Saucony Peregrine 14 trail running shoes review: tacky traction you can trust

Meet the reviewer

Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a staff writer for Advnture.com and the author of the book Restorative Yoga for Beginners. She loves to explore mountains on foot, bike, skis and belay and then recover on the the yoga mat. Julia graduated with a degree in journalism in 2004 and spent eight years working as a radio presenter in Kansas City, Vermont, Boston and New York City before discovering the joys of the Rocky Mountains. She then detoured west to Colorado and enjoyed 11 years teaching yoga in Vail before returning to her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland in 2020 to focus on family and writing.  

Saucony Peregrine 14 trail running shoes: first impressions 

This is the 14th iteration of the Peregrine shoe which means Saucony has had plenty  to perfect this model and in many ways, they have. Described as a daily trail shoe with "traction you can trust," the Peregrine 14 is a lightweight trail running shoe with 5mm lugs and a tacky outsole that give you excellent grip on steep descents, mud, grass, rocks and even wet boardwalks.

The soles are blessedly devoid of a stiff carbon plate which means a good trail feel and your foot can bend at the toe joints and these work for those dealing with reduced ankle mobility. A 4mm drop makes them an option for different types of foot strikers. Breathable uppers mean these make an excellent choice for summer runs and if you're splashing through puddles in the colder months, they won't stay wet for long.

When you pull them on and tie the laces, you'll enjoy instant lockdown fit for a really stable ride and a built-in sockliner helps keep out small debris on rough trails. That said, we found these shoes to run surprisingly small and with a tapered toe box found we wanted more room and would recommend going up a full size.

Speaking of the toe box, it doesn't offer a ton of protection, so these might not be the best choice for clumsy runners or those trails with lots of roots and rocks. We also found the heel to be quite stiff so it rubbed for the first few wears, but sizing up more might improve upon this.

As usual, the Peregrines are a great price and with the grip and stability, they're worth checking out if you want to take the time to break them in.

Saucony Peregrine 14 trail running shoes: in the field

I've been wearing Saucony Kinvara Pros for road running for the last six months and I've been really happy with them, but on trails, I've been wearing Merrell Agility Peak4s for a while. I've heard good things about the Peregrines (we gave the 12s nearly full marks) so I was keen to give them a go and see if they perform as well as the Kinvaras. So far, I've been wearing them for 5-milers in the hills near Glasgow.

Here’s how they performed:

Sizing and fit

I'm technically a size 3.5 UK but I go up a half size to give my feet room to swell and in this case, that turned to not quite be enough. My toes don't touch the end, by any means, but with the tapered toe box I definitely wanted more room.

The fit is really snug without being too tight around the midfoot, which I really like, but found them to be a bit too tight for comfort around the heel, especially when combined with the stiffer material there.

Grip and protection

Where these shoes really shine is in their traction. The 5mm lugs and tacky rubber outsole seems to grab onto just about any surface like glue. I tested these on a long run around a nearby country park which delivers a little gradient with a few steep slopes and loads of mixed surfaces: slick rocks, grass, gravel, slippery wooden boardwalks and tons of mud. These shoes held me up through it all and I felt really confident.

There's not a ton of toe protection, however, so I definitely find myself slowing down around rocky areas.

Responsiveness and stability

Some trail shoes definitely don't feel very responsive, but with these shoes I managed to feel like I was bounding along without giant chunky soles, which goes to show that it's possible without a carbon plate. The soles have a great flex to them which I've been missing with the current trend towards plates, so my foot was able to move more naturally and I can just roll along the trail. Best of all, even though there's enough padding to mean I can wear these on rocky trails, there's still enough trail feel for me to adapt to what's beneath me with every step.

They're also really stable, again in part because the midsoles aren't massive and my foot just sits nicely in the shoe with a good lockdown fit. I haven't felt my foot move once in them, though I do wonder if that would change if I were to go up another half size.

Breathability and comfort

The lightweight mesh uppers are really breathable (and quick drying) which hasn't mattered so much since I've been testing them in winter but I know will be much appreciated when it warms up. 

The main issue I have with these shoes, however, is comfort. I could tell they were rubbing my heel from the moment I put them on and while I managed to get through my first run without too much skin loss, I was pretty keen to get them off my feet. A few more wears has helped, and again I'm wondering if going up a full size wouldn't fix this.

Saucony Peregrine 14 trail running shoes: the bottom line

They're not the perfect shoe, but they have a lot of brilliant attributes that you want from a trail shoe: great grip, stability, responsiveness and breathability at a decent price. Size up and see if you have any comfort issues before you buy. If you want a similar performance and better comfort, the Saucony Peregrine 12s are still available and the price is looking better and better these day.

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