have no problem admitting I love this shoe. I haven’t actually purchased a pair of running shoes since starting to review them, but I’m definitely going to pick up a pair.

We thank the nice people at Saucony for sending us a pair of Nomad TR to test. This did not influence the outcome of the review, written after running more than 50 miles in them.