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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Saucony Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom Review}}

* {{H:cushioning}}. The Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom uses a different material to provide its cushioning. Instead of EVA foam the Freedom uses expanded TPU beads. This is the technology that's found in Adidas shoes like the [[Adidas Energy Boost]], though Saucony brand it "EVERUN." The idea is that TPU provides more spring than EVA foam and it lasts longer. Previously, I've found that the Adidas Boost had a distinctly bouncier feel, but I haven't noticed this much in the Freedom. In fact, I'd say that the Freedom feels a little firm, and it's rather under cushioned for its weight. One of the caveats to TPU cushioning is that it's relatively heavy when compared with EVA foam. Saucony have done an admirable job in reducing the weight of the upper without compromising comfort, but this does give the shoe is slightly odd feel when you pick it up as the weight is concentrated so much in the sole. The other oddity with the Freedom is that it doesn't seem to quite compress under pressure in the same way that EVA foam does, so I get a sense of extra pressure just in front of my metatarsal heads (the ball of my foot and the similar joints for the other toes.) I'm not sure this is necessarily a problem, but it's not something I'm terribly keen on. I'm a little disappointed with the cushioning-to-weight ratio of the Freedom, as it provides about the same cushioning as the [[New Balance RC5000‏‎v2RC5000v2]] but ways far more than twice as much. On a more positive note, I'd say that the cushioning seems to be lasting much better than EVA foam, though I've only put just over 100 miles on them so far.

* {{H:flexibility}}. The Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom is nicely flexible, and the forefoot has a little bit of springing us to the bend. I'm not sure if this really provides any propulsion at toe off, but it's a nice thought. The Freedom is rather more flexible than you might expect given its unbroken outsole along the forefoot.* {{H:outsole}}. As you can see from the pictures above, the Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom has harder rubber outsole over virtually the entire sole, with just a small gap under the middle of the arch. The rubber is nicely sticky and tacky, providing good grip while the tread pattern seems to work quite effectively. The outsole also seems to be quite hard wearing, and there are no stone traps or other holes in the sole that could pick up gravel.

* {{H:tongue}}. The Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom has a sock-liner style of tongue that actually part of the upper and is attached all the way along. There is almost no padding in the tongue, except for a narrow section that runs the length of the midline of the tongue. Having run in ultralight shoes that have a barely more than a bit of tissue acting as a tongue, I was a little surprised to find the tongue in the Freedom to be lacking. This could be lead you to the lacing pattern of the Freedom where the laces cross over in bands that concentrate the force on a narrow part of the foot. This wasn't a big issue for me, but I did occasionally find the top of my foot was less than happy. * {{H:lacing}}. The Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom has flat laces that work how laces should and don't come undone mid-run. * {{H:heelcounter}}. The Freedom‏‎‏‎‏‎ Freedom doesn't have a heel counter in the traditional way. If you look at the photos above, you'll see a black band that runs roughly where the top of the heel counter would go. This black band is relatively thick plastic that acts as a skeleton of a heel counter. To me, this seems like an unusually pointless bit of design and it's hard to imagine that anyone would think that this provides any functional benefit. I'm guessing that the designers felt that a running shoe must have a heel counter so late put something in regardless of the futility.