The Salomon S/Lab Ultra 3 is a brilliant door-to-trail shoe: The latest iteration of Salomon’s top-of-the-line trail shoe is a joy to run in, but the new features may prove a bit fussy for some
- Exceptional underfoot comfort, as per the previous S-Lab Ultra models
- Resting heart rate
- New lacing lock is a bit fussy, and the premium price will, as ever, put some people off
Price: £165
Type: Trail
Weight: 290g
Drop: 8mm
Salomon’s S/Lab series is a bit like Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference…’ range. It’s the premium end of the French brand’s output, and its shoes feature heavily at the front-end of the world’s most prestigious trail races. While the S/Lab Sense series, worn by Catalan trail-running legend Kilian Jornet, is designed for speed, the S/Lab Ultra line is intended for longer efforts. Consequently, there’s plenty of cushioning underfoot, a more forgiving 8mm heel-to-toe drop and a slightly heavier weight of 290g.
Having worn the S/Lab Ultra 2 on my first – and, let’s be honest, last – 100-miler, I was particularly keen to test out the Ultra 3. Could Salomon improve on what was, in many people’s opinion, including my own, a near-perfect trail shoe? The answer: yes and no.
Regal looks and sock-like upper
The most obvious change is the colour, Salomon abandoning the Ultra 2’s all-red colourway for a more regal-looking purple. The result is a shoe that’s sophisticated and eye-catching – perhaps to a fault: it almost feels like a shame to get the shoe muddy. The other significant difference is the tongue/upper integration, which provides a snug, locked-down feel and also reduces the chances of debris getting in the shoe. S/Lab shoes are notoriously narrow, but the Ultra 3 feels a tad wider than its predecessor, so should work for a greater range of foot types.
Great door-to-trail shoe, with caveats
Although the S/Lab 3 is marketed as a trail shoe, and should primarily be used as such, one of its great advantages is that it runs well on the roads too. Consequently, it’s a brilliant door-to-trail shoe: you could pop these on, run two miles on roads to your nearest green space, and run home – all without the shoe feeling out of place. That’s credit to the outsole’s excellent Contagrip and fairly moderate lugs. The trade-off, of course, is that this is not a shoe for thick, slippy mud. And that’s potentially a major issue if you live in the rain-soaked UK and are in the market for just one pair of trail shoes, as opposed to a winter and summer pair. As a shoe for hard trails, rock and road, the S/Lab 3 is almost unbeatable; if you’re mainly running in the mud, however, you’d be better served by something like an Inov-8 Mudclaw.
Great lacing system, once you can work it out
One of the hallmarks of Salomon’s S/Lab series is its Quicklace system. However, with the S/Lab 3, the term ‘Quicklace’ is a misleading one. Due to what is, in my mind, an unnecessary tweak, the lacing system must now be tucked upwards into a specially designed pocket, rather than downwards. This may sound like a minor inconvenience, but it makes putting on the shoe a slow and slightly stressful process, as you have to carefully negotiate the lower laces before tucking the lace lock up into its little pocket. You get quicker at it, of course, and the trade-off is that the laces, once they’re in their pocket, seem incredibly unlikely to come out.
Sweet spot between comfort and speed
The S/Lab Ultra 3 is exceptionally comfortable but still light and low-profile enough for quicker running. It weighs in at a shade under 300g and has a heel height of 26mm and forefoot height of 18mm. In simple terms, that makes it a lighter-than-average trail shoe with a decent amount of cushioning, without making you feel that you’re running on a pillow. For the elites, this combination makes them a great 100-mile shoe; for everyday runners, they’re perhaps best seen as a shoe for anything from the half marathon to a 100km race – which is a pretty impressive range.
Conclusion
There’s much to admire about the S/Lab Ultra 3. It offers supreme comfort in a relatively light package, while its ability to perform well on roads as well as hard trails makes it a compelling door-to-trail option. However, in its efforts to feel as premium as possible, there’s a slight fussiness to some of the design tweaks, such as the lacing system. If you’re a fan of previous versions of the shoe – or are looking for a robust, reliable trail shoe for your longer efforts – the S/Lab 3 is a brilliant option. But it’s worth thinking carefully about what you need from a trail shoe – and what you’re willing to pay in order to get it – before purchasing a product that's premium but imperfect.
