Brooks Glycerin Flex Review - 62 plus miles

My size 12's came in weighing: Left 10.7 Ounces, Right 10.9 Ounces
Sample size weight: (Men size 9) 9.3 ounces
Heel Stack Nike: 38 MM
Drop: 6 MM
Upper: Engineered flat knit provides a flexible and accommodating fit
Outsole: Segmented outsole geometry for enhanced natural movement. (Flex)

Midsole: DNA Tuned nitrogen-infused foam is created with dual-sized cells, larger cells in the heel and smaller cells in the forefoot for a soft and responsive ride.  

MSRP: $170 USD

I ran in mostly dry conditions on Tarmac, concrete, dirt/leaves, light trail and track.  I was able to get a little running in on some wet concrete, but most of my runs were on dry conditions. 

I did up tempo, steady pace, variable speeds and easy pace runs for the review.  I also did some walking around in the shoe as it is quite comfortable. 

I have 62 plus miles in the shoes for the review

Laces: They are a puffy lace that I normally wouldn't like, but they work well with the sock like upper.  Gives good lock down without pressure points, I understand the design intent here
Tongue: The tongue is not gusseted and is padded enough to keep the lace bite from the top of the foot, but not overly thick.  I would like to set it gusseted, especially at the price point.  With that said, I had no tongue movement on my 60 plus miles of running
Upper material: Engineered flat knit provides a flexible and very comfortable fit. 
Heel: With the design of the upper being a hybrid sock like upper, they do have a padded heel to help aid in lock down
Toe Room: I had no hot spots from the toe room and felt like I had good wiggle room without any slippage. 
Insole/Flex: I did have a blister on my outer big toe after running the marathon.  What I think is that I had a slight rubbing motion going on with the insole at a flex point on the shoe.  This is also why the experts always tell you to break in the shoe as I have not encountered this again and have done over 30 miles since the marathon, including a 13 mile plus run.  It just needed a little break in. 

The outsole is and has to be strategically placed due to the design of the flex midsole/outsole combination.  There is a nice thick and ribbed amount of rubber in the areas it is placed and I had great traction during my runs on all surfaces.  I am noticing a bit of wear in my high wear area, but with the thickness of the rubber I would expect to get standard durability out of the outsole.   

For those who don't wear through outsoles as fast as I do, this could be a long lasting shoe if you are lighter on your feet than my mechanics. 

The one drawback to the design is that it can be a rock catcher if you are running on light trail with rocks.  I would hope if you are buying the shoe you are aware of that possibility with this design, but it is a small price to pay for the fun of the shoe. 

The DNA tuned midsole material in combination with the flex mechanical design is a very enjoyable underfoot feel in my miles.  For the marathon, I had enough cushion to protect my feet for 26.2 miles without any foot related pain and to take these right out of the box into the marathon says a lot about the ability of the shoe. 

DNA loft / Tuned can be a denser foam.  In the numerous brooks I have run it, I vary between like it and thinking it is fairly bland underfoot depending on the shoe set up.   In this shoe, the flex design, seems to let loose an extra rebound factor in the foam that brings it to a new level of life.  I enjoy the flexibility of the shoe, but the design allowing the foam to move more underfoot, I believe, has a mechanical effect in the way it rebounds back during the run and it is an experience I really like. 

It is honestly, my favorite underfoot experience of a Brooks shoe in the 4 plus years I have been running.........and that is from someone who tends to get along with Brooks well mechanically. 

I will tend to bit....complain about shoe prices a bit in life outside of writing text for my reviews.  I get it, prices are going up in general, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, accept it without comment or just be happy with it. 

I am bringing it up in this review, because I feel like Brooks missed the mark a bit here.  The Adidas EVO SL is an extremely popular shoe and that is because it has a Top Shelf foam in the shoe at a reasonable price ($150 USD).   Adidas, whether they knew it or not, challenged the market a bit with this shoe.   Other brands have taken notice of the success.  Saucony just released the Azura, a direct competitor in the market.  Brooks even knows it as they are releasing a Ghost Amp later this year targeting this market. 

What I don't get, is why they didn't release this shoe in a close price point, even $155, to challenge now rather than later.  This shoe is unique and I get there was probably some additional set up costs to the design of the midsole, however I think if this shoe came in within 5 bucks of the EVO SL and Azura, they would have a shoe on the market now that is unique and also a direct competitor. 

I hope the shoe does well and think it will at this price point, but I think they could have made a bigger splash at a lower price point. 

I absolutely love this shoe.  It is a very fun shoe to run in.  Brooks found a niche in the market here and I think nailed the design and usage intent, just wish they came in a little lower on the price.  

If you enjoy a versatile shoe that you can do varied speed workouts in on varied surfaces at varied distances, this should is one that you should check out.  

Who might want to be cautious is anyone with arthritis or plantar fasciitis issues as they would probably need more structure and support for those conditions. 

This shoe is a strong recommend from me

https://www.goodtimesrunningco.com/

I am not affiliated to this store at all, it is a local store that I support because they support the local running community in a great way.  They carry Brooks models, including the Flex, so if you are in the area and want to check out the shoe.....I would recommend dropping by the store as they will take great care of you