Saucony's Ride line has long occupied the reliable-but-unglamorous end of the daily trainer market, and the Ride 19, released in January at $145, does not try to change that identity so much as sharpen it. The headline update is a reformulated PWRRUN+ midsole, Saucony's supercritical foam, which the brand says delivers noticeably more cushioning and energy return than the compound used in the Ride 18 without pushing the shoe's price or weight out of daily-trainer territory.
The new PWRRUN+ uses an updated eTPU compound built on the same beaded foam structure as before, but with a formulation that testers and independent labs have compared favourably to adidas's Light Boost. Independent lab testing has put energy return at 66.7 per cent in the heel and 70.7 per cent in the forefoot, figures that would have been closer to racing-shoe territory a few years ago and now sit comfortably among the better everyday trainers on the market.
Saucony added a millimetre of stack height at both ends of the shoe, bringing the Ride 19 to 38mm at the heel and 30mm at the forefoot for an 8mm drop. The extra cushioning is modest on paper but noticeable underfoot, giving the shoe a plusher ride than its predecessor while keeping the geometry familiar enough that returning Ride wearers should not need to adjust their gait or sizing.
The upgrade puts the Ride firmly in a broader industry pattern of everyday trainers borrowing foam technology once reserved for racing shoes, a trend visible this year in Asics' Novablast 6 and Hoka's Clifton Pro. Where the Ride 19 differentiates itself is in its unfussy positioning: it is not chasing a max-cushion identity or a speed-day role, just trying to be the shoe a runner reaches for on the majority of easy and moderate days without thinking too hard about it.
At $145, the Ride 19 undercuts several rivals with comparable foam technology while matching or beating their ride quality in early testing. For runners who want a dependable, well-cushioned daily trainer rather than a shoe with a specific gimmick, it is one of the stronger arguments in its price bracket this year.