Price: $100
Type: Road
Weight: 9.2 oz (M), 7.2 oz (W)
The Right Shoe For: Smashing your next hill workout
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The Sweet Road gets its name from the training ground up in Manlius, New York where the Syracuse cross country team puts in grueling workouts. With its propulsive, high drop and snappy ride, it’s also a shoe a runner of that caliber might lace up for the fast-paced climb—the men’s version even debuted in the SU’s official colors. Plus, with a price tag at just a Benjamin, the Sweet Road fits a college runner budget.
The updated version is a true, no-frills neutral shoe with just enough cushioning for speed workouts and tempo runs. It keeps added stability features to a minimum, and has most of its cushioning positioned at the forefoot—so you can stay comfy on your toes when tackling hills. While some of our testers did pick the shoe for their long runs, most felt the Sweet Road was most at home doing shorter speed sessions and tune-up races. “I wear [this shoe] for interval training or tempo workouts,” one tester explained. “It’s lightweight with great traction and a smooth ride, but for longer runs I would need more arch support and heel cushioning.”
Flexible KooshRide Foam
Reebok uses an injection-molded EVA midsole foam along with a bouncier TPU unit it calls KooshRide, which makes the Sweet Road feel especially responsive under foot. It doesn’t bounce quite like the Floatride’s lightweight foam, but Koosh cushion still gets the job done. And while the amount of cushioning is very modest, it offers substantial flexibility through the midsole, which helps make the Sweet Road feel smooth underfoot—especially to our testers more accustomed to plusher trainers.
“This felt like a performance shoe, allowing for movement and flexibility,” said one tester. “It was really nice to get back into something that feels like it is made for speed.”
Testers noted the shoe doesn’t offer a lot in the stability department. “It only has enough stability and support for a shorter runs,” said one tester. “It would work well for neutral, low-mileage runners.”
Grippy Tread
The Sweet Road’s durable rubber outsole got two-thumbs up from our testers. Most found that the tread was grippy from sidewalk to pavement, and held up even when their runs turned rainy. Plus, the shoe handled steep uphills, slippery descents, and tight corners on city streets with ease—just don’t lace them up for muddy trails.
Stylish, Supportive High Ankle
A higher fit around the ankle helps keep the foot centered on the Sweet Road’s midsole, and also provides a bit more support to counter the high heel-to-toe drop. However, a few testers disliked the higher ankle collar, and found that it could irritate their Achilles. “The shoe came up in the back a little too high, and kind of dug in to my heel,” one tester said. “It didn’t bother me too much, but it might over more miles.”
Testers especially appreciated the shoe’s flashy, breathable mesh as well as the ample toe box. Both stylish and durable, the lightweight fabric garnered quite a few compliments from runners who like a little street style in their running shoes.
Hydrate Your Runs With These Bottles
All the Stats You Need!
Men’s
- Weight: Light | 9.2 oz
- Heel-To-Toe-Drop: Very High | 12.8 mm
- Heel Height: High | 33.9 mm
- Heel Cushioning: Firm
- Forefoot Height: Low | 21.2 mm
- Forefoot Cushioning: Firm
- Flexibility: Flexible
- Stability Features: Few
- Energy Return: Moderate
Women’s
- Weight: Light | 7.2 oz
- Heel-To-Toe-Drop: Very High | 11.4 mm
- Heel Height: High | 33.0 mm
- Heel Cushioning: Firm
- Forefoot Height: Moderate | 21.6 mm
- Forefoot Cushioning: Moderate
- Flexibility: Flexible
- Stability Features: Few
- Energy Return: Moderate
We put each shoe through real-world usage and a battery of mechanical tests in our lab to provide you with objective—and exclusive—data. In addition to measuring a shoe’s weight, we measure sole thickness (everything that sits between your foot and the road), how well the foam cushions your stride, and the flexibility of the forefoot. All this is taken into account in our reviews of each shoe.
Morgan is a gear editor who has been with Runner’s World since 2017. She started as an intern ghostwriting The Warmup, a bygone version of the daily RW newsletter. Now, she tests and reviews anything you might find on runners’ feet-from crew socks and compression boots to carbon-plated super shoes.
A lifelong runner and shoe geek, Morgan has been chasing the perfect pair of kicks since she joined her grade school cross-country team. Since then, she ran as a Division I walk-on for the cross-country and track & field teams at the University of Delaware, where she studied English and Biology. She has one full marathon under her belt, and has raced more halfs and 5Ks than she can count.
