Saucony Kinvara 5

Name: Saucony Kinvara 5
Brand: Saucony
Rating: 4.6 (128 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 7.6 oz · 4mm drop · 24/20mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Saucony Kinvara 6 replaced it

How it ranks

The Saucony Kinvara 5 is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Comfort and looks are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. Most runners who came to it from another shoe preferred it. The rating rests on 128 runner reviews and 14 other rated shoes in the Kinvara product line.

Exceptional

97/100

Overall

Exceptional 97

Comfort

Excellent 95

Value

Very good 92

Appearance

Very good 92

Cushioning

Good 86

Durability

Bottom-tier 50

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

100/100

Very high 100

What runners say

“Tears occur on every pair on both sides of the toe box where the foot flexes.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a half marathon

“Toe box is just a little bit too short unless I wear really thin socks and even then taking it on 12+ km runs is a blister-risk.”

4/5 Full review training for middle distance

“On trails, the shoe might last two-three months before they begin to rip across the sides and in various places on the front.”

4/5 Full review 50 mpw came from the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14

“The mesh is very breathable yet durable and not prone to ripping unlike the mesh of the Kinvara 4.”

4/5 Full review training for middle distance

“With added cushioning, able to run in this shoe as a recovery shoe up to about 400 miles versus Kinvara 4 at 275-300.”

5/5 Full review 110 mpw training for a half marathon

“Light weight (7.7 oz) and low drop (4mm) give it versatility as both a racing shoe (10k-Marathon) and daily mileage trainer.”

4/5 Full review training for middle distance

“Holes develop pretty quickly around the toe area.”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for a marathon

“Light with just enough cushioning and versatile enough to run a 5k or a marathon in.”

5/5 Full review 65 mpw training for a marathon

“Pieces of the outsole started to fall off as early as 180 miles.”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for middle distance

“The heel tab is nice and low and the liner in the heel area is super soft and still quite durable.”

4/5 Full review training for middle distance

Prefer this shoe over another

50% 58/115

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

At 7.6 oz reviewers still find enough cushioning for daily miles.
Runners use it for track intervals, tempos and marathons alike.
The Kinvara 4 before it scores 73 on a hundred and twenty-nine reviews, and reviewers rate this version's fit, comfort and upper above it.

Cons

Reviewers frequently report the upper mesh tearing near the toes.
Durability is the weakest dimension at 3.6 out of 5, and several runners retire pairs near 200 to 250 miles.
Four reviewers find forefoot traction poor on certain surfaces.

Kinvara 5 rates 97. This shoe has very high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Saucony Kinvara

Each dot is one version of the Kinvara, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

58 2011 97 73 97 2014 97 98 89 2017 88 97 2019 71 87 2021 77 88 2023 82 88 2025

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Kinvara 16

2025 · 2 reviews

88 Good

74 Confidence
Kinvara 15

2024 · 13 reviews

82 Good

84 Confidence
Kinvara 14

2023 · 49 reviews

88 Good

94 Confidence
Kinvara 13

2022 · 36 reviews

77 Decent

93 Confidence
Kinvara 12

2021 · 6 reviews

87 Good

84 Confidence
Kinvara 11

2020 · 7 reviews

71 Decent

76 Confidence
Kinvara 10

2019 · 51 reviews

97 Exceptional

98 Confidence
Kinvara 9

2018 · 55 reviews

88 Good

97 Confidence
Kinvara 8

2017 · 57 reviews

89 Good

98 Confidence
Kinvara 7

2016 · 21 reviews

98 Exceptional

97 Confidence
Kinvara 6

2015 · 8 reviews

97 Exceptional

94 Confidence
Kinvara 5 This shoe

2014 · 128 reviews

97 Exceptional

100 Confidence
Kinvara 4

2013 · 129 reviews

73 Decent

99 Confidence
Kinvara 3

2012 · 11 reviews

97 Excellent

92 Confidence
Kinvara 2

2011 · 3 reviews

58 Bottom-tier

75 Confidence

Reader Ratings

128 ratings

5/5 82

4/5 43

3/5 2

2/5 1

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 7.6 oz
Release: 2014
MSRP: $100
Stack Height: 24mm heel - 20mm toe
Drop Height: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

3/5

Overall

I like the Kinvara. I find it very comfortable. But it's just a little sloppy and too soft. I would like to use it for faster running, and I just don't get great speed from it.

rchenoweth23 · Sep 19, 2014

90 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 3/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

I've been in the Kinvara since the 2 version, and they have only gotten better since then. The durability of the upper has been the only issue. There have always been holes develop pretty quickly around the toe area.

hhall1212 · Sep 19, 2014

80 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Had been moving toward minimalism, but kept getting injured. Tried the Mizuno Sayonara, but wasn't wowed by it. Tried the Kinvara and have loved it. it's lightweight, but cushioned enough for my tastes. I'm now on my second pair.

Anonymous runner · Sep 19, 2014

60 mpw training for a half marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Not as firm or responsive as the Kinvara4, but with minor added layer of cushioning I am able to run in this shoe as a recovery shoe up to about 400 miles; whereas the Kinvara4 normally wears out at about 275-300. I do like the responsiveness of the 4 better and it was a better quick long run shoe, or responsive shoe on easy days (easy non-pure recovery days). But on the flip side the softness of the 5 is great for pure recovery running when you want a soft shoe. It would be nice to have a shoe that mimics the response from both - or to continue the K4 under another name. Something to keep the old but good version, but also still allow for the longer use of the new version.

theDIRT · Sep 19, 2014

110 mpw training for a half marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

I was looking for a lightweight, low-drop, but still well cushioned daily trainer and the Kinvara 5 fit the bill perfectly. Comfort-wise the shoe is great, the heel tab is nice and low and the liner in the heel area is super soft and still quite durable. The mesh is very breathable yet durable and not prone to ripping unlike the mesh of the Kinvara 4. My only complaint in terms of comfort would be that fit of the 8.5 for me is perfect but the toe box is juuust a little bit too short unless I wear really thin socks and even then taking it on 12+ km runs is a blister-risk. On the other hand with the size 9 I have to cinch the laces up tighter than with the 8.5 and the overall fit just isn't quite as nice but I can wear whatever thickness of sock with them I want and no t have to worry about blistering up my toes. The durability of the shoe so far is solid. I have so far put close to 100 miles (probably more, not 100% sure to be honest) on both my pairs (I rotate them) and there are no significant signs of wear on either the outsole or the upper. My I guess would be that I wish the rubber triangle lugs would be as durable as the rubber on the other parts of the outsole, much like in the Kinvara 4 they wear down much quicker and this is an issue because the forefoot is such an important area for traction. This is by far the best looking shoe I have ever owned. I have the light blue colourway and it looks great. Super bright and it is still pretty much as shiny and new looking as it was when I first bought it. The fact that all of the overlays are welded, not sewn on makes this shoe look much more modern than lots of other mileage trainer options. One final thing I would like to comment on is the versatility of the Kinvara. It's light weight (7.7 oz) and low drop (4mm) gives it the versatility to be used as a racing shoe for road races (10k to Marathon ideally, still a decent option for 5k and down ) as well as daily mileage use. I love it for early season track workouts when I'm doing more aerobic stuff (1k repeats) and am not quite ready to spike up.

Dewey_Runner · Sep 19, 2014

training for middle distance

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

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Analyses

Saucony Kinvara 5

Exceptional