I’ve been wearing Saucony’s for probably about 5 years now. My arches have been flattening out over the years and I LOVE THESE SHOES. The minute I put on a pair of shoes with arch supports, I felt like I was standing up strait. It makes sense from a mechanical point of view. “Pronation” is when your feet roll in. The arch supports stopped them from rolling in. I tried these on in a running store for the first time and they put me on a treadmill to measure the pronation.
While there is an arch - a good arch built into the shoe - I found that I still needed to add an arch support to both the Progrid 7 and Omni 12. But the good news is that there is room in these shoes for that support — I’ve got one of the Dr. Scholl’s custom supports in there which is pretty substantial in thickness.
I started off in the Progrid 7’s and then at the last Woot, bought the Omni 12’s. The 12’s definitely have more arch support, although they are pretty close. Actually, when I first tried the 7’s I gave up on them because the arch support was so extreme. I went to a Nike with a little less arch support. When those shoes were dying, I went back into the closet, tried the Saucony’s back on, and the angels sang. If you feel like you need the support, but haven’t been wearing any arch support, I’d get the 7s. If you find the arch bump too hard, it’s worth trying a shoe insert that’s available in any grocery store for under $5 to add some cushion.
Since Woot failed to get enough size 8’s I won’t be able to get the 12’s again, but I’ll be perfectly happy to have the 7’s. Speaking of size, I agree with many of the reviewers that you need to go up 1/2 a size for these shoes. I tried these on in a running store the first time without any supports and was measured. Normally I’m a 7 1/2, but the 8 was really necessary. They fit like a glove.
Last bit I suppose is the feel. I had reached a point where my feet were incredibly sore at the end of the work day all the time and I work a desk job. Getting arch support in my shoes tackled this problem for me. I can walk for miles and miles in my Saucony’s and often do at lunch time. I have a long hike from the work parking lot into the building, so all summer I wore these to work and then changed into a pair of office shoes that I kept under my desk – comfort worth the hassle.
They were a quality of life investment when I paid ~$100 for them. They are a happy steal at Woot’s price today – I’ve stalked these shoes for the last couple of months and haven’t found a price below $60 in my very popular sizes. If you’re looking at the really small or really large women’s sizes you might randomly find a pair for $40 when the seller is down to 2 or 3 pairs.
I’m kinda mad that I finding office shoes with that kind of support is rough, but Saucony took care of me there recently. If you’r looking for shoes without glow in the dark colors, search out the Saucony Omni Walkers. They’re basically the same shape as the Omni 12’s but made of leather. The do fit differently. I wasn’t able to put my arch support pads in the Walkers - my heel popped out. That being said, the arch support feels even more extreme than in the Omni 12s - it took some getting used to.
Another motivation for getting the leather Walkers was the NJ Winter. Last week we had a January level 15F morning. The walkers kept my feet warm and also kept out the wet. Saucony also makes a Gore-tex version of both these showe – they have GTX attached to their name. I haven’t tired those yet because during my stalking I found them to be the most expensive and almost never found a sail below $100.