Saucony Kinvara 7

Name: Saucony Kinvara 7
Brand: Saucony
Rating: 4.3 (21 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 7.8 oz · 4mm drop · 22/18mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Saucony Kinvara 8 replaced it

How it ranks

The Saucony Kinvara 7 is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Value and looks are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 21 runner reviews and 14 other rated shoes in the Kinvara product line.

Exceptional

98/100

Overall

Exceptional 98

Value

Good 90

Appearance

Good 80

Comfort

Decent 77

Cushioning

Bottom-tier 58

Durability

Bottom-tier 53

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

97/100

Very high 97

What runners say

“Rolled my ankle once and tore 3 ligaments in my foot wearing this shoe”

2/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike LunarTempo

“Durability is excellent—about 500 miles before any wear, 1000 miles before retirement”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon

“It has enough padding to be comfortable but still gives a good road feel—not like running on squishy pillows”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon

“Really lightweight, making it good for long tempos; fairly flexible, well-cushioned, and long-lasting”

4/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Launch 3

“The lockdown is really bad. The foot locking system does not work, it only seems to hurt it more”

2/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike LunarTempo

“This shoe changed my gait for the better, prevented stress injuries in the shins again”

5/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a marathon came from the Saucony Guide 7

“Back of heel is nice and soft for people with insertional Achilles issues”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon

“As an overpronator, it made my stride worse due to the thickness and softness of the sole”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the ASICS GEL-Hyper Speed 7

“After many a mile it conforms to your foot in a way not a lot of other shoes do”

4/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Launch 3

“It feels reasonably firm and bouncy, not dissipative”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon

Prefer this shoe over another

50% 29/58

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers use it for speed work, tempo runs and long runs.
At 7.8 oz, runners repeatedly describe it as light and comfortable.
Many reviewers report keeping pairs going for several hundred miles.

Cons

The twenty reviewers who rated cushioning average 3.9 out of 5, and they split over whether it is too soft or too thin.
Durability averages 3.8 out of 5, and three reviewers have the upper or the outsole fail early.
Two reviewers criticize the Pro-Lock lacing, one for digging into the instep and one for poor lockdown.

Kinvara 7 rates 98. 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 2013 97 97 98 2016 89 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 This shoe

2016 · 21 reviews

98 Exceptional

97 Confidence
Kinvara 6

2015 · 8 reviews

97 Exceptional

94 Confidence
Kinvara 5

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

21 ratings

5/5 9

4/5 10

3/5 1

2/5 1

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 7.8 oz
Release: 2016 Q1
MSRP: $110
Stack Height: 22mm heel - 18mm toe
Drop Height: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

One of the best and most versatile trainers

5/5

Overall

I have put in around 700 miles on these shoes and have had 9 pairs. Great for speed work, long runs, tempos. nice and snappy

Anonymous runner · Feb 6, 2018

85 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Pure Flow 3

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

Reader review

4/5

Overall

manatee44 · Feb 6, 2018

30 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

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

Great shoe

4/5

Overall

Great for all runs including speed work. Very light and comfortable. Better than the 6 in my opinion. Love it!

Anonymous runner · Feb 6, 2018

60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Kinvara 6

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

Saucony Kinvara 7: Versatility

4/5

Overall

The title says it all -- this shoe is about as versatile as they come. It's really lightweight, making it good for long tempos; fairly flexible, well-cushioned, and long-lasting*. Comfort: Overall, it's a really comfortable shoe. I find that it's really cushioned for what it is, and after many a mile it conforms to your foot in a way not a lot of other shoes do. It really becomes "your" shoe after some mileage has been put on it. The uppers on both pairs I've had, however, tend to squeak in a really annoying way, and sometimes the laces around the heel collar dig into your instep. This is not always painful, but sometimes it can force you to stop and adjust the lacing. I also wish they would get rid of the Pro-Lock system, but it's not that big of an issue I suppose. Cushioning: Like I said before, the shoe is really well cushioned, with an equally soft and responsive landing. You can take this out for any length of a run and it will perform just fine. One thing worth noting is that while the shoe stays cushioned throughout its lifespan, it does change dynamics quite a bit. In the beginning, you'll notice that the shoe is almost luxuriously soft; it's really nice and soft to just run around in effortlessly. As the miles tick by, however, the midsole packs down a bit and forms to your foot, which takes away some of that initial softness. It still feels cushioned, just in a different way. It's not a dead ride, by any means, just different. I haven't tried version 8, but I would assume that the EVERUN in that pair is way more noticeable than it is in these. Saucony claims there's a puck of it in the heel, but taking out the insole and even feeling for it doesn't really lead you to believe so. Durability: This shoe lasts a really long time. The upper might fray a little bit, the outsole will wear down within 150 or so miles, but beyond that point it won't really break down further. As long as it still feels good to you, you can take a pair of Kinvaras as many miles as you want. This has been the case for many years and with many runners. My most recent pair is seeing some of the outsole nubs coming unglued, which is a bit of a disappointment, but overall this shoe will go the distance. Appearance: I guess this is the best looking Kinvara to date, considering it's the first that came out in some streetwear colorways and allowed it to be worn outside of running (if you're into sneakerhead culture), but it's not particularly eye-catching against other shoes. Relatively speaking, it looks fine. Value: You're going to get a lot of cushion and versatility for a lot of miles, so it's worth the money. I do wish the price came down about 10 bucks, as not everyone will be able to wear these shoes past 300 miles or so. But you'll get a lot out of these shoes, so I don't mind throwing down the money for these. They're fairly cheap as far as running shoes go, but I do think they can go lower.

Zante · Feb 6, 2018

70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Launch 3

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

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Feb 6, 2018

35 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Ghost 5

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 4/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 5/5

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Analyses

Saucony Kinvara 7

Exceptional