THE BEST NEW SHOES

The first wave of super shoes ushered in a lightweight and bouncy new foam. Since then, new advances in tech and compounds have made shoes even lighter, softer, and faster— and not just racers. Super shoe tech is trickling down to daily training shoes.

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Our wear-test team of more than 250 runners logged thousands of miles in 92 different models to help you find your favorite next pair.

On Cloudultra Pro

PRICE: $260 | TYPE: TRAIL RACING | WEIGHT: 9.7 OZ (M9), 7.4 OZ (W7) | DROP: 6 MM

IT'S NOT EXACTLY the Cloudboom Strike for the trails, but it's pretty close. On's trail super shoe is certainly one of the most versatile models in the category we've tested, and it's ready to go right out of the box.

It was designed to handle the fast pace and big mountain climbs of Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, so I was excited when the shoe arrived a week before I flew to Germany to run the similarly mountainous ZUT100 around the Zugspitze. At 102 miles with over 27,000 feet of elevation gain and terrain from pavement to gravel, rooty forests, and high alpine trails, the race featured just about every type of surface imaginable—the perfect test loop, if there ever was one.

The shoe definitely feels more like a road racer with a thin tongue and laces like you'd find on the Nike Vaporfly 4, but with additional padding around the heel collar and a thin toe cap overlay for protection on the trails. At 9.7 ounces, it's also quite lightweight compared to other ultra race shoes. The upper is fully-knit and welded, so there are almost no seams to create hot spots, and the toebox is generous and comfortable for the long miles.