I got a free pair of Saucony Progrid Kinvara in the mail on Friday.

Here are some of my initial thoughts without having run in them!

I like the blue color and design.  As I pulled it out of the box it was quite obvious that it was a “minimalist” shoe.  The upper is all mesh and fairly flimsy.  The bottom is EVA+ foam and pretty flexible. The tread on the Kinvara is slightly aggressive, but not like a trail shoe.  It does look more like a trail shoe than a road shoe, but a lot lighter.  They weigh in just under 8 ounces, which is pretty light for a shoe.

The Kinvara use a flat shoe lace, while the rest of my shoes use the round lace.  Does this save weight? Or work better for the minimalist design of the upper.

Obviously, only a run in the Kinvara will be able to say if it is a good shoe or not.  It is extremely light weight and time will tell!

The Kinvara has won several awards including the June 2010 Runner’s World Best Debut shoe and Outside Magazine’s 2011 Gear of the Year award.

While you are waiting to see how my run in them went, watch these videos:

Saucony ProGrid Kinvara from Saucony on Vimeo.