Article by Jeremy Marie
On Cloudmonster Hyper (220$, €230, GBP210)
Introduction
Jeremy: On has been a roll recently, with many very nice releases: The new Cloud Phase tech seen on Cloudeclipse, Cloudsurfer and its trail sibling, showing that they were able to part from their usual construction and offer something new and fresh. And then the Cloudmonster and its 2nd version were well received, the simple and traditional Cloudsurfer 4 which I really enjoyed…and the CloudBoom Echo which reduced the gap to other firms on the Super shoes front…you get the idea.
Gone are the days of overly firm midsoles and sometimes cumbersome platforms, and this is for the best as far as I am concerned.
Enter the new Cloudmonster Hyper, a “training supershoe” in the vein of what we’re seeing more and more of: packed with supercritical foams, not always plated (no plate or Speedboard here), huge stack heights to ensure a comfortable cushioning for a bunch of your miles, and still packing a lot of energy and dynamism to cover everything from easy to tempo runs.
Inscribed on the insole of the Monster Hyper is “Fresh Legs, Fast Legs”. Let's see if this new shoe in On’s arsenal delivers!
Pros:
Light for the amount of cushioning : Jeremy
Lively very responsive midsole, not soft or mushy : Jeremy
Quite natural feel despite the Helion HF insert at the front : Jeremy
Stable : Jeremy
Efficient grip even on wet asphalt : Jeremy
Attention to details (the laces!): Jeremy
Cons:
Price is a bit steep vs competition : Jeremy
Too generous volume to ensure secure forefoot hold: Jeremy
Fits a bit long, which does not help with the loose fitting upper: Jeremy
Stats
Estimated Weight: men’s 9.05 oz / g US (US9)
Samples: men's 9.8 oz /278 g (US10.5)
Stack Height: men’s 37.5 mm heel / mm 31.5 forefoot ( 6 mm drop)
Platform Width: 88 mm heel / 80 mm midfoot / 115 mm forefoot
220$ / 230€ Available April 2024
First Impressions, Fit and Upper
Jeremy: The CloudMonster Hyper follows the usual trend for On’s shoes: it’s is a beautiful looking shoe. This aspect never makes a shoe run better, but yet it still plays a big role in the appreciation of a shoe. Clean and sophisticated, the main white color of the thin upper minimizes the size of the shoe, with a dual-density mesh which feels like the Echo 3’s, albeit a tad thicker.
The light orange tones of the bottom part and the big, but discreet, reflective On’s logo convey the “sporty” vibe of the Hyper.
In hand, the shoe feels - and is - way lighter than it might look with its substantial stack height and the white slab of Helion HF PEBA foam at the front.
The step-in feeling is comfortable, but not thanks to an overly generous padding. There’s just an adequate amount of it to protect the heel from the flexible top of the heel counter. Going lower down, you can see a light orange overlay that adds more rigidity and structure to the heel counter.
This stripe of thicker material goes further forward to the base of the toes, giving a nice and supportive base to the shoe. This allows On to keep a thin mesh for the rest of the upper. Soft and pliable, this material feels great and clearly takes inspiration from the material found in the Swiss brand racing speedster, the Echo 3.
The thin tongue is just slightly padded with a sticky material which helps it stay put, and it also helped by the gusseted design.
On has almost always a special take on laces, and there’s no exception here. The lacing starts from two closely spaced holes on the external side of the center of the shoe. I’m having a hard time finding any pros to this, save from originality.
The laces are thin, slide well on the suede-like laces loops, but On has a trick up its sleeve: the end of the laces have silicone inserts, so that they stay securely knotted. I really dig this kind of detail that shows thinking beforehand.
All this sounds perfect for the CloudMonster Hyper, but the whole front part of the shoe, and even a part of the midfoot, has way too much volume, and especially height.
The feel is a bit sloppy, and cinching the laces is not a good solution as it creates folds in the upper that can lead to some discomfort.
This does not create issues with the foothold, as the heel and upper midfoot is secure, but the whole forefoot feels a bit lost in the shoe.
Midsole & Platform
Jeremy: With a generous 37.5mm heel stack and 6mm drop, the CloudMonster Hyper clearly shows what it’s here for: keeping legs fresh during long runs. It’s advertised as being the perfect training companion to the Cloudboom Echo 3.
You can think of it as a CloudMonster with a large insert of Helion HF superform under the midfoot to forefoot.
As a consequence you’ll get the same slightly firmish feeling of CloudTec at the heel, which is stable despite the big 37.5mm heel stack.
From the midfoot to the forefoot, those CloudTecs cavities become minimal, and are topped with the slab of Helion HF foam. This adds some softness to the shoe, taming down the minimal CloudTec found here, and above all adds lots of energy return especially for midfoot to forefoot strikers.
Helion HF is not overly soft so I did not face any stability issues at the front despite the sloppy lockdown of the forefoot.
The shoe keeps some flexibility but is still quite rigid - way more than the Diadora Frequenza, or even Craft Pro Endurance for instance. If it weren’t on the shoe specs, I would have bet that a Speedboard was still in place in the midsole.
I was initially a bit skeptical of this hybrid construction, something that usually requires some time getting used to (I’m thinking of Nike Tempo Next for instance) but everything went along quite nicely and naturally for me. The slight rocker profile surely help here.
Outsole
Jeremy: The outsole follows On’s classic arrangement following the reminiscences of the now almost gone pods.
Rubber is strategically put on impact zones, and there's only some exposed midsole in the medial part of the outsole and along the central cutout.
The material used in all recent On’s offerings has always delivered for me on the traction, grip and durability front here are also on point. Wet pavement and loose ground never were an issue during my runs.
I’ve accumulated around 60 kms and can’t see any sign of wear signs so my guess is that durability of the outsole will be more than acceptable.
Ride, Conclusions and Recommendations
Jeremy: I’ve clearly enjoyed the Cloudmonster Hyper for the variety of runs I’ve put them on.
From longer runs in Z2 to tempo runs (up to a bit faster than my half marathon pace let’s say), I find them reliable, stable, and providing a nice and lively ride which reveals itself as the pace increases.
Being a midfoot striker, increasing the pace results in putting more pressure on the Helion HF foam which of course maximizes its usefulness in the shoe.
I like that the shoe is very reactive and responsive, but stays really controlled, and not overly bouncy. It clearly keeps the “On” vibe of the shoe that leans slightly towards the firmer side of the spectrum, despite their move towards softer platforms.
The price might still put off some runners, but the versatility of the shoe, its light weight for stack height and its expected durability puts them in consideration as the only other pair of shoes you’ll need along with your racing shoes.
They just let me down with the baggy fit of the forefoot, and I strongly advise to try them in store. I might even wonder if going down half a size from my true to size as I had here would not have been best for me - I tend to prefer going half a size up than TTS, but combined with the large volume fit of this shoe that would make things more voluminous yet. Let’s hope for a fit fix in v2!
Jeremy’s Score: 9 /10
Ride (50%): 9.5 Fit (30%): 8.5 Value (15%): 8Style (5%): 10
Comparisons
Index to all RTR reviews: HERE
Diadora Frequenza (RTR Review)
Jeremy: The Italian shoe has a comparable amount of cushioning, but the similarities end there.
Fit is better in the Diadora, and the midsole has a totally different feel: bouncy, less stable, lots more flexible, and more fun. They’re also cheaper, and lighter.
Equally versatile, the choice can be made on the midsole behavior: bouncy, flexible, fun but lacking a bit of stability in the Frequenza, or more serious, stable and a bit firmer in the Hyper.
Brooks Ghost Max (RTR Review)
Jeremy: The Ghost Max was a pleasant surprise. It’s comfy with generous padding all around the foot, and clearly excels at easy pace. The Monster Hyper will lean more towards faster paces and is way more reactive, and lighter. Despite a comparable amount of cushioning, the shoes are clearly different and I would push the Ghost Max towards slower runners and the Hyper to more competitive ones
Tester Profile
Jeremy MARIE, French, 44y/o. Running since 2013 and quickly transitioned to trails, focused on ultras since 2015 : TDS, Maxi-Race, “100 miles du Sud”, 90 kms du Mt Blanc, GRP 120 kms, Some shorter more mellow races (Saintelyon 45 kms, Ecotrail Paris 45 kms…) with always in the mix road and flat running, but not many road races. Also active cyclist and 70.3 Ironman. Recovery/easy runs ~4’45/km - 4’30/km. He has an un-official marathon PR of 2h54 (solo) and 10K PR of 36’25. He does few timed road races.
The On Cloudmonster Hyper will be available April 5, 2024
EUROPE Men's & Women's SHOP HERE
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