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Brooks Glycerin Line Comparison Review: New Glycerin Flex and Glycerin Max 2, Glycerin 23
Dec 19, 2025
In the video, Sam compares the now three Brooks Glycerin road trainers: the new 2026 (Feb release) Flex along with the just released Glycerin Max 2 and the long running Glycerin, now at version 22
Samples provided at no cost for review by @brooksrunning
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0:00
Hello everybody, Sam from Road Trail
0:02
Run. Today we're going to focus on
0:03
Brooks's glycerin family of shoes, their
0:06
plush trainers. Whereas we previously
0:09
only had the uh the the regular
0:11
glycerin, last year they added the Max,
0:14
and this is version two. And this year,
0:16
the big news is they're adding the flex
0:20
um which allows them to have kind of a
0:23
continuum here of shoes from the big
0:26
highly stacked uh Max rigid rocker, the
0:30
more conventional kind of inherently
0:32
stable daily trainer, the glycerin, and
0:35
now the new kind of fun shoe with lots
0:38
of flexibility, the uh the Flex. Um
0:44
uh they all um they all have a DNA tuned
0:48
foam midsole
0:50
which is a dual uh a dual foam with
0:53
smaller cells in the front, bigger in
0:55
the back. So that's the the bigger ones
0:57
kind of provide more cushion whereas the
0:59
front are said to provide more response.
1:02
And you can see the green is our um is
1:06
our uh smaller cells up front. So you
1:09
can see they all uh share that kind of
1:12
approach here. You can see it showing
1:15
through there and then um and of course
1:19
here in the Max up front. Now what's
1:23
really interesting here is uh the Flex
1:27
is uh the lightest of all of them by
1:30
far. It weighs only 9 oz 250 gram US 8.5
1:35
sample. It has a 3630
1:38
stack height. So it's a 6 mm drop.
1:42
Whereas the glycerin 22 is a 10 mm. And
1:46
in the um the upcoming 23 will go to 8.
1:51
And our uh our um our uh max is also a 6
1:56
millm drop with of course the most
1:58
cushion at 4539. It's kind of these
2:02
three. It's not my favorite shoe. It's
2:04
ponderous and it's by far the heaviest.
2:07
It's actually 59 g or 2.1 oz heavier
2:13
than the uh flex and that is really
2:16
felt. And then if you want to compare
2:18
weights to the regular glycerin 22 here
2:22
um we're one 1.2 oz or 33 gram lighter.
2:26
So, this new shoe is a lighter kind of
2:30
more lively glycerin. And I think uh
2:33
that is a good thing because while the
2:36
cushioning is plush and uh and stable in
2:40
all in all these glycerin, I find them
2:44
uh with the higher stacks and uh
2:47
actually the glycerin 22 is uh uh 2
2:51
millimeters more at the heel and um uh 2
2:55
millimeters less at the forefoot. But on
2:57
this wide, inherently stable platform, I
3:00
find them plush but dull. Not the case
3:03
here with the Flex. Same foams, same
3:05
approach of small cells up front for
3:08
response and um bigger ones at the back.
3:11
It's all co molded. There's no glue. And
3:14
uh what you get here is a really
3:17
interesting ride. You see the flex point
3:19
here, right there. Watch what I do. You
3:22
can see how I can flex it. However, on
3:26
the medial side, we have a a if you
3:29
will, a stiffer profile, a more
3:31
supportive one. So, what you really feel
3:34
with this shoe, and you can see the the
3:36
the wild kind of accel accentuated
3:40
landing where you land, you flex, and
3:43
then you roll off the front um is very
3:47
distinctive. um the the midfoot through
3:49
here and the deeply look how deeply
3:52
carved that is is kind of mellow and
3:55
soft and strangely enough, but I guess
3:58
not. If you look at the sidewall on the
4:01
on the um medial side,
4:05
uh they're they're quite stable. I'm
4:06
surprised. So you have kind of a soft,
4:09
easy flexing forward uh kind of mellow
4:13
feel here, but you don't I thought
4:15
they'd be more unstable like you know
4:16
some of the earlier Brooks uh such as um
4:20
or the Sakin Freedoms was all about
4:23
total flexibility. Here they combine
4:26
some kind of not it's a neutral shoe, no
4:29
question, but some stability with a
4:32
lively kind of uh flex and toe off. So
4:36
you you you know you're going to you're
4:38
going to um you're going to land,
4:41
you're going to flex, and then you're
4:44
going to roll off the front. There's
4:46
plenty of podular uh rubber coverage
4:48
here. And that's another element that
4:50
Brooks highlights. You do feel like your
4:52
toes are in the game here. Uh as you tow
4:55
off, but on a decently stable platform.
4:59
The upper is a a kind of flatknit uh
5:02
engineered hold is really good. Uh
5:05
there's no gusset tongue. Uh it has an
5:08
upper a bit more maybe like their
5:10
Hyperion line, their speedy line. Um
5:13
very comfortable. Uh here you've got a a
5:17
very soft kind of plush upper. You've
5:20
got yet more uh heel counter here. You
5:23
can see it's semi semi-pliable. And then
5:27
when you get over to this one, just
5:29
massive. Everything's massive. Although
5:31
I really like this upper. It's what's
5:34
underneath that doesn't really float my
5:35
boat. But if you're looking for
5:37
something for just slow, easy runs,
5:40
moderate paces, inherently stable for
5:43
sure, uh this one's still a pretty good
5:46
uh pretty good bet. Just not as much
5:49
kind of fun as I might have hoped for
5:52
because of the rigid profile you can see
5:55
and so much stack in the front at 39. 39
5:58
45 is just a bit too much shoe for me.
6:01
the the 22 and the 23 we expect is your
6:05
more conventional daily trainer with a
6:08
plush ride. Not a bad one. Uh you can
6:11
see there's not much flex. There's a bit
6:13
of flex. Um it's still a good choice, a
6:16
good reliable choice day in day out if
6:19
you want a Brooks, if you don't want to
6:20
go to the excellent Ghosts, um which I
6:24
kind of prefer in some ways to this to
6:26
the glycerin. And then in a surprise in
6:30
this day of, you know, uh, the glycerin
6:33
max, the Hyperion Max, all the plated
6:35
shoes, we've got our new Flex, which
6:39
really I I as I was, um, running in it,
6:42
I I thought, well, every time I ran, I
6:45
thought, you know, this is an excellent
6:46
shoe if you just want to work the feet a
6:50
little more but still stay stable. um
6:53
you want to kind of have a bit more
6:55
flex, a bit more kind of natural
6:58
feeling. Uh even though there's plenty
7:00
of stack here, 3630, it isn't a minimal
7:03
shoe. Um it's an excellent choice to mix
7:06
in with all those plated more aggressive
7:09
shoes. And I think the tune the DNA
7:12
tuned setup here is just it just a
7:15
little bit less of it because the foams
7:17
are excellent. it just you stack it up
7:21
super high uh and then you get all that
7:23
weight. It's just not much much as much
7:26
fun or an advantage. Here there's some
7:28
response, some good response. Um it's
7:31
$170. It's going to be coming out in uh
7:35
uh February 1st, the Glycerin Flex.
7:40
Thank you very much for watching. Have a
7:42
great run.