The Brooks Divide 5. All pictures: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
The Brooks Divide 5 ($110) is beginner-friendly, experienced-runner-approved, budget-conscious, gentle path shoe — with the soul of a highway shoe, and underfoot safety worthy of trails. It’s simple to overlook about on the ft so long as terrain stays comparatively delicate, and your tempo is decided extra by your temper than your watch.
The Brooks Divide mannequin has been a staple within the road-to-trail operating shoe area of interest for the previous 4 years, however with this fifth iteration, it appears Brooks embraced what the Divide is. A couple of upgrades within the cushioning and higher permit it to totally transfer into the function of a shoe you may comfortably run some paved bike path miles in, earlier than connecting to dust roads and fewer technical trails.
The brand new Divide looks like the right mix of the softer cushioning and adaptability of the Brooks Ghost line from the previous a number of years, blended with the superb traction and extra steady platform of the Brooks Cascadia 18 (with out the stiffness and weight.) It’s a uncommon path shoe that doesn’t really feel clunky on pavement, but nonetheless feels balanced on much less technical trails. It doesn’t discriminate between heel and midfoot strikers and, at the very least for me, it’s good for straightforward runs and tempo runs alike.
The Divide 5 has an 8-millimeter drop with an precise weight of 9.9 ounces (282 grams) for a U.S. males’s 9, almost a full ounce lighter than the Cascadia 18. For many who want a Gore-Tex shoe, the Brooks Divide 5 GTX ($140) can also be accessible, although we didn’t take a look at that shoe for this overview.
Sizing observe: The Divide 5 is in keeping with my typical Brooks measurement and on par with what I put on in New Stability, La Sportiva, Asics, and Montrail. It’s a full measurement bigger than what I put on for Salomon.
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Brooks Divide 5 Higher
A lateral view of the Brooks Divide 5.
The higher of the Brooks Divide 5 is a mushy, snag-resistant, breathable mesh that enables for ample air flow however is lined with a clean inside layer to assist hold sand and particles out and friction low. The impartial final and comparatively roomy toebox make for a really snug atmosphere for the ft to do their factor by way of the gait cycle. Skinny TPU overlays present a little bit of construction by way of graphics medially and laterally alongside the midfoot and heel. Thicker overlays on prime home the lacing slits that permit for a very snugly locked down midfoot, with out creating any eyelet stress factors alongside the highest of the foot.
The flat, woven laces keep tied higher than some sneakers, however a good double knot is essential. The efficient, safe match by way of the midfoot and heel was particularly evident with cambered trails, washes, cross-prairie journey, and once I hit quick sections of extra technical path, I used to be capable of keep the tempo and turnover I desired with the boldness that my foot and shoe had been working collectively as most popular.
The well-padded ankle collar and durable heel cup additional enhance the consolation, safety, and confidence when operating or climbing, and even straight out of the field, I had zero points with sizzling spots or break-in creases. On highway sections, the padding and clean inside hold the foot and ankle stress and blister free even because the tempo and repetitive nature of the foot strikes enhance. The rand across the toebox is extra substantial than a highway shoe, which is good for the occasional incursion into cement sidewalk lips and path options alike; it additionally helps present appreciated stiffness for shorter, steeper hills when being up on the toes is necessary. Toebox quantity is lofty sufficient that even with the protecting entrance, my toenails stay friction free and completely satisfied.
Fortunately, Brooks hasn’t tried to reinvent the tongue as has been the case with another manufacturers. The usual wanting tongue is comparatively low profile however has simply sufficient padding to guard the highest of the foot from locked down laces, but is skinny sufficient not to absorb water when a rock-hopping stream crossing will get a bit splashy.
As a part of their dedication to sustainability, Brooks states that the higher is made with virtually 60% recycled supplies. In my 140 miles within the shoe, the consolation, flexibility, and performance of the higher continues to be pretty much as good as when new out of the field. I see no put on patterns or creases within the higher and have but to have even one friction level, despite the fact that I’ve worn them with traction units hooked up to navigate some current persistent icy and packed snow sections of highway and path. Street sneakers hardly ever maintain as much as traction units nicely with out placing odd stress on the toes and ft — the Divide 5, nonetheless, is performing flawlessly.
Brooks Divide 5 Midsole
A medial view of the Brooks Divide 5.
The midsole of the Brooks Divide 5 is the place Brooks appears to have spent most of their improve efforts. The dynamic cushioning is now 4-millimeters thicker and feels softer and extra responsive, because of the DNA Loft v2 midsole compound. The rockplate continues to be current, however it interacts seamlessly with the EVA and goes unnoticed apart from the safety provided underfoot. The elevated midsole cushioning stack comes at solely a 0.2-ounce enhance in weight, however at the very least for me, it’s nicely price it for the consolation it brings.
Earlier variations of the Divide had been typically recognized as being too agency or not feeling cushioned sufficient to deal with highway miles nicely. In my expertise with the Divide 5, once I did find yourself operating some miles on the pavement to get to the crushed gravel or smoother singletrack, my legs nonetheless felt good and springy as if I had a correct highway shoe on. But on the singletrack, the shoe gives the safety and torsional stiffness wanted to deal with the various angles and occasional chunks with out feeling overbearing. Returning to the pavement to attach again to the automotive, once more, the highway shoe resilience and springiness nonetheless shines.
Heel-toe roll by way of is clean and straightforward and the shoe feels pretty gentle on my ft. I put on a pair different kinds of door-to-trail sneakers, and the Divide 5 is the closest to the highway shoe expertise out of any of them, whereas not sacrificing gentle path efficiency.
I didn’t take a look at this shoe past 15 miles at a time. It did appear that round that distance is the place the consolation began fading a bit. A part of that could be my physique’s distinct choice for extra elevation change and fewer flat, poundy terrain throughout longer runs, however I believe the midsole of this shoe might be extra of a daily-running-miles shoe fairly than an extremely/long-run shoe. Your expertise could range. I’d want a bit firmer resilience, significantly by way of the arch, to make use of this shoe on longer outings.
Brooks Divide 5 Outsole
The outsole of the Brooks Divide 5.
The Brooks Divide 5 outsole options glorious traction, because of the TrailTrack Inexperienced compound Brooks makes use of all through the underside. Multidirectional 3-millimeter lugs in various chevron and triangular shapes are nicely spaced over your entire sole, besides the place useful grooves are carved to each lighten the burden and enhance the pliability and torsional mobility by way of the outsole.
This compound works exceptionally nicely on moist rocks, roots, dust, and pavement alike, and since the lugs aren’t too outstanding, they don’t stack clay-mud very deep earlier than you may fling it off with a well-placed little mid-air kick. The traction additionally gives ample confidence on hilly crushed gravel and sand layers over exhausting dust highway, path, pavement, and even on steeper descents.
Fall-winter presents such mercurial climate experiences, that on any given hour you can face a wide range of underfoot circumstances. This outsole makes it simpler to simply hold operating. Whereas the Divide 5 shouldn’t be essentially designed for snow, on well-packed snow, there’s simply sufficient grip from the lugs and the outsole compound to maintain slippage to a minimal, and the outsole works rather well with a selected traction machine that permit the lugs do their factor with overlying small tooth.
The outsole may simply be the very best performing side of the shoe — rising nicely above its “station” as a door-to-trail shoe. In the event you occurred to take just one pair of sneakers on a visit that would come with highway and path operating and climbing, the outsole alone would show you how to get away with extra technical terrain in a pinch, though the Divide 5 actually excels on calmer surfaces.
Brooks Divide 5 General Impressions
A prime view of the Brooks Divide 5.
At solely $110, the Brooks Divide 5 is a formidable possibility providing highway shoe vibes and path shoe traction in a really safe, snug package deal. Whether or not you’re a highway runner dabbling in trails, or an skilled path runner who connects pavement and dust roads to some gentler singletrack, the Divide 5 will get you the place it is advisable to go with out fanfare or drama.
Presumably the most effective praise I may give this shoe is that if you lace them up and head out, you simply don’t take into consideration them very a lot. There are undoubtedly lighter, sooner, extra technical sneakers on the market, however for the every day miles on mild blended terrain, the Divide 5 is a terrific selection. To date, I anticipate I’ll get the standard 350-400 miles out of those, based mostly on the sturdiness and resilience to this point. Runner math undoubtedly holds up nicely then on the cents-per-mile price accounting — they’re a fantastic deal!
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