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Saucony ProGrid Omni 9 'Crystal Cave'

I remember when @theshoegame posted some pics of this cw awhile back and it definitely piqued my interest. After seeing some more photos & hearing a lot of positive feedback from folks, I ended up grabbing a pair myself & the presentation and thought that went into the design is very well executed.

Materials: This design is truly packed with details and flows together very nicely. The upper is a purple, big hole mesh with an aqua blue contrast underneath. This effect is very similar to a Rainbow Pyrite Crystal, which displays a coating of iridescent, shimmering rainbow colors in blues, pinks, and purples. On the toe cap, there is a burnt umber panel with subtle ✨ grey inlays. On the lateral side of the toe cap, there's a grey panel with a subtle crystal effect and a black dotted design within it. Moving to the side panels, there's a gold 3d-like cage underneath the saucony logo that finishes at the OMNI 9 window. My favorite detail is the lacing cage & side panel that wraps around the back. These features are done in using a holographic panel, but the side panel is a yellowed, 🪟 pattern, which I have honestly never seen on a sneaker design. Lastly on the tongue, they added 2 logos, the left patch is a crystal & the right patch has 'Crystal Cave'. Overall, the attention to detail was pretty insane & somehow they were able to add a subtle aesthetic to a pretty loud design.

Comfort/Sizing: In terms of comfort, i would compare this closest to the 2002r bc it has a nice, bouncy feel to it, but it does have a short break in period tbh (1-2 day max b4 it breaks in).I got these in an 8, and have about a half size of room in the toe box, I'd recommend going half down in this pair, even with a wide foot.

Overall Opinion: I was originally on the fence with this cw but I'm glad I did pick these up bc in hand it's a really well executed design & truly is a design that shines in hand. After the break in period, it's a pretty comfortable model & imo, isn't a very hard cw to put a fit together with bc none of the colors are very loud. If you're able to grab a pair, I would check them out.

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