The Kiprun Kipride feels and runs like a premium everyday trainer, but it enters the U.S. market at a more competitive pricepoint.
If you haven’t heard about Kiprun yet—and I suspect you probably haven’t yet—it’s a new shoe brand to the U.S. that could make a big splash this year. The new Kiprun Kipride is a new light, soft, bouncy, and energetic daily trainer that could turn you on to the merits of this brand before it becomes ubiquitous in the American running scene.
Kiprun is the performance running brand of French sporting goods manufacturer Decathlon that’s built a huge business around the simple but powerful idea of making its own quality sports gear at reasonable prices. Decathlon has twice tried to enter the U.S. with its sports and outdoor shops, in Boston in the early 2000s and in San Francisco before the pandemic hit, but it pulled back both times. Now it’s coming only with its running brand.
So how will it make a presence with its road running and trail running shoe lines? First, its shoes are very good and, from both quality and performance perspectives, are able to compete with the top brands in the marketplace. But the initial strategy is to make sure most of its shoes are priced slightly lower than the competition and available online and a handful of key retail stores in the U.S., and that could be a way it starts to make headway.
For one of its first shoes into the U.S. market, the Kiprun Kipride (women’s, men’s) checks a lot of boxes for runners seeking versatile daily training shoes. It’s lighter, softer, bouncier, and more stable than many of the contemporary everyday trainers you’ll find at running stores. It feels and runs like a premium training shoe, but, with a $140 price tag, it comes in with a lower price point than many similar shoes in the $150-$175 range. Here’s my two-cents about it after running 45 miles in it over the past two weeks.
Price: $140
Approximate Weights: 7.4 oz (women’s 8); 8.6 oz. (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 6mm; 36mm (heel), 30mm (forefoot)
What’s New: The Kiprun Kipride is a brand new shoe built around a high-energy Fastech midsole foam that blends EVA and PEBA materials to deliver soft cushioning with strong energy return, helping absorb impact while keeping the ride responsive. It has a moderate stack height designed to create a stable, natural transition from heel to toe, emphasizing comfort and efficiency over aggressive propulsion. The upper uses lightweight, breathable engineered knits with padded collars, providing secure lockdown and step-in comfort while maintaining a relatively lightweight feel for daily training.
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Fit/Feel/Ride: The Kiprun Kipride fits true to size with a medium interior volume and plenty of wiggle room in the forefoot for toes to wiggle and splay. The step-in feel is soft, comfortable and accommodating for a wide range of foot shapes. (There is room for an aftermarket footbed once you remove the premium sockliner, if desired.) The shoe’s thin, padded and fully gusseted tongue wraps over the top of the foot and cinches down smoothly with the lacing system. (I have narrow feet and had to tighten the laces a little bit extra to secure my feet in the slightly roomier interior, but that didn’t create any pinch points as it does in some more voluminous shoes.)
The ride feels very soft, cushy and energetic at all paces, but instead of a soft and marshmallowy sensation that washes out, it has a bouncy and stable sensation that keeps your gait tracking forward. Many high-performance midsole foams can feel exceptionally bouncy and a bit unstable, but the Fastech midsole—combined with the wide footprint from heel to toe—serves up a smooth, efficient, and controlled ride.
Why It’s Great: The Kipride can be a workhorse everyday training shoe because the soft, energetic and stable midsole makes high-mileage training feel easier. That’s a big deal for marathon prep or high-mileage weeks—less pounding means you can train more consistently without breaking down. Its geometry and very stable platform—aided by the fact that its not as high off the ground as modern maximalist trainers—deliver a smooth, consistent, efficient ride, allowing great pace variability from recovery miles to long runs without the shoe feeling heavy or overly aggressive.
Why You’ll Love It: It’s soft, light, comfortable, and supportive enough for long runs, but it’s light, stable, and responsive enough to run fast-paced workouts like longer interval repeats and tempo runs. It’s not just soft—it’s soft with some bounce, which keeps the ride from feeling dull or sluggish.
By pairing soft protection with a responsive feel, the Kipride can handle everything from daily training to tempo runs and longer interval efforts for marathon training (such as 3 x 2 miles at a fast pace), making it a versatile, do-almost-everything option for runners who value simplicity without giving up performance. My longest run was a 10-miler at a slow to moderate pace, but I really appreciated the spring in my step, especially in the closing miles.
Why You Might Not Like It: The upper is soft and comfortable, but it doesn’t seem to be as breathable as many other contemporary models. Plus, the shoe is very soft and bouncy, and if that’s not your jam, this probably isn’t your shoe. Also, the black colorway seemed to get warmer during longer runs in the sun.
Pros: The outsole has segments of rubber in key wear/traction areas that provides great grip on wet and dry pavement and concrete. For many runners—especially those new to the sport—the versatility of the Kipride could mean it’s the only running shoe you need for a season of training.
Cons: There is no reinforcement in the heel, which could impact the rearfoot stability for some runners. And despite feeling responsive and fast, it doesn’t feel agile or quick enough for shorter, speedier intervals.
About the Author
Contributing editor Brian Metzler is the Content Director for UltraSignup.com. He has wear-tested more than 2,000 running shoes and is the author of “Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes” (2019) and “Trail Running Illustrated” (2021). He has raced just about every distance from 100 meters to 100 miles, but he’s most eager to share stories about his experiences pack burro racing in Colorado and riding trains to run trails in Chamonix, France.
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