On Test We take a close look at the Brooks Aurora-BL

The Brooks Aurora-BL is a niche shoe with some mass-appeal features

Brooks Aurora-BL

£180 / brooksrunning.co.uk

A quick look is all that’s needed to spot that the Aurora-BL is not a shoe that’s going to be on the feet of the masses at big city races (they’ll be back). Quite aside from the hefty price tag, it’s a limited-release shoe, to be launched here later this year, and is being used by Brooks to showcase some innovations.

There’s no doubt they look unusual, which will be off-putting to those who like to blend in, but do they do more than just stand out?

They sure do. One of two key features is the use of Brooks’ updated DNA Loft midsole foam. It’s one of the company’s lightest, plushest foams and the Aurora-BL contains what Brooks is calling DNA Loft v3 – a foam that has been injected with nitrogen to give the shoe more bounce at a reduced weight.

It certainly does this – while the shoe may look chunky, it feels anything but (the weight is low: 240g for men’s size 8 and 215g for women’s size 5). Running in such a bulbous but light model made us think this is what a running shoe made by Nasa might feel like.

Heel, midfoot and forefoot strikers will all find this a great running experience. The wide heel is a dream to land heavily on, but somehow tucks out of the way if you land further forward. This is owing, in part, to the other main feature: a decoupled midsole that, in effect, means the rear half and front half are separate. This gives the shoe a wonderful responsiveness and accelerates roll-through from heel to toe, simply because there’s less shoe to bend in half with the weight of your foot on each step.

There are a few concerns about durability, especially since the bottom of the midsole is not covered by the traditional full coating of rubber; instead, to keep weight down, Brooks has placed rubber grips in key landing sections only.

→ RW verdict / A big tick for the Aurora-BL. Faster runners may find this suitable only for their longer runs, but, for most, this will prove a sleek, cushioned, adaptive ride for anything from 5K to half marathon. It’s to be hoped some of the features showcased here make their way into the mainstream models because they deserve a wider audience.