Review of the Salomon Ultra Glide trail shoes
I recently bought and started using my first Salomon shoes - let's see what I like and don't like with them!
Altra fan
I am an avid Altra fan, and in 6 years of running, I have bought almost exclusively Altra shoes (with some exceptions, like Merrell and Topo Athletics).
I have detailed the reason why I chose Altra in this article, and you can find a list of my previous Altra shoes here.
Now, being a fan doesn't mean that I don't want to test any other shoes brand,
and since I have been using quite a few stuff from Salomon (shorts, soft flasks,
hydration backpack, ...), I wanted to test some of their shoes.
Salomon is more known for its trail shoes, so when I trashed my Altra Superior
after my first trail (Hivernale des Templiers), it was time to start looking!
Which ones?
I was looking for shoes with a bit more grip than the Superior, and I stumbled
upon iRunFar's article about Mike
Ambrose, where they present the Salomon Ultra Glide.
OK, that's a sponsored post, but I liked the philosophy behind the shoes, not to
mention they're pretty gorgeous in their red/white/blue version :)
So I visited i-run, where I usually buy my
running gear, but sadly my size wasn't available.
And then the week after, I had an errand to run in a mall, and passed in front
of an Intersport store, with huge discounts as they were relocating the store.
- so naturally, I entered and took a look.
And boom! I found the Ultra Glide in my size and the colors I wanted, with 30%
discount (meaning I paid ~95€ instead of 140€).
I also bought a new Salomon Hydration backpack, with a 1.5 liter reservoir, which I'm using for ~20K sessions, advantageously replacing my 3 liters Camelbak :)
Test
Look
Shoes look in general, and running shoes look in particular, is very subjective: the colors and shape I like won't necessarily be liked by everyone else.
But I must admit that the Ultra Glide look beautiful:
(Note that there are other colors available).
Drop
Probably the first thing I checked before buying the Ultra Glide: how much drop
does this thing have?
I am used to Altra's Zero drop, and really like it, so most of the other shoes
and brands I'm looking at get disqualified straight away because of a too big
drop.
But with a 6 mm drop, the Ultra Glide seemed OK, and when testing them in the
store, it felt right.
Fit
With 6 years of running with Altra shoes, I am used to having a large toebox,
and that's really a comfort for me.
So when running with the Ultra Glide, I took special attention to this, and
indeed the toebox is "regular" - I can feel it especially with my right foot:
the finger on the exterior of the shoe is a bit more compressed than I am used
to. It's not a huge deal, especially when I run in the lovely Drymax Maximum
Protection Trail Running Socks, which have been designed to avoid blisters.
However, it seems Salomon is aware of that, since when shopping on their site, you can select the toebox size you want - sadly the Ultra Glide are part of the "regular" section.
Again, not a big deal, but something I'll bear in mind for the future: it's OK when I run "regular" distances (10 to 15K), but I still had to see how it will go for longer distances/trails (see below for how it went).
Lacing system
Apart from the drop and fit, another "feature" which put the Ultra Glide apart (and most Salomon shoes in general) is their so-called "Quicklace": it's basically a very smart and convenient lacing system integrated into the shoe, allowing you to lace it exactly how you want, and "hide" the part of the lace into an integratedd pocket.
At first, I couldn't figure out how to use them - to be more precise, where to
put the part of the lace that you're not using.
But a quick search on Youtube returned (surprisingly) a video from Salomon,
explaining the whole thing.
As I hinted above, I like this Quicklace technology, as it's really convenient
and allows lacing shoes very quickly - although I find the lace itself a bit
thin, making it sometimes painful to use.
But the really cool thing is that you don't have this lace that goes off in the
middle of a run (or worse, in the middle of a race), forcing you to stop and
lose time.
First runs
I went for a run a bit muddy, to test the shoe's grip, as it's something I was
not entirely satisfied with my Altra Superior.
And it is clearly a level above in terms of grip: even with lot of mud, I didn't
slide at all, the stability was also there.
Also, the 6mm drop is OK: by that, I mean that I don't feel like I'm running on
high heels - which is typically how it feels the few times I tested "regular
shoes" with a 10-12 mm drop :)
As you can see, after these first runs, they're clearly a lot less shiny - such is life for trail shoes :)
First Trail
I ran the "Maxicross Bouffémont" trail (27k, 1200+) last weekend, so it was the perfect way to properly test those Ultra Glide :)
I was a bit worried about the distance and my right foot (see explanation above), but in the end, I had no problem at all - and the grip was really a lot better than what I experienced with my Superior during my previous trail (Hivernale des Templiers).
And here's how they look like after that first trail :)
Wrap Up
So far, I am satisfied - the only downside is the regular toebox with my right foot, but this I can "counter" with my trail socks.
I am not yet decided on which shoes I'll buy next (I typically change shoes 4
times a year because of milegage): whether I'll try another model of Salomon, or
buy Altra's iconic Lone Peak, which are really meant for trail running.
If I opt for the first option, I'll definitely go for a larger toebox, by
checking the available models on Salomon's website.