Review; Saucony Peregrine 4

So it seems somewhat fortuitous that my decision on my future race calendar more or less coincided with the good folks at Saucony sending me a pair of Peregrine 4s for review. I wrote a review on the original Peregrines back in April 2011 and I raved about the shoes then so I was keen to try out the newest iteration. Given that I am 3 versions behind it’s probably pointless in making comparisons so this review addresses the shoes from a standalone point of view.

I have worn these 3-4 times now the shortest run was only 4 miles and the longest 13 miles so these have somewhere around 30-35 miles on them in total.

The uppers are thin, thin but strong, this means that they breath very easily and I would imagine dry very quickly when wet, however Southern California is mid drought so I can’t vouch for that. Conversely the thinness means they let a lot of dust in, that’s nothing I am not used to but some folks may have an issue with that. The tongue is sewn in to maximize comfort and try and keep trail debris out. There is nice and solid toe bumper just in case you can’t get your foot high enough in time. The toe box is wide enough for me, by comparison I would say that this is more of a fit to the Virrata2 than the Kinvara4 The heel collar is nicely padded and I had no hotspots which can be an issue especially when dust gets added into the mix. The heel counter is pretty robust and kept my heel nice and snug. One nice feature is the D hook at the front which is for use with Gaiters. Saucony uses a Strobel Board (I thought this would be something that Austrian’s would display a cake on…it’s not!), it is a length of rubber piece inside the shoes that increases cushioning and “step-in comfort.

 

There is a 4mm heel/forefoot drop with 21mm at the heel and 17mm for the forefoot. I am very used to and happy with this level of minimalism as I run mostly in Kinvaras but newer trail runners of runners used to a more substantial drop may want to use some caution. As it is a neutral shoe so there are no medial post.

Underneath the sole pattern is pretty aggressive, there is a “cutaway” sole which exposes the weave of the nylon fiber rock protector and I am sure reduces the weight. Additionally Saucony has used ProGrid Lite for the sole rather than ProGrid which helps to the lightness of this shoe. The outsole itself is manufactured with XT-900 rubber which is 33 % lighter and has 3 times more absorption than standard blown rubber.

I like Saucony shoes, having migrated from what I consider to be heavy trails shoes (shoes like Salomon XT Wings etc) through to lighter and form improving Newton’s I find that Saucony’s provide the right weight to strength relationship, they fit out of the box, and their expected mileage is good and compared to a lot of trail shoes these represent good value for money on a miles per dollar basis

Overall I liked the lightness of this shoe, the out of the box comfort and fit and willingness to grip, All of these combined makes for a great all day kind of shoe.

Available in three color schemes for men; green, blue and red and three more for women; pink, teal and orange, they are competitively priced at $110 online and if you shop around you can find them a bit less.

If your looking for a ladies review check out Becca’s blog for a forthcoming review, she picked up a pair too!

These shoes were provided free of charge by the good folks at Saucony. See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.