Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24 Review: Your Go-To Support Shoe

All shoes are reviewed by the Fleet Feet tester team, which represents a wide variety of goals, foot shapes, running locations and terrains. Reviewers pound the pavement, climb the hills, tackle the trails, then come together to compare notes. Debates ensue over the feel of the cushioning, the purpose of the shoe, and how it compares to last year’s model. While each reviewer has their own individual preferences, we hope that capturing our debates will help you make an informed decision.

Your heart is beating faster and faster. Your breathing gets quicker and quicker. Sweat starts beading at your temples, and you feel a bit dizzy with excitement. Are you experiencing an adrenaline rush, or just running in the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24?

The Brooks Adrenaline franchise has been around for decades, but the Adrenaline GTS 24, available November 1, is the first model that features nitrogen-infused DNA Loft v3 foam. The new model still offers the same GuideRails® stability technology and classic Brooks fit runners have come to know and love.

Will the Adrenaline GTS 24 get our hearts racing? Read on to find out.

Brooks’ proprietary DNA Loft v3 foam was once reserved for only their most premium shoes, like the luxury, max-cushioned Glycerin 21. Now it’s made its way into other core models, like the Ghost 16 and now the Adrenaline GTS 24.

DNA Loft v3 foam is injected with nitrogen, making it incredibly light, soft and durable. This innovative process starts with the midsole being placed into a nitrogen infusion chamber along with liquid nitrogen, where heat and pressure turn the nitrogen from liquid to gas. The midsole, now filled with nitrogen gas, expands and is then stuffed into a compression mold where it takes its final shape.

“The DNA Loft v3 foam stood out to me right off the bat,” says Spencer, who exclusively runs in stability shoes. “It adds a level of instant softness which I hadn’t experienced before in past versions of the Brooks Adrenaline. It feels nice and cushy without being too much. Plus, there’s a bit of energy return to deliver a bouncy sensation.”

The Adrenaline offers a smoother ride than generations past without compromising on stability. Brooks continues to use their GuideRails® stability technology, firm reinforcements on the sides of the shoe, to offer support for runners who put more pressure on the insides of their feet as they move. These reinforcements are much more rigid on the medial (inside) side, but can be seen and felt on the lateral (outside), too, offering a holistic support system for runners with varying gait patterns.

“Brooks’ support system is very dependable,” Spencer says. “I felt stable, experiencing only minimal lateral movement. It offers security for overpronators [the excessive inward rolling of a runner’s foot upon landing] like myself, without trying to outright correct your form. I still felt I was running naturally.”

Brandon, Mandy and I, who don’t typically run in stability shoes, noticed that the support felt gentle enough for those with a neutral stride.

“I tested the Adrenaline on some tempo runs, speedwork, long runs, recovery runs, running errands and taking my kid to the playground. During all of these activities, I never really thought about my feet—they were supported and felt comfortable,” Mandy says, who’s currently training for Every Woman’s Marathon in November. “When I really noticed the support was while doing HIIT and strength exercises. Squats, lunges and single-leg stability exercises felt easier with the GuideRails® cradling my feet. I could feel the support only when I needed it, like during single-leg swings, but it never felt intrusive.”

While Brandon and I had no issues with the support technology, we both found the shoe a bit too firm for our tastes.

“I could feel the GuideRails® supporting my feet as I was out on my run. It felt smooth and steady, but nothing about the shoe really excited me,” Brandon says. “The shoe is naturally quite firm and the stack height [the distance in height between the ground and your feet] is too low for my liking. Not that the Adrenaline isn’t a good shoe, it just wasn’t designed for what I like–and I’m not going to have the same likes as the next runner.”

The Adrenaline GTS 24 is rounded out on the bottom with Brooks’ RoadTack Rubber outsole, made with recycled materials. I’ve always found Brooks shoes to have superior traction and durability, and the Adrenaline is no different.

The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24 is topped off with an engineered mesh upper to give you a dialed-in fit. The upper combines softness, breathability and a bit of structure to compliment the structure of the midsole.

The heel collar is plenty padded, but its rigidity helps keep your foot securely in place. Suede and plastic overlays on the midfoot work to lock down the fit once you’re all laced up.

“The upper fits well, and the first thing I noticed was how locked in my heel was,” Brandon says. “The heel clip on the back is very noticeable and pronounced as it keeps my foot in place. The upper is warm, not very breathable and pretty thick. Considering this shoe was designed in Seattle, a city where it rains and the days are cold and mostly gray, it makes sense that Brooks would create a warmer shoe.”

But Mandy disagrees with that assessment of the upper, saying “the added ventilation on the medial side of the upper made sure my feet never overheated.”

I didn’t notice any breathability issues in the Adrenaline GTS 24, but I did notice that the shoes felt very short on me. My big toes were almost touching the ends of the shoes, and I didn’t have anywhere near the thumbnail’s width I like to have between my toes and the shoe. However, none of the other wear testers had this issue, so maybe it was just me.

Before we dive into the differences between the Adrenaline GTS 24 and Adrenaline GTS 23, I want to explain something about the way Brooks measures their stack heights. Most shoe manufacturers measure both the midsole and outsole as the shoe’s stack height. Until recently, Brooks only measured the midsole stack height, as is the case with the GTS 23. The new Adrenaline GTS 24 has both the full stack height and midsole stack height measured, so I included them both for a more accurate comparison against the GTS 23.

The latest model has an additional millimeter of stack height in the midsole as well as a very significant decrease in weight. This is likely due to the nitrogen-infused DNA Loft v3 foam, which is lighter than the EVA-based DNA Loft v2 foam used in the previous version.

Even though the Adrenaline GTS 24 still felt too firm for my tastes, I noticed it felt a lot more flexible than the 23, creating a smoother ride. Despite this, it doesn’t seem like the shoe sacrificed any stability, either.

“I trained in the Adrenaline GTS 23 for quick workouts, but it wasn’t something I reached for for relaxed miles,” Spencer says. “On the other hand, the Adrenaline GTS 24 is something I want to keep wearing for the long haul because of its softer makeup. Its new nitrogen-injected foam makes a significant difference for a softer, more forgiving landing.”

We took a look at some comparable models to see how they stack up against the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24. Here’s what we found.

The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24, New Balance Fresh Foam X 860 v14 and On Cloudflyer 5 are all similar in terms of weight, stack height and heel-to-toe drop. All three shoes are categorized as stability models, but how they offer stability is where the differences lie.

The 860 v14 uses a thin, rigid, plate-shaped EVA film to keep the shoe steady despite excess side-to-side motion. The Cloudflyer 5 uses a wide base, an asymmetrical profile to provide additional reinforcements on the medial side of the shoe and a molded heel clip for stability.

Many stability shoes are moving away from the traditional medial posts, like the GuideRails®, and towards new, innovative forms of stability technology. However, this could leave some runners longing for the support they’ve come to know and love. For those runners, fear not. The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 24 is here for you from start to finish.

Thanks to reliable support through Brooks’ GuideRails®, the Adrenaline GTS 24 is best for runners who put more pressure on the insides of their feet as they move. If you aren’t sure if that describes you, your best bet is to head into your local Fleet Feet. Fleet Feet outfitters use 3D fit id® foot scanning technology to gather information about your feet and the support they need by taking precise measurements of your foot length, width and arch height.

The shoe’s moderate stack height and relatively firm ride make it suitable for those who enjoy a bit of ground feedback while they run.

“I recommend the Adrenaline GTS 24 to someone seeking a lightweight, everyday trainer,” says Spencer. “It’s a highly versatile option–I could have gone longer during my runs, I could have run shorter distances at a higher intensity or even kept it on my feet at the gym. It’s a benefit for this shoe to not be so specialized as far as its usage because it can serve a wide range of runners.”