Salomon Sense Ultra - Review

Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra - Review

Stoat Rating: 8/10
(This rating assumes you don't have a comfort issue with the eyelet)
Weight: 283g in UK8.5
Sizing: About right

History Lesson

Salomon does make life difficult.  Not only do they have the longest names ever, but they swap them around to confuse people.

So...

For the past few years, Salomon has made a shoe called the 'S-Lab Sense Ultra' which you all know as the red 'Kilian' shoes.  This shoe (now in its 6th revision as I type) has been renamed as the 'S-Lab Sense' and they have brought out a new shoe under the name 'S-Lab Sense Ultra' intended to provide a little more comfort to those who wanted a bit more cushioning for long ultras.

I'm going to cut to the chase - I only ran 45km in these shoes and returned them.  There are aspects of the shoe that I thought were excellent and I suspect that this could be an awesome shoe for many people.  Certainly, there are plenty of reviews out there and they are almost all extremely positive. However, I had some issues with the shoe so this will not be a full review so much as a few observations on what worked and didn't work for me.

The Good

The fit:  Excellent on my feet.  Perfect toebox shape - not too wide but fairly squared off.

Comfort: Excellent with the caveats below.  The upper feels soft yet supportive, the cushioning takes the edge off harder surfaces without being unnecessarily squishy.  I found the cushioning in the forefoot to be perfect.

Outsole:  Studs that strike a good balance and excellent rubber compound make the outsole a good choice on most surfaces apart from extreme mud.  I found the shoes worked particularly well on road and that is where the geometry seemed to work best.

Build quality: Excellent as far as I could tell, but I didn't have long in the shoe.

Issues

Most of these are points that I think relate to my feet and preferences so please interpret them accordingly:
The top lace eyelet: This was the deal breaker for me.  The top lace eyelet on the inside of the shoe sat right on top of the navicular (little bony lump on the inside of the foot).  I didn't notice this at first, but after a few miles in the shoe, it rubbed like anything.  One of the things that exacerbated this was that there wasn't much tongue overlap so the eyelet ended up rubbing directly on my foot.  I'm not clear if this was a manufacturing issue or just an unfortunate clash with the geometry of my foot.  Salomon kindly offered a refund because of this issue.

Eyelet rubbing on navicular

The Heel:  Many reviews that I have read suggested that this shoe felt lower than an 8mm drop shoe.  I can't agree.  I normally wear 4mm drop shoes and these felt like the heels were high from the moment that I slipped them on. Further, the combination of the higher drop and wide stiffish heel made for a slightly clumpy feel leaving it with an unstable feel on uneven ground.  On roads or smooth surfaces I quite liked it but, on rocky downhills, I didn't get on with it at all.

The Quicklace:  It's not a deal breaker, and I have used it before and still bought the shoe, however, I don't like it.  I find it tricky to adjust and the thin laces cut into the top of my foot.  I also find that by the time you have faffed around trying to tuck the lace away into its pocket (which is normally trapped under the lace) it is slower to do up than a normal lace. I also have concerns about what happens if you snap one in a race - a normal lace can be jury-rigged or replaced.  I feel like it's a technology trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist - normal laces are just better.

Aesthetics

I like the look.  Excellent, clean lines, understated.

What I'd change

Reduce the heel height by ~4mm and reduce the width of the heel in line with the upper.
Increase the width of the tongue to cover the eyelet.

Summary

I thought that this was an excellent shoe.  The front of the shoe is perfect. If it wasn't for the eyelet issue I'd have kept them as a perfect long distance shoe to be used on firm, relatively even terrain.  Just watch the eyelet when you try them on.

Salomon has announced version 2 of this shoe which seems to have been beefed up somewhat.  It reportedly weighs in around 300g, has more protection and the colours look terrible (and strangely out of keeping with Salomon's bold/clean branding).  It is certainly not the direction that I'd have taken it.

As a final thought, I find Salomons range is slightly confusing/frustrating.  They have a large number of shoes that all have a ~8mm drop with a fairly chunky heel and lower forefoot (Ultra, Rise, Mantra, Pro, Wings... the list goes on) but then a big gap to the S-Lab Sense which is a very minimal stripped-back shoe.  I generally fit Salomon shoes well, and would love it if they would bring out something with a 4mm drop and a bit more comfort than the S-Lab Sense, but without increasing the drop and adding a big bulky heel that makes them less suited to technical terrain.

[Edited to add, this autumn they are going to bring out the Sense Pro 3 - 16mm at the forefoot / 22 at the heel which sounds like it could be my Cinderella shoe... let's see]

Running Shoe Design

A couple of ill-educated thoughts on shoe design....

Padding and comfort in the upper.
Comfort is largely a function of how well loads are uniformly distributed across the foot.  If a load is concentrated in one area then the shoe will cause discomfort at that point.  A certain amount of padding is necessary in order to achieve this, but the amount will vary depending on the compliance in the upper.  Often the critical area is the heel... a stiff heel counter requires more padding to accommodate any difference between the shape of the heel counter and the shape of the foot, but if lots of padding is being used to mask a fundamentally poor fit then, over time, this will often compress making it hard to get a tight and comfortable fit.  The best shoes that for heel fit that I have owned are the Inov-8 Trailtalon 250 and Nike Terra Kiger 3.  Both have fairly minimal padding and a flexible heel counter that conforms to the shape of your foot.  By contrast, my Altra Superior V2.5s suffered with very poor heel hold once all the padding had compressed down.  The irony is that once any padding compresses, you lose the ability to get a good fit and those, once pillowy looking heels, start to cause slippage and blisters.

2) Stability, drop and heel shape. 
I often see comments about wider heels suggesting that they are more stable.  While in certain circumstances this can be true, I think that this opinion is derived from running on flat surfaces and perhaps with a heel strike.  By contrast, on the trails a wider heel is simply more likely to catch something and cant to the side, risking a rolled ankle.  The higher the stack height, the wider a heel needs to be to avoid an unstable feeling on flat ground, but in my experience as a mid to forefoot striker running on trails it is generally detrimental to have a heel much wider than the foot itself, which is probably a function of having something close to your natural perception of where your body is.    Interestingly I think that people often attribute instability to stack height or drop when, somewhat paradoxically, it is due to the width of the heel that is at fault.  An example of this is that the New Balance Vazee Summit 2 has a stack height of 10mm and many reviews suggest that it feels lower and more stable than that.  I believe that this is because it's narrow / precise heel profile tends not to catch on uneven ground and cant over, so people find it feels stable which they associate with a lower drop. In contrast, the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra (8mm drop) has a wide heel which, on uneven ground, cants the shoe to the side making it feel less stable.

New Balance Vazee Summit 2 - Review

 New Balance Vazee Summit 2 - First Impressions

Stoat Rating: 8/10
Weight: 265g in UK 9.0
Sizing: Comes up small - UK sizes, in particular, seem off.  I'm normally an 8 or 8.5.

Overview
A precise, fast feeling shoe which could be used for distances up to a marathon and beyond if you like a more minimal shoe. I'm not a fan of the 10mm drop, but the precise fit and narrow heel make sure that it doesn't feel unstable.
What's it like?  Think a Salomon S-Lab Sense SG with a touch more softness in the sole.

Upper
The shoe is generally a narrow fit (NB say that it is a D fit). I found that it had a narrow heel with a sensible amount of padding allowing an excellent heel hold. The midfoot equally suited my narrow feet. There was a bit more room in the forefoot than I was expecting based on other reviews and, for comparison, I'd say that there is probably a touch more than the Salomon S-Lab Sense 6 shoes.  In fact, the toebox is probably not far off the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra toebox.  The upper is generally flexible and thin, which allows some compliance if you have any oddly shaped toes.  The area over the toes is a soft mesh which breathes well, but the sides of the shoe are coated with an overlay which, restricts airflow in this area, although there are cuts through the overlay to allow for some breathability.  I have not found this shoe to be too hot in the UK, but those of you running in hotter climates might have a different view.

Most of the upper is covered in an overlay

Internally NB has used a bootie (think Salomon Endofit) tongue.  This has the benefit of keeping the tongue from falling to one side.  The hold of the midfoot is excellent which I put down to a well shaped upper and lacing system.  Personally, I don't think that that the bootie does much to add to this, but I think the same of the Endofit system on the Salomon shoes and I'm sure that there is a chorus of people who would insist that the Endofit makes the shoe hug the foot.  My own take is that the Endofit might hold the foot when the laces are undone, but as soon as you do the laces up they are taking the load, not a floppy piece of fabric around the foot.

Salomon Endofit?

Midsole
27mm at the heel dropping to 17 at the forefoot (10mm drop), giving a moderate amount of cushioning at the heel while underfoot it there is just enough to allow for running fast on technical terrain.  To be honest, I find the cushioning at the heel to be a little bit out of character with the rest of the shoe - it doesn't exactly detract from the ride, but for a mid-forefoot striker it just seems like extra weight and stack height where it's not necessary.  If you prefer a higher drop and are frustrated by all the low drop shoes these days then this should be heaven.

Incidentally, other reviews have said that this shoe doesn't feel like a 10mm drop.  By this, I think that they mean that you don't get the feeling of instability around the heel when running which can be typical of higher drop shoes when running on trails. I agree with this, however, if you are a zero drop minimalist, don't miss-interpret this as thinking that when you first slip your feet into them they will magically feel like a 4mm drop - they are (and feel like) a 10mm drop shoe with a well designed precise heel that doesn't feel unstable or get in the way.
I discuss this point in more detail in my post on heel design and stability.

Outsole

Middle of the road lugginess

The lugs on the outsole are 4mm deep and well spaced to avoid picking up mud.  I have found them to be a good pattern for everyday use here in the UK where we are most often running on wet ground.  If things get really muddy and steep then I'd change up to a fell shoe but the Vazee Summit runs much better than a fell shoe on harder ground making them an excellent choice for most days out in the UK.
The rubber grips well in the wet.  Not quite on the same level as an Inov-8 shoe but not far off.

Aesthetics
I like them.  I tend to prefer a simple colour scheme and I think that they deliver.  There is a second colour with an orangy red at the front of the shoe if you want something a bit brighter.

What I'd change
I'd reduce the 10mm drop to something in the 4-6mm range, probably taking ~5mm off the heel stack and adding ~1mm under the forefoot.
I'd also square off the toe a bit (provide more room on the outside edge).

Final thoughts
It is light enough to wear on a 10k trail race and protective enough for a marathon. I don't like the 10mm drop but it doesn't dominate the feel of the shoe. The fit is generally very good on me, but like many shoes, the toebox could do with being a bit more squared off. The outsole deals just fine with a bit of tarmac, and can cope with softer surfaces too.   I might look for a shoe with more cushioning if running an ultra with lots of hard / non technical surfaces, or switch to my X-Talon 225s in a steep/wet fell race, but for everything in between the Vazee Summit 2 is a good choice.