- Brooks’ marketing pitch: Optimizes airy softness and electrifying responsiveness.
- Upper: Engineered mesh, no gusset.
- Midsole: Dual-density DNA Tuned foam. 6 mm heel drop.
- Outsole: Carbon rubber in high-wear areas.
- Weight: 300 gms/ 10.6 Oz for a half pair of Men’s US 9/UK 8/EUR 42.5/CM 27.
- Stack heights: 47 mm (heel), 41 mm (forefoot).
- Available widths: D – regular (reviewed).
- Country of origin: Vietnam.
- Recommended use: Daily training, recovery runs, marathons.
- Footstrike orientation: Heel, midfoot/forefoot (full contact).
- Recommended paces: 5:00 min/km (8:00 min/mile) and slower.
- Median lifespan: 450 miles.
- Recommended temperature range: Warmer than -5° C/23° F.
Pros
- True max cushioning
- Neutral and supportive ride
- Durable build quality
- Outsole grip
- Reflective upper
Cons
- Half-size larger fit weakens the rocker effect
- Heavy
- Expensive
- No optional widths
- Low versatility; limited to slower speeds
Also consider:
- Hoka Skyward X
- Nike Vomero 18
- Puma MagMax Nitro
- Asics Nimbus 27
- Hoka Bondi 9
- Use the Brooks Glycerin Max for daily training and recovery runs
- Use the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 or Nike Vaporfly 4 for 10K, half-marathons, and marathons
- Use the adidas Adizero EVO SL or Brooks Hyperion 2 for tempo runs, threshold, and 10K races
In this review:
SUMMARY AND VERDICT
The Glycerin Max, with its ‘DNA-Tuned’ midsole, is Brooks’ boldest move since the original DNA Gel made its debut in 2011.
In its original form, the Brooks DNA Gel had non-Newtonian properties, meaning the cushioning behavior was stress-dependent. If you ran faster, the Gel turned firm. Running at a slower speed had the opposite effect of softening the foam. Unlike Newton’s apple, the Brooks DNA fell far from the tree over the years. It first switched to a regular EVA-blend foam called SuperDNA on the Glycerin 12, followed by the encased Polyurethane (PU) variant called ‘DNA AMP’ (Brooks Levitate) and then a supercritical, Nitrogen-infused foam called DNA Flash. (Hyperion) The ‘DNA Loft V3’ is a softer version of the DNA Flash, used on the Brooks Ghost Max 2.
The DNA-Tuned foam is similar to the DNA Loft V3 but repackaged in a radically new form. Rather than gluing the foam layers, the DNA-Tuned construction co-molds two densities in a single piece of foam. On the Brooks Glycerin Max, the white foam has larger cells for a softer feel. The blue foam has smaller cells for a firmer ride with better responsiveness. The blue foam forms nearly 100% of the forefoot and midfoot stack, tapering to half of the heel stack height. As a manufacturing technique, co-molding of supercritical foams isn’t new; we first came across an example when we reviewed the Nike Vomero 3 in 2008.
The DNA-Tuned midsole alone isn’t what makes the Brooks Glycerin Max unique. Few people will even notice the DNA-Tuned tech at first glance, as most of the dual-cell action takes place inside the midsole. What catches the eye is the Glycerin Max’s imposing midsole height. There was briefly a time in recent history when a 40 mm heel stack was considered an uncrossable psychological barrier. On performance racers, the 40 mm heel stack was an actual design barrier because of WTA (World Athletics) regulations. Adidas laughed in the face of stack height regulations with the 48 mm tall Prime X Strung, followed by an even taller Prime X2 and its bonkers 50 mm thick heel. After that, all bets were off.
With stack heights of 47 mm (heel) and 41 mm (forefoot), the Glycerin Max is Brooks’ tallest shoe, and also its most cushioned trainer. However, it’s not the softest Brooks; the Ghost Max 2 is. But as far as cushioning depth goes, there are few equals in Brooks’ lineup and outside it. The super-sized midsole is meant to deliver maximum cushioning during a run, and it succeeds, albeit with the usual compromises associated with such a design. The Glycerin Max is ideal for easy everyday miles, slow recovery runs, and marathon training at speeds of 5:00 min/km (8:00 min/mile) and slower.
While it has a rocker, the half-size longer upper weakens its efficiency, so the wearer isn’t going to get the full extent of propulsive toe-offs. The upper design is something of a head-scratcher, as the good folks at Brooks haven’t seemed to have given it the same attention as the midsole. The excess room ahead of the toes results in a misalignment between the foot and the rocker sweet spot. The gusset-free tongue slides, and the laces are too thick. The upper design is low-effort, to be honest. The Glycerin 22’s upper is superior in most aspects.
$200 is still a lot, even if that buys you a dual-cell, mega-stack ride with unprecedented cushioning by Brooks standards. The Glycerin Max adds greater value within a shoe rotation, as high-intensity performance needs can be met with other products. The Glycerin Max offers limited versatility if purchased as a single shoe to do it all, meaning it takes a lot of work to extract faster speeds from the novel midsole. But if you’re not worried about running faster and merely wish for a cushioned behemoth that goes easy on your feet, the Glycerin Max is that shoe. Outside of Brooks, the Hoka Bondi 9 and Puma MagMax Nitro offer similar levels of comfort, but without the dual-foam touch.
THE RIDE EXPERIENCE
The Glycerin Max’s dual-cell midsole has no precedent, so it’s easier to describe the cushioning experience using existing running shoes as a reference. Before telling you what the Glycerin Max is, let’s make it clear what is not. Despite serving similar use cases, the DNA Tuned Glycerin is not directly comparable to single-density lifeforms like the Hoka Bondi 9 or Puma MagMax Nitro.
What about the Nike Vomero 18 and Hoka Skyward X? Now we’re getting somewhere. While all three shoes have distinct personalities with heel stacks exceeding 40 mm, they have something in common. Their multi-density midsoles have a cushioning flavor that’s more complex than single-density midsoles with similar stack heights. Generally speaking, dual-density midsoles behave differently under different loads and gait patterns, and that’s true for the Glycerin Max as it was for the Nike Vomero 18.
The enhanced cushioning feel is one of the reasons why the Glycerin Max feels better at slower speeds. The forefoot, in particular, feels very cushy when loaded at speeds of 5:30 min/km (8:50 min/mile) and slower. It’s not just the step-in plushness of the removable insole, but a slower speed increases the loading time over the forefoot, thus allowing the blue DNA foam to compress fully. A heavy runner (180 – 220 lbs) will also be in a better position to extract a cushioning response from the small-celled forefoot foam. The heel, on the other hand, requires less effort to compress. Only half of the rearfoot stack uses the small-cell DNA foam, and the hollow space under the heel makes the midsole easier to compress (trampoline effect and all that, the usual stuff). Walking in the Glycerin Max will amplify the cushioning softness, so we expect this pricey shoe to be adopted by the casual-wear crowd en masse.
The midsole maintains its structure, even under heavy loads and heel striking.
The quicker you go, the less noticeable the softness is. Being the dense material the DNA Tuned foam is, a faster running speed doesn’t give it enough time to compress. The cushioning has some remnants from the original 2011 DNA concept, after all. The stability is excellent, even for heavy runners. The midsole sidewalls maintain their structure without collapsing and aggravating pronation. The high midsole walls keep the foot seated while the midsole groove helps maintain straight-line tracking. The Glycerin Max is a textbook neutral trainer.
What the midsole lacks in energy return and bounciness, it makes up with its extreme damping properties. The foot won’t feel the road, but doesn’t sink into the midsole either. For a running shoe with a 47 mm tall heel, the Glycerin Max feels surprisingly nimble. While the shoe is hesitant to go fast (during tempo, thresholds, mile repeats, interval runs, etc), the foot doesn’t struggle to work through the DNA Tuned midsole. Though the Glycerin Max feels bottom-heavy, it doesn’t weigh that much (10.6 ounces, 300 grams) considering the ginormous stack heights. There was a time when a shoe like the Brooks Beast weighed more than 400 grams.
The Glycerin Max has a late-stage rocker, but with a caveat attached. The upper fits longer than comparable shoes, including the Glycerin 22. In other words, there’s nearly a half-size worth of excess space between the toes and the tip of the shoe. As a result, the forefoot doesn’t sit squarely over the rocker roll-off point, but slightly behind it. The misalignment between the foot’s position and the rocker’s Goldilocks zone limits the rocker from reaching its full potential. On the adidas Adios Pro 4, it was the opposite. The shorter sizing positioned the foot squarely over the rocker drop-off point for superior propulsion.
The outsole doesn’t cover the entire bottom, but the thick, three-piece rubber lugs are placed exactly where they need to be. The outsole section on the forefoot center is attached directly to the small-cell foam, so the traction benefits from the telescoping effect. When loaded, the blue foam pushes down on the outsole to help it grip better. That said, the deep forefoot channel under the large toe is occasionally prone to picking up gravel.
RECOMMENDED ROTATION
For short races, tempo, and threshold runs, consider adding the Brooks Hyperion V2 or adidas adizero EVO SL to your rotation. The Nike Vaporfly 4 and Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 are user-friendly carbon-plated marathon racers. If you’re a forefoot striker who likes to go fast, we recommend the adidas Adios Pro 4. If you’re on a budget, the Brooks Hyperion V2 can be substituted with the Brooks Launch 11, as it is basically a cut-price Hyperion V1.
THE UPPER DESIGN AND FIT
Why don’t get it. Why is the Glycerin Max’s upper so strange? To begin, the upper doesn’t fit true to size. Compared to the Brooks Glycerin 22 and Brooks Ghost 16, there’s nearly a half-size worth of unwanted space in front of the toes. Secondly, the upper looks like it belongs on a $130 shoe, not a $200 marvel of cushioning technology. Most of the product cost is likely loaded in the fancy dual-cell midsole, leaving very little for the upper. We aren’t even being sarcastic. So here we are – a $200 shoe with an ill-fitting upper with no niceties except for the reflective dots over the year. This shoe is bottom-heavy in its truest sense; both in terms of weight and feature distribution.
The Glycerin Max is missing some of the nicer stuff from the lower-priced Glycerin 22. For example, where is the nice heel loop? Or the premium-looking molded Brooks logos on both sides, rather than just slapping a foam logo on a single side? Or, how about a nicer tongue with a flap made of a softer material, like on the Glycerin 22? Even the heel collar padding design differs from the Glycerin 22, which is probably why the sizing is a mess. While on topic, the heel height appears low, but it does not affect the quality of grip. No heel slippage was observed during testing.
When worn with cushioned running socks, the forefoot has a narrow fit. Optional widths are unavailable at this time, so rightsizing (buying a half-size smaller) will make the fit even narrower. Without a sleeve, the tongue moves to the side shortly after commencing a run. A gusset isn’t the only measure to prevent tongue slide. In the past, Brooks used a simple feature called the ‘tongue-tied’ loop that prevented the tongue from moving. Another way to keep the tongue slide in check is to make the tongue flap wider near the top. A wider flap fills the gap on either side, minimizing sideways movement. Mizuno perfected this design many years ago when most of their shoes lacked a sleeve.
IS THE BROOKS GLYCERIN MAX DURABLE?
The DNA Tuned foam is a variant of the DNA Loft V3 or DNA Flash foam, and both are very hard-wearing. Except for the foam insole, the midsole should retain its cushioning with minimal superficial creasing. The outsole rubber is easily the thickest we’ve seen in recent times, so that too, helps with durability.
SHOES COMPARABLE TO THE BROOKS GLYCERIN MAX
Supposing you’re in the market for a ignore-regulation-stack-heights type of running shoe, names like the Hoka Skyward X, Nike Vomero 18, Nimbus 27, and Puma MagMax Nitro should be mentioned on your digital notepad. The Puma MagMax Nitro deserves a special callout, as the Nitro foam is similar to Brooks DNA Loft 3 foam. The Pumagrip outsole delivers outstanding grip, and you’ll get a tall midsole (46 mm and 38 mm stack height) for $180.