Saucony Triumph 21. My current favorite non plated shoe.

My daughter works for Fleet Feet, going to nursing school (I know, braggy sounding). She's VERY good! I am 45, have back issues as well. Suffered from tendinitis for years before she put into a wide width shoe. Did I mention she knows her stuff?

She said the Cavu is not a great shoe (very firm, and discontinued by Hoka), and cringed when I read the Nike (incredibly soft with little support). Recommends trying the Brooks Glycerin or Clifton. Glycerin being more cushy than the Clifton.

Couple of shoes that spring to mind

Brooks Glycerin honestly this shoe is so much better than the Brooks ghost for only $20 more. It's a $35-50 upgrade in feel, fit and ride imo

Asics Cumulus or nimbus, although I think you'll probably like the cumulus better based on what you typed, I'd be willing to bet a Pepsi on that. On a side note the Nimbus is what 80% of Bondi loyalists I fit into shoes are moving to. 80%, never seen a conversion rate that high from the Bondi to any other shoe....ever. I don't want to say Asics is back just yet, but they have a really solid lineup across the board

maybe the NM 1080 or even the new 840 and 880. The new 840 gets away from thinking Dad shoe.

Saucony triumph. You may also like the new Ride. Saucony dumped a lot of $ into this shoe (and the Guide) and it's a really good update. I also like the Kinvara Pro (to me this and the Hoka Mach X are almost interchangeable - see below). The updates are so much better it's not worth it to buy the older version which is on sale.

Hoka, honestly, if you came in I'd have put you in a different Hoka than the cavu. Now though it's harder to recommend a Hoka. So many other brands have caught up and surpassed Hoka for cushioning and feel. But if I was, probably the Clifton, although you may like the new Mach X

You might like the Mizuno Wave Sky

That should give you a good jumping off point. I can't remember if you said you needed wide's, someone mentioned wides, but most of these are available in wide width.


All you stability shoe users I really like the new Guide. I mean REALLY like especially if you're a Hoka user. And the Saucony Tempus. Those along with the Brooks Glycerin GTS are the 3 best stability shoes out there for daily miles imo

Hope that helps

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Asics nimbus the most cushy I ever had,but definitely slow me down. Don't over use cushion shoes, they make for weaker feet, potential injury risks. There is even more cushioned Asics superblast but cost over $200, and illegal for racing due to stack size

My current Triumph 21s are just a bit to soft and squishy for me (170 lbs). For anything over an hour, my feet and lower legs just get more fatigued than any high-mileage cushion shoe I've owned. I really like the Nimbus 25. It's cushioned for the long stuff and firm enough- for me. My understanding is that the 26 has just a bit more plush to it, but maintains some firmness when compared to other super-cush shoes.

x3 on the Triumphs. I used these to train for a late season 1/2M in 2023 and they were great. Full disclosure - I've only raced in Saucony for many years. But I do train in a larger variety of brands - currently Adidas, Zoot, Saucony, Newton, Inov8.

I like the Vomero 17 quite a bit more than the Invincibles, enough to pick up a second pair of the Vomero's. I feel the cushy heel in the Invincibles but overall I just don't like running in them as well. And it's not the laces on the Invincibles, though I think they're pretty poor.

I like the Ride over the Triumph but both are solid.

I typically go on whichever is cheaper between the Ride, Cumulus and Nimbus. All 3 work well for me.

New Balance 1080

The newest version is quite cushy.

These are light stability trainers (not neutral). That might help with the knees.

Thank you all! This gives me a good list of shoes to check out.

Technically, v13 of the 1080 is classified as a neutral shoe. With such a wide base underfoot mild pronators will probably find it stable. It's super cushy.

All the wide based shoes such as the 1080, neutral Hoka's etc will provide a bit of support and stability even if you're a moderate pronator. Maybe not as much as the new Saucony guide which is designed around stability AND has a wide base under your foot. It's probably the most hoka like shoe that is not a hoka

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Last 3 years average 700 miles a year running. Just on my experience with stability shoes.

Various pairs of Sauncony Triumph with the wide.
Switched to hoka gavito 3&4 wides.

205-210 lbs and try to get 300-375 miles per pair. Eventually the high stack 8-12mm offset wears out and will be replaced and thrown out. Won't use worn out shoes for lounging or walking around. Start fresh.

Was still having lower back issues on a weekly basis and my chiropractor would say "you look like you were hit by a car" hips would be severely out.

Kept reading about 0 drop shoes and the benefit behind it.

2 camps to this: taper or just go for it.

I went for it and after 3 runs the legs get fully used to it.

Altera Parigm 7 stability shoe with zero drop.

My chiropractor is blown away with the new posture and natural gaite. Adjustments are more fine tune instead of the severity of alignment with hips.

The Altera shoe has more of a wide toe box that gives more of a true natural feeling.

Did I mention I also had spine surgery and had c4c6 replaced ? So yeah I have some understanding of stability shoes with neck pain.😂

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2019 Felt IA3
2022 Giant TCR Pro
Find me on strava
https://strava.app.link/HoaJ6fq5AHb

I have the Triumphs. Gawd, as stable as they are, they are absolute bricks compared to the likes of an Alphafly. It's literally embarrassing for me to run in the Triumps compared to the AFs, they're so slow and clunky. I use mine on the treadmill now, only. Weirdly, the AFs haven't been an unstable shoe for me - they feel that way for sure at first, but then you get used to them and they're fine. I have super-unstable ankles (tore all my ankle ligaments, permanently in both ankles) so I'm a setup for not being able to run in unstable shoes, but the AFs have been no problem.

I'm two runs down on the new Hoka Mach 6. Would definitely recommend it as a do everything shoe if get on with Hoka fit.

I highly recommend Hoka Rincon 3. Light, cushioned and with a reasonable drop. They are currently being cleared out, you find them for $80.
Saucony Guide/Ride are garbage imo. Like a brick wrapped in a marshmallow.
Check out a subreddit called RunningShoeGeeks - it will have a ton more recommendations, from a wider audience too.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Hoka is moving the Rincon out of run specialty and into the big box type stores. We stopped stocking or backfilling on it.

The Guide/Ride have been redone and are way better than they were. The Guide especially. The shoes used to be on a tangential path but have now diverged from each other.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Hoka Clifton and especially Bondi are soft but seem harsh to me due to the high-center midsole. I feel like I land on my arches.

If you can't do an overly soft shoe (good luck finding one nowadays) I also suggest the Saucony Kinvara Pro. Incorporating "super shoe" features it has a stable-responsive midsole that should last awhile. A cheaper option is the Asics Nova Blast 4 which is outstanding.