I found the Elixir to have a smooth ride for a mid-foot strike, but always considered the heal to be quite stiff. I liked this for faster paced runs, but it beat me up a bit on longer runs. Both the 890 and the Ride have a softer under-foot feel, but not to the extent of something like the Nike Lunar Glide or Asics Excel 33. If you think cusion is the answer to all your problems, the Lunar Glide has TONS of it. That being said, I always cation folks from swinging the pendulum too far from one side to the other. The Lunar Glide and Excel seemed to be soft to the point where I felt like I was battling the cushion (like the shoe sucked some of the energy out of me when pushing off). Both the 890 and Ride lie in the spectrum between the Nike Lunar Glide and the Elixir, and I think are a nice balance, or compromise between the two spectra. Both the 890 and the Ride are considered ‘neutral shoes’ but I’ve videoed countless runners in each and have no problem recommending them to ‘normal pronators’. The 890’s stability comes from a slightly lower offset and full ground contact while the wave plate on the Ride seems to slow pronation as well. Since you already run in the Elixir, I don’t feel like I have to warn you about the void in the heel. Rocks, snow and ice love to get lodged in that void, so with that in mind, I’d recommend the 890 over the Rider, but that’s because I live in the northern Rockies, so Mizuno generally is a poor choice up here.