Retro Style, Max Comfort: Inside the Saucony Paramount Max
- Retro style, modern ride: The Paramount Max borrows the look of Saucony's 2007-era trainers but pairs it with a high-stack, max-cushion platform.
- Built for easy miles: A smooth, stable ride with plenty of cushioning makes it an excellent daily trainer, though it isn't designed as a fast, propulsive super trainer.
- Comfort wins out: Breathable mesh, a roomy fit, and a broad, stable base impressed testers, with the minimally padded heel collar standing out as the main drawback.
When this shoe showed up, I noticed the throwback look right away. The Saucony Paramount Max leans on neutral mesh paneling and a color-blocking style that recalls running shoes from the mid-2000s. Once I laced them up and got out on the road, though, the focus shifted quickly from the look to how the shoe actually rides.
In practice, this is a shoe that provides a metric crap ton of comfort, stability, and enough fun in the ride to keep you interested and happy. It’s going to be a shoe you find yourself picking again and again, whether you’re hitting high mileage for marathon training, or those rage miles you hit when you’ve had a rough day at work.
Saucony Paramount Max
Pros
- Comfortable for miles and miles
- No hot spots with testing
- Breathable and light feeling
Cons
- Collar could be more plush
Key Specs
| For | Long daily miles |
| Weight | 10.6 oz (M), 8.8 oz (W) |
| Stack Height | 43 mm |
| Drop | 6 mm |
The Retro Look, and the 2007 Comparison
The Paramount Max’s upper is mesh-heavy and the palette is subdued, both details that recall the boxier, understated look of early 2000s trainers. It’s a natural point of comparison to the original Saucony ProGrid Paramount from 2007, a low-to-the-ground, stability-oriented shoe built for runners who wanted something substantial underfoot without a lot of stack height.
The Paramount Max keeps that same visual language up top: the mesh, the muted color, the general look of a “sensible” (some would say dad-like) trainer. But that’s where the similarity to 2007 ends. This is a max-cushion trainer with over 40 mm of stack height, so there’s nothing flat or low-profile about it underfoot. It reads as a modern max-stack platform wearing a familiar, retro-styled upper.
Ride Experience: Cushioned, Stable, Not a Super Trainer
It’s worth it to be super clear about what this shoe is and isn’t. There's no explosive energy return here and no propulsive, plate-driven pop that pushes you into your next stride. What it offers instead is cushioning—delicious cushioning—and a lot of it, designed to stay even and neutral rather than bouncy. But that’s not to say it has zero spring or fun in the run; it does, it’s just not a jet-powered super trainer. When I took them out the first time, I was shooketh by how much spring I felt. Not in the way I do with a plated shoe, but fun all the same. Way more than a shoe with this much foam has a right to have.
This makes it a lovely daily trainer for long, easy mileage rather than a race-day shoe. This is a turn-on-your-Taylor-and-vibe shoe. The ride is smooth and easy, and the broad platform underneath gives it a stable, planted feel with each step. It’s not designed to make you faster. It’s geared to keep your legs comfortable over a long run, and it really, really does.
Breathability
Given the volume of foam and the look of the upper, I expected the shoe to run warm. It didn’t. The engineered mesh breathes well, and on hotter runs my feet stayed noticeably cooler than the shoe’s appearance suggested they would. That’s something you may not grasp until several miles in, when the usual heat buildup just doesn’t happen.
The Tech Underneath
A lot of that ride comes down to what Saucony packed into the midsole. The Paramount Max runs on a full-length platform of IncrediRun foam, which is the same supercritical TPEE compound found in the Endorphin Elite racing line. The foam is made a hair firmer here so it holds up over daily miles instead of racing miles. It’s paired with a segmented midsole design, which breaks the foam into sections to smooth out heel-to-toe transitions and keep landings soft across a range of paces.
I did pick up the pace for several miles, and it felt great, but I wouldn’t count on this for serious speedwork, and that’s okay. She doesn’t need to be your speedy friend when she’s so great on the long runs. However, together the foam and the segmented geometry are what give the ride its stability without leaning on a plate or a traditional post.
A Runner With Speed Recommends It
Our team’s other gear editor, Amanda Furrer (a.k.a. the speed demon of the team) also ran in the Paramount Max trainers. Her overall take on the shoe was full of surprise, both about the look and about how good the ride ended up being.
On first impression, she admitted the retro styling almost put her off. “It looks like something I’d wear in 2006; sorta white and grey with mesh textures—but the height is bigger,” she said, adding that she expected the run to feel like a slog. It didn’t. “I thought running in these would be clunky but these feel AMAZING,” she said. “The spring with each step made for a fun ride. It’s one of the shoes I look forward to running in. And the look has grown on me too. Retro, but max it out.”
The midsole was what stood out most to her. She’s been a longtime Saucony runner, and she pointed to how much the brand has invested in its foams as the difference-maker here. “Unlike other well-known, that-which-won’t-be-named big running shoe brands, Saucony has really gone out of their way to improve their foams instead of relying on EVA,” she said. “The shoe is bulbous but it is über-comfy and highly responsive. Truly a delight taking these out on a run and feeling breezy instead of weighed down by all that foam.”
She found the shoe fit well without feeling loose. “The fit was accommodating, not tight and no hotspots,” she said. “As big as the shoe is, my foot wasn’t slipping in it. The tongue felt cozy against my instep.”
She also called out the stability of the platform, noting that the shoe’s width played a big role. “I found this shoe very stable due to the broad platform,” she said. Traction held up well too, and she noted this shoe avoided a wear pattern she’s seen in other Saucony models. “This wasn't something I had to worry about; traction was good and unlike some of Saucony’s other shoes, which tend to fray on the edges, this one is hardy.”
Her one real critique was the collar. “If there’s one thing I’d have to nitpick it’s the collar,” she said. “Why not have some padding on the heel? It didn’t bother me in the least but it does make you wonder just how much comfier this shoe would feel with a soft little cushion on your heel.” This is also my biggest gripe. As someone who relies on a heel lock to fix a narrow Achilles, it’s noticeable.
Bottom Line
The Saucony Paramount Max pairs a retro-inspired silhouette with a modern, high-volume midsole. It doesn’t offer the energy return or propulsive feel of a super trainer, and it isn’t trying to. What it offers is a stable, well-cushioned ride suited to long, easy miles, along with breathability that outperforms what the shoe’s appearance would suggest. For runners looking for a comfortable daily trainer with a nod to Saucony’s past, it’s a solid option. Just don’t ruin the look by mowing the grass in them.
Buy Men’s at saucony.com | Buy Women’s at saucony.com
Cat Bowen, senior editor of commerce; reviews, is a seasoned runner with more than 20 years of distance running experience, including dozens of marathons, half marathons, and even a few ultra marathons. For over a decade, she has tested parenting, fitness, home, and running gear and written in-depth guides to help readers with their next purchase. Holding multiple advanced degrees and currently studying kinesiology, Cat Bowen brings research-backed insight to all of her guides. Passionate about women’s health and neurodivergent inclusion, she advocates for closing research gaps and helping others—especially AudHD people—find joy in running and fitness.