Less weight than Defyance but similar feel?

Triathlon Forum
1

I transitioned from short course tri’s to trail racing over the past year with my goal being a 50k next August and eventually a 50 miler. Most trail runs are in Brook’s Cascadia and shorter, non technical trails in the Kinvara. The other half of my runs are on roads with runs under an hour in the Kinvara 2 and over an hour in the Brooks Defyance. I have bad ankles from old soccer injuries and they hurt if I run too far in the Kinvara. No injuries or complaints with the Defyance except for it’s weight. I seem to actually do well with it’s firmness.

Any road shoe recommendations that are similar to the Defyance but weigh less? I have only one small satellite running store near me that doesn’t have many options but will bring in 3-4 shoes for me to try from their main store. I don’t really care about minimalistic or drop; I just want the shoe to fit well and work well.

Stats:
Male
5’10"
165
40-45 MPW with a peak at 55
Avg. arches, slight supination with almost zero ankle roll

2

Brooks Launch. It is a 9oz delight to run in. Right now I am rotating between Defyance/Launch/Glycerine and the launch is a very similar feel to the defyance but quite a bit lighter.

3

Second vote for the Launch! I am a pretty loyal Brooks user and have been for years… did a couple 50 milers in a Brooks shoe called the Cheetah back in the md-1990’s – an awesome shoe… 50 mile trail races in the 8 hour range. The Launch is just about the closest I have come tto the feel of that old shoe. Great for on or off road in my opinion.

Ray

4

Brooks Ghost is good balance b/w Defyance/Launch
.

5

the launch or green silence, however the launch feels softer than the defyance.

6

Thanks for the responses. I guess I’ll make sure the store has both the Launch and the Green Silence in my size to compare. If the Green Silence is firmer then I may give that a try though people seem to love the Launch.