Released last October, the Salomon S/LAB Ultra is a trail running shoe designed by trail runners. It incorporates many new features from the Salomon product innovators.
Local Salomon rep Ryan Lassen promotes it as “a shoe that I would 100% recommend to Quad Rock runners (along with the Sense Ride, and S/LAB Sense 6 SG)”
Ed DeLosh
Key Innovations:
Progressive Stack Height – Unique to any shoe on the market, Salomon has introduced a variable stack height for the S/Lab Ultra to help standardize the shoe’s drop and offset as it wears. As shoes compress differently across sizes, the stack height of the S/Lab Ultra increases slightly for larger shoes to ensure a standard ride for all, regardless of the size or mileage of the shoe.
Hydrophobic Materials – The S/LAB Ultra incorporates the hydrophobic material made popular in the XA Amphib. This means when the shoe gets wet, the weight hardly changes.
Energy Save – The design adds a special piece of EVA foam in the forefoot that does not pack out over time.
Adaptive Sensifit – The shoe warms up as your foot does, allowing it to adjust the way it wraps around your foot as the race goes on and foot swell occurs.
Premium Wet Traction – The outsole retains the same lug pattern as its predecessor and uses Salomon’s stickiest rubber compound.
Gnar Team Members Testify:
Elijah Flenner – I brought one trail shoe on my five week trip to France, the S/Lab Ultra. There were no other contenders.
Ed DeLosh – I love the endofit inner sleeve and the lacing that Salomon uses. They provide for a good, stable fit and really allow you to dial it in. The outsole is just like the previous version, which I found to provide pretty good traction without feeling like you’re running on big knobby tires.
When I saw this new version, my immediate concern was that the more rigid upper could cause hot spots on long runs, and when I put them on, they definitely gave the sensation of having less give than the prior version. The shoe also has a tongue that comes up higher on the ankle, raising the concern the it’d irritate the tendons on the top of the foot. But I’m happy to say that after a couple of short runs and now a 25 miler, I experienced no issues at all, and so far find them to be a solid shoe that I enjoy running in. For me, they are an improvement over the previous version and may well be the shoe that I end up turning to for my racing this year, after I get a chance to try them out on a couple more long runs.
Salomon will be joining Gnar Runners for our Quad Rock Preview Run, April 7 at Lory State Park, with shoes to wear test. Come out for miles, fun, food and try out a new pair of kicks.
