Salomon Sense Ride

Fit is true to size and I find the toe box medium width after break in. Some of the overlays on the outside of the shoe can cause some friction in the first 20k but then soften up. The heel and mid foot is narrow and gives a cradle feeling of support and gives the shoe a nimble feeling. Lacing takes a little getting used to but I got it dialled. I run mostly technical single track with a lot of roots, rock and often mud. The outsole traction is wayyy better than my other trail shoes (Cascadia, Speed Instinct) to the point where if its wet I will always take the Sense Rides. For how much support and cushion they are quite light! I put them on a scale against my Nike Peg 34s and they were only a few grams heavier. So rather than buy a lighter pair I raced a wet and wild 25k in them and they worked amazing. The pro feel rock plate is just that: ProFeel. It's hardly there and you will feel anything sharp. Over long runs of 2+ hrs my feet got tired of this but they also became accustomed to a bit more of a pounding which is good. Last thing is durability. I have just come up to 300km and the forefoot is packed in. Crepe thin! Outsole doing great. Upper showing some wear with a few flex spots starting to get holes. The trails I run are technical and a usual 10k run has about 300m elevation so the 300k doesn't really reflect time on feet; however, I would have loved to get more out of the shoes. Either way I bought a second pair on close out for $80 so still worth it for the price of the second pair.

In profile, Salomon’s shoe lineup -- trail, road, even the hikers -- has always struck a pretty sleek pose. I’m not sure there’s a better-looking ride around, and, man, those colorways. I remember the first time I saw the Speedcross 3: part hiker, part football cleat … damn. The baby blue was my first $130 shoe. You never forget your first … $100+ running shoe. But, look straight down, and … there be dragons. One glance at the Speedcross’ narrowly tapered toebox -- it didn’t get any better with v4 -- and you could almost feel the blisters forming, and after maybe 6-8 miles, popping. Ouch. The Salomon Sense Ride widens things out just enough to lengthen how long my feet can withstand the heretofore claustrophobia of the conventional Salomon toe box. And that good news comes before we even get to the, ahem, ride that really makes this model a lot of fun and such a value given it’s $120 price point. (Seems I’ve gotten used to paying a bit for shoes.) Some reviews, including the typically exhaustive and informational one done by RoadTrailRun, have played up the Ride’s appeal as a feature-filled but cheaper cousin of the flagship $180 S-Lab Ultra, but with a more palatable price. Someday I’d love to run in the Ultra to make the same comparison. TOE BOX Right now in my running life, a wide (or wider than convention, at least) toe box may be what I seem to value the most in running shoes. For me, the super-wide toe boxes really elevate the comfort level for me. (The Torin 2.0 is by far the most comfortable shoe I’ve worn, even if I gave up running in them after 120 miles. More on that later.) Toe boxes in Altras, Topos, even some Nike models (Terra Kiger, Wildhorse) have a sort of spoiling effect that fills you with dreadful regret if you even *think* about jumping brands. So when the Sense Ride hit the market, many of the reviews made some notes about a subtly wider box. Pictures of the Ride bore this out, and I noticed a huge difference between the room I have in the Ride and what I remember about the Speedcross. Of course they’re different shoes (the Speedcross is aimed at soft-ground conditions and even mud), and Salomon’s toe box evolution won’t have anyone confusing it for Altras or Topos. But even a small widening can have an aggregating effect on longer runs. I’ve had the Rides up at 8, 10 and 12 miles with no feelings that I need more from the toe box. There’s room in there, by feet aren’t swimming. They seem to have what they need, and nothing more. My foot is locked in. RIDE AND COMFORT I’ve read that folks are running 50ks or 50 milers in the Sense Ride, and I can *see* that, even if I’m unlikely to try it. I still feel like I’ll need a little more cushioning at that length. I ran my first 50k in November 2017 in the Altra Olympus 2.0 -- a comparatively huge toe box, big cushion, but not exactly my most nimble effort. With about 80 total miles, on shorter efforts I feel like the Ride encourages speed but does so with plenty of comfort. There’s decent cushioning in the 25mm/17mm stack. I don’t know enough about the science behind Salomon’s marketing that claims its “Vibe” compound reduces strength-sapping vibrations that add up over a run. So I’ll just say that the Ride’s combination of responsiveness and cushion -- and maybe the Vibe element -- are working together to keep my legs fresher over those medium-length runs. And I’m able to open up my gait bit in comfort, even over technical terrain since the Ride has Salomon’s signature nimbleness and agility. Inside, the foot is hugged by Salomon’s Endofit, and the material really feels good on the feet while keeping them secure. Slipper-like? That’s an overused and misplaced comparison. The Ride is plenty comfortable, and let’s leave it at that. Maybe with the Sense Ultra and it’s big pricetag, you really are getting a slipper in addition to a nimble and cushioned go-long shoe. Here’s hoping. GRIP AND DURABILITY Pretty much all Salomons have the Contagrip outsole, which gives fantastic traction on wet or dry trails. I do especially well with these on wet rocks, and that’s no trivial thing. The Sense Ride feels most at home on decently rugged technical trails. Small bonus: you could do a lot worse than the Sense Ride if you found yourself trail-linking by way of short sections of pavement. The 4mm lugs bite on the trail but are forgiving enough for short jaunts on concrete or asphalt. Most of the trail systems in my home Kansas City aren’t terribly hilly but they’re rocky and rooty, with plenty of quick ups and downs that will put a shoe through its paces. The Sense Ride handles these trails very well, thanks in part to the “Profilm” rock protection. Flexibility isn’t compromised, thanks to four grooves running horizontally on the outsole. Be warned, though: I needed a few runs to break these in. They ran pretty stiff for the first 18-20 miles, then seemed to kind of unlock. A note about durability: I’m usually pretty skeptical when reviewers talk about the durability of a shoe they’ve logged only 80-100 miles in. I think that’s enough mileage to offer perspective on ride, performance, comfort, etc. But not durability. That comes with mileage well above what most reviewers are logging before they move to the next shoe. Inferences? Sure. Like, when you look at the outsole and see no obvious signs of wear, or when you take those first strides on a midsole that has either flattened out or managed to keep its stack. I can project, but not confirm, that the Sense Ride will give me plenty of miles. 300? 400? Who knows. But look at the outsole after 80-some miles: OUTSOLE PHOTO HERE No obvious wear points. The lugs are in great shape. No worries there. Now let’s go to the midsole, which is a far harder thing to quantify. Take my Altra Lone Peak 2.5s, for instance, which have totally flattened out though it’s hard to tell by looking at the midsole. But I definitely recall a much more cushioned ride out of the box that, 200 miles later, now feels dead to me. (Sidebar rant: For all of Altra’s much-deserved plaudits for revolutionizing how shoes fit and the associated benefits of zero-drop stacks, the company has a QC problem. I’ll save my personal horrors for another post, but history is littered with reviewers complaining about prematurely bottomed-out midsoles, supposedly rugged uppers that blow out after 120 miles, and insoles that slide around at the first hint of moisture. Many of these can be found in my own closet. Maddening.) I’m confident I’ll get lots of miles from the Sense Ride. I won’t project a big round figure, because basically, I’m just getting started in these. But I’ll say this: Salomon has a well-earned reputation for shoes that hold up. That was a big factor for me, and so far it’s working. SUMMARY At $120, the Sense Ride is a relative bargain, and now that we’re more than a year into its life, I’ve seen it as low as $70 at sites like 6pm.com. My favorite site, Running Warehouse still has the Sense Ride at its initial $120 list, something of a testament to its popularity and staying power. And even when Salomon runs a 25 percent discount every now and then, it exempts the Sense Ride. I really like the Sense Ride and can heartily recommend it.