- Weight: 287g (M), 252g (W)
- Weight: 287g M, 252g W
- Type: Road
- Price: £140
Saucony brought the second iteration of their Liberty support shoe to market saying, ‘For those looking to achieve their personal goals, the Liberty ISO 2 lets you boldly chase after them. This running shoe sports a light and springy feel with a touch of stealth stability to keep you comfortable as the miles rack up.’
Liberty ISO fans will be pleased to hear the second version of the shoe is pretty similar to the original. The full-length Everun cushioning is still the prominent feature, with a few tweaks for stability and comfort. The upper is now made from the brand’s ‘ISOKNIT’ rather than mesh – it’s stretchy and designed to replace the more rigid external support frame. The outsole now has lengthwise grooves to improve stability, but they are also designed to make the shoe more flexible.
TRI-FLEX Outsole
The outsole is made from Saucony’s durable crystal rubber. In the ISO 2, Saucony have kept the same shock-dispersing zigzag tread called TRI-Flex, but have tweaked the outsole with more guidance grooves, which are designed to help centre your weight over the shoe when you land.
All of our testers found the grip to be impressive when running on the road; one wrote, ‘good traction on wet uphill pavements with no slippage – I found the traction much better than that on my new Asics shoes.’ Another noted, ‘the tread is good and doesn’t slip – I felt like I had a good amount of grip on the track and on the road doing shorter runs and my longer training runs.’
EVERUN cushioning
A medial guidance frame (rather than a post), places a sturdy piece of TPU on the inner edge of the midsole beneath the arch, but also extends support along the perimeter of the shoe. The result is a stable, comfortable ride. Our testers found the cushioning to be neither sluggish nor heavy. One tester wrote, ‘they have great cushioning without feeling bouncy’; another said, ‘felt very cushioned and supportive under the forefoot. Cushioning felt firm but had some bounce, particularly pushing uphill.’
According to Saucony, the firmer heel cushioning is designed to provide 83% energy return, while still supporting the foot for overpronators. This is one element that all of our testers liked, with one commenting, ‘the snug heel support was well padded, even helping my sore achilles tendon’.
ISOKNIT construction
The ISOKNIT construction is the biggest change between the Liberty ISO 2 and its predecessor. Saucony say, “theISOKNIT upper adapts to the shape and motion of the runner's foot providing freedom of movement for a natural running motion.” The change from the mesh material to this knitted upper helps the shoe to feel more breathable on the run.
The shoes are also constructed with the brand’s ISOFIT upper; an inner sleeve designed to ‘provide a locked-in, close-to-foot fit’. That said, a few of our testers struggled with Saucony’s ISOFIT lacing system, finding it was difficult to pull the shoe tight on the foot, with one writing, ‘The only problem the shoes have is the way they lace up. The lower part of the lacing gets loose if you don’t maintain constant pressure on the laces. While this makes them easy to take them off, I struggled to get the shoe to lace up tight against my foot.’ Others enjoyed the wrap-style upper, with one noting, ‘the way the lacing wraps the foot gives a nice secure hold’.
