Each year, the “Big Boys” of running release their full cushion trainers. These shoes are heavy duty, and are made for heavy mileage. However, you’ll also pay a heavy price tag to get your hands on a pair.
These heavy hitters are also some of the most well-known offerings on the market. Brooks gives you the Glycerins, Nike the Vomeros, New Balance the 1080s, Adidas the UltraBounce, Mizuno the Creations and for Saucony the Triumphs.
These shoes all come in roughly at the same price point, and offer many of the same features. However, perhaps my favorite that I’ve tried in the past year is the Triumph ISO 5.
Saucony Triumph ISO 5 General Info
The Saucony Triumph ISO 5 is the top-of-the-line neutral trainer for the company. These shoes offer tons of technology and cushion to log the long miles.
However, there is also a ton of energy return to help you kick up the pace when you want to. This shoe will compete against the other max cushion offerings — Glycerin, Vomero, 1080, Creation.
When these shoes arrived, I loved the look of it and thought the grey colorway was a great look — especially with the splash of bright orange. They were not just great to look at, they were incredibly comfortable for all-day wear.
On my first run, it was like running on air. The cushion was more than enough but still provided a lot of energy return.
Saucony Triumph ISO 5 Sole Unit
The sole unit didn’t get a full update like last year’s model. And that is a good thing. The Triumph ISO 4 was one of my favorite shoes of 2017, and sometimes it is frustrating when shoe companies mess with a good thing.
In this case, Saucony decided to only do some slight updates on the 8mm-drop (32mm heel, 24mm forefoot) sole unit.
New this year, Saucony added 2mm of EVERUN Topsole cushioning. This provides even more energy return than in past years’ version of the shoes.
This increased topsole sits atop the midsole of EVERUN material that is incredibly cushioned and energetic.
This midsole sits atop a new Tri-Flex Crystal Rubber outsole which is designed to help increase flexibility, adaptability, and durability of the shoe.
This rubber is a thinner layer than the previous model and this new rubber is more pliable, making for easier changes of direction.
This outsole had better grip than last year’s model, and I felt more comfortable tackling snow on my run or the freezing rain I had a couple of times while testing it. Truly this held up well.
The downside of this sole unit is that it is a bit heavy. This really only showed up once I got past 12 miles, and even then it wasn’t a great deal.
However, when I compared runs between the Triumphs, Ride ISO and Altra Escalante my ground contact time was on average 25ms more per stride longer in the Triumphs than in the other two shoes.
This is something that is weird to measure, but I decided to look at that with this offering, and it is evidence of the extra weight carried in the shoe.
Saucony Triumph ISO 5 Upper Info
The upper features Saucony’s ISO upper, which helps lock in your foot while moving and adapting throughout the run. The ISO upper is a technology the shines in all the correct ways.
Last year I said the ISO upper may have been the most comfortable upper in which I ran, and that has not changed. In fact, this year’s model has been updated and improved.
They updated the mesh material to include a new engineered Jacquard mesh which is intended to flex more naturally with the foot while providing lightweight breathability.
This mesh material of the upper is incredibly breathable, this helped with some of the warmer runs I did, but it wasn’t so porous as to make my feet cold during cold, wet runs.
The update on this ISO upper pushes the laces and eyelets further back to help expand the system and help lock your feet in. The ISO moves and adapts to your feet as you move through your gait.
This upper locks into the new Formfit contoured footbed which Saucony said “creates a cradle for your foot that provides added guidance and support.”
This footbed starts narrow in the heel, opens a little in the midfoot and opens even more into a wide forefoot. This all comes in an upper which fits perfectly to size (at least at the size 13 I order).
Saucony Triumph ISO 5 Conclusions
Since last year I had been looking forward to see what Saucony would do with one of my favorite 2017 offerings, and I was not disappointed.
While talking to one of my running buddies, I was discussing my thoughts on these shoes and realized that I literally was not mentioning a single negative thing. These shoes were that impressive.
While there was plenty of cushion for those long runs, the topsole offers a great amount of energy return for the higher paced runs. This combo means that I always look forward to going on a run in these shoes.
As stated before, the only real drawback is that this shoe is a little more hefty than many shoes out there. However, this is a small drawback.
Overall, this is again one of my favorite shoes of the year. The combination of technologies and the superior offering that Saucony put out there more than make up for the high price tag.
If you are looking for a max cushion neutral trainer with tons of energy return, this is one that is well worth checking out.
We purchased a pair of Saucony Triumph ISO 5 from runningwarehouse using our own money. This did not influence the outcome of this review, written after running more than 50 miles in them.
Saucony Triumph ISO 5 Price Comparison
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