Saucony Xodus Ultra Review

If you've followed the channel for any period of time you'll know that this shoe has worked out really well for me from taking it out on its first run and running 80 miles straight out of the box at Endure24 to just recently completing the TDS at UTMB - a super challenging mountainous ultra marathon of 145 kilometers in length with 9100m of elevation. I've put about 300 miles into the shoe on a big mix of terrain so it has definitely been thoroughly tested, so let's dive into the review and give Saucony's Xodus Ultra the full Run4Adventure treatment.

UPPER

I'm still to have any issues with the upper at all - no rubbing, no hot spots, no irritation, no blisters, and it just seems to fit and work so well for my foot shape! It has a great lock down around the midfoot. No lateral and medial slippage. A really good hold in that heel, so no issues to speak of at all when it comes to the upper no matter what the distance.

On par with that brilliant upper is the great dual compound design midsole and it's offered me really good levels of comfort on all the terrain I've run it on, even long sections of tarmac and I think it offers a really good balance between durability, comfort and performance. After having a few issues with the durability of the Endorphin Edge PWRRUN PB midsole, I personally think this is how PWRRUN PB should be used in a trail shoe - as a core in the center of that midsole, giving you all those performance properties but then you've got a great level of protection from that PWRRUN compound on the outside as a cradle.

MIDSOLE

I've had a few comments from viewers saying that they've struggled with stability from the midsole when running in technical areas and I can honestly say I've had no issues with stability from that midsole at all. I used the Xodus Ultra in this year's TDS race - one of the most technical routes I've ever run so that midsole was tested really thoroughly when it comes to stability and I personally think it passed with flying colours!

OUTSOLE

The PWRTRAC rubber outsole performed exactly like I thought it would. I've got a lot of history with this rubber compound and it's never let me down. Same with the Xodus Ultra - really good and consistent levels of grip and traction on all types of terrain. The only thing I haven't really tested it on is really muddy trails. It has a 4.5mm lug so I think it would handle the mud pretty well. It might struggle in the boggiest and muddiest conditions but I still think it's a trail shoe that you can use through a British winter.

Durability of that outsole is looking pretty good. I have had some negative feedback from a few viewers saying that their outsole shredded in a matter of miles, so I think there's something odd going on there because this is holding up quite well. Like I mentioned before, I used it in the TDS race - outsoles in races like the TDS take an absolute hammering because it's constant pressure on the outsole for 145km and you're running on some super technical, sharp, rocky trails so it can really shred that outsole but it's actually looking pretty good and holding up really well.

CONCLUSION

It's pretty obvious that I've really enjoyed my time in this shoe and I will continue to do so, and once I've run this pair into the ground, I'm going to be purchasing another pair and I will be using it for all my long training runs and long races because I just can't fault this shoe when it comes to running distance on a big mix of terrain. So, if you are in the market for an update on your trail shoes or you need your first ever pair of trail running shoes then I would definitely recommend checking out Saucony Xodus Ultra!

SCORING

Price: 7/10
Comfort & Performance: 9.5/10
Durability: 9/10

Total: 25.5/30

WATCH THE FULL REVIEW