Saucony  Endorphin Pro 5 Road-Running Shoes - Men's

The Endorphin Pro 5 has been one of the best-feeling shoes I've run in. However, after only 20 miles, the heel is showing damage that I would normally expect after hundreds of miles. Large sections of material along the heel are already breaking down and separating. I understand racing shoes often prioritize performance over durability, and I am a heel striker, but this amount of wear after such limited use is concerning. Given the premium price point, I expected substantially better durability. I am sharing photos because this appears to be more than normal wear and tear. I would appreciate Saucony's review of the issue and whether this level of deterioration is considered normal for the Endorphin Pro 5.

The shoes feel good until you actually run in them. Only after 6 miles of my first run in them, they had destroyed the back of my heels leaving torn skin and then painful blisters. I own the Pro 4s and have many miles on them and with no comfort problems. I contacted Saucony regarding the heel collar issue and they essentially said that it's just how this generation is designed. Unless your form involves no foot movement, I do not recommend these shoes.

Super happy with this shoe. Coming off the Alpha Fly, and at first I didn’t like these shoes. Tried them on in store and ran on the treadmill. They just felt OK, took a chance and ran outside with them, super light, and super fast. Great for the shorter, faster runs. Haven’t ran anything longer than a 10k in these, but so far I love them.

most traditional/stable feel for the "carbon shoes" I've tried. (and I've tried just about all of them) having a full sole and not a cut away heel like many of them do feels good. The stretchy one piece upper fits a wide foot well. I primarily use for triathlon and running sockless so the stretchy one piece upper is great for that too. But presents a few more issues to deal with.... The tab on top of the heel sink was too high and stiff for me causing rubbing on my achilleas so I cut it down about 1" and folded the felt over the back then super glued it. problem solved. I also have large knuckles over both my big toes and the lacing seam hits right on top of it so I re-laced it to skip the lower holes. There also is a notable seam between the upper and the lacing area that rubbed on top of my knuckle and caused a blister. So I placed a patch of moleskin over that area on the inside and I think that will solve it but more testing to be done still yet. I also have been testing dry intentionally to observe any hotspots but I usually add baby powder periodically and before each race so I think that will help with that rubbing also but more testing to be done yet...

These shoes are great in the forefoot, and I like the cushioning and spring. The heel however is brutal. Maybe Saucony should start making razor blades. I've done 10 miles in them in total, split up into two sessions, and the last one I just had to stop running and walk carefully home. I tried using Compeeds, but the heel still protrudes. Do the even test these shoes on human feet?

Barely have worn these shoes had them less than 2 months use them as casual sneakers and the sole is already coming apart. I don't believe i wore these more than 12x. Customer has been slow and asked for order number, pictures and receipts (not sure why they would need a receipt if I gave them the order number). I can't imagine if I'd have used these for running.

First, a word about the shoes digging into your heel. It's true, but it's temporary. I had to wear band-aids on my heels for the first four runs or so. After that, the shoes adapted to my foot and I can run without any discomfort. These shoes are fast. Earlier this year I bought a pair of Saucony Guide 18 shoes and, while comfortable, were slow as heck. I could not break the built-in speed limit they imposed on me. The Endorphin Pro 5's are just the opposite: they reward every extra Watt with more speed. I recently broke my 10K PR without a lot of extra effort. These are exactly the shoes I needed to encourage me to improve my performance.

Ran in these shoes for my first half marathon and these felt amazing. Felt no PTT flare ups, these shoes carried me to the finish line!! Made my first race (first of many) feel amazing.

Just have others have mentioned, these tore up my Achilles. It’s too bad because they would be a great, stable race shoe without this design flaw. For me, it made them unwearable.

Fit is great, very lightweight. I feel fast when wearing it, might be placebo but I enjoy it quite a bit. Love the color way as well, very satisfied!