Article by Sam Winebaum
Salomon DRX Defy ($140)
Introduction
Sam: The DRX Defy is Salomon’s lightweight neutral daily trainer with the sibling DRX GRVL having a more aggressive outsole and the Spectur 2 (RTR Review soon) the fiberglass plated speed trainer.
The Defy features a soft and bouncy Energy Foam midsole with rear Active Chassis wings for support and light guidance, and a comfortable, soft and broad fitting and relatively unstructured upper.
At about 8.55 oz / 242g US9 it is commendably light for its moderately high stack height of 34mm heel / 26mm forefoot and quite broad platform.
It’s a shoe in the” fun to run” trainer category: light, very energetic and friendly underfoot and not overly aggressively or locked down in fit. I see it as a solid option for those quick out the door moderate distance daily runs. Let’s get into the details.
Pros:
Fun to run: energetic, bouncy, softer ride
Upper will favor higher volume wider feet
Cons:
- Overly relaxed rear fit/heel hold required unusual lace lock for Sam’s narrow to medium fit, needs a gusset tongue: Sam
Not ideal for runners seeking pronation control
Below average grip on any road grit
Stats
Approx. Weight: men's 8.55 oz / 242g US9
Sample Weight: men’s 8.3 oz / 234g US 8.5 , oz / g US
Stack Height: men’s 34mm heel / 26mm forefoot ( 8mm drop)
Platform Width: 85mm heel / 65 mm midfoot / 110 mm forefoot
$140. Available now.
Most comparable shoes
adidas Adizero SL 2
361 Eleos
Nike Pegasus Plus
First Impressions, Fit and Upper
Sam: The upper is a very soft pliable and mostly unstructured engineered mesh. The colors and design are modern and cheerful without going too far.
Mid foot support is provided bymidfoot grid mesh panels backed up by underlays and to attach the grid mesh panels gray overlays. Sounds like a lot of support, right?
Well put together with very soft pliable mesh, the hold is adequate but required me to unusually use a lace lock to really lock my foot to the platform, my pair being true to my usual US8.5 sizing. And this even with a stour heel counter and the stabilizing Active Chassis wings which helps seat the foot into the midsole. There is a sensation that the heel contact area at the sock liner is overly broad, maybe the Active Chassis wings could angle in more?
I think the tongue and lack of a gusset on the tongue may also be part of the issue. While soft and comfortable, the tongue could be stiffer and more substantial and a gusset to connect tongue to midsole is in order here, particularly given how unstructured the toe box is.
The toe box is broad and very unstructured. There are no overlays beyond the U shaped overlay over the toes.
There is a minimal stiffening up front to create a soft toe bumper. This is clearly a toe box that will favor a broader higher volume foot, not something Salomon was traditionally known for. We are close to a Topo type toe box fit here.
Yet, I found that my lower volume narrow to medium foot was, well held, if not “high performance” held up front as say I am in the identical weight and platform width, nearly identical stack height Pegasus Plus which clearly favors a narrower foot.
Overall I think for my foot shape I would be better off at a half size down in the Defy with higher volume feet true to size.
Midsole & Platform
Sam: The midsole foam is Salomon’s Energy foam, a blend of EVA and Olefin copolymer block. This foam has been in almost all of Salomon’s road and trail shoes in recent years, including their S/Lab trail racers and other trail and road shoes.
The Energy Foam here is soft, bouncy and energetic. Said it in the Pros but this is one fun shoe to run! The energy and rebound here reminds me of shoes such as adizero SL2 and 361 Eleos but here there is no supercritical foam in the mix, SL2 has a core of supercritcal foam and Eleos's midsole is a blend of EVA and PEBA
There is plenty of cushioning here with the 34mm heel/ 26mm forefoot stack height. It is, in this day and age of increasing stack heights (helped by lighter foams) what I would call a “mini max” shoe. The weight at 8.55 oz / 242g US9 is low for such a stack height and the rapid turnover as a result is felt.
The platform is broad front and back at 85mm heel / 65 mm midfoot / 110 mm forefoot although I note that the 65mm midfoot width is relatively narrow with a deep cavity extending through the midfoot and may contribute to the hold issues noted in the upper section.
The Active Chassis wings are clearly a plus given the soft midsole with the lateral side a glued in slightly stiffer foam piece and the medial molded of the same foam as the main midsole.
The Active Chassis, while it provides some support, is not elongated forward as say Brooks Guide Rails are and does not impede my transitions as those rails do. But, as noted in Upper, I wonder if they could be angled in more to better seat the foot and improve the upper hold at the rear of the shoe.
Outsole
Sam: As always with Salomon (road and trail) we have a Contagrip rubber here in a quite skeletal pattern (to save weight). The outsole rings the entire outer perimeter of the underside of the shoe and provides some stability to the soft midsole. The shoe has a classic Salomon far front flex point and is otherwise rigid due to the outsole design. I like a far front flex point but wish for a bit longer flex for what is a road shoe and not a trail shoe.
I often run over patches of fine beach sand along the coast. The outsole pattern allows for full contact front to back to the road but due to its cutouts and lack of profiled lugs had less than average grip on the sand but was fine on dry and wet pavement.
The Contagrip outsole should prove durable with coverage extensive enough and deep enough for any foot strike pattern.
Ride, Conclusions and Recommendations
Sam: The DRX Defy has a fun and energetic ride and is all over friendly and relaxed in ride and fit. I had lots of smiles while running it!
That said, it could use more upper support to allow it to push the pace, especially for those with narrower lower volume feet, as underfoot the platform is perfectly capable of doing so. The only slightly heavier DRX Defy GRVL (RTR Review soon) with its more substantial upper and (small) lugged outsole likely will solve the issues of fit/ hold and the more minor traction issues I had and increase the versatility.
If you are looking for all over and under foot comfort and a bouncier softer ride for moderate distances and paces daily training the Defy is a solid option.
Sam’s Score: 8.9 / 10
Deductions for more solid rear and midfoot upper hold to better leverage the excellent underfoot platform. And for improved traction.
3 Comparisons
Nike Pegasus Plus (RTR Review)
Sam: There are very few moderate stack non plated shoes still around and these two are for sure among them so as their stats are essentially identical I compared the Defy to Peg Plus in an A/B run at the video below . Almost the same stack height with the Nike a 10mm drop to the Salomon’s 8mm, they weigh essentially the same and sit on the same platform widths. Nike’s ZoomX foam is slightly firmer and quicker responding to the Defy’s bouncier softer ride making, along with its upper, the Peg more suitable for uptempo training while still providing plenty of cushioning. The Nike’s upper is clearly more secure front to back and lower volume with its toe box borderline narrow and low for me but more confidence inspiring. The Peg’s traction with a mini lugged outsole is superior. The Plus should be an easy choice but for its pricing which is I think a quite extreme $40 more which for sure gives pause.
361 Eleos (RTR Review)
Sam: The 361 is 1.4 oz / 40g heavier but sits on a broader platform that is 15mm wider at the heel, a big 20mm at the midfoot and 10mm wider up front while it is also 2mm higher at the heel and 4mm higher at the forefoot. More shoe. All of this combined largely explains the weight difference. Instead of blending EVA with Olefin, 361 mixes the EVA with PEBA. All of the preceding taken together delivers a yet more energetic ride and a more stable one due to the platform width. Both share an easy going unstructured upper which could present challenges to lower volume narrower feet as they both did for me. The 361 ride is superior and yet more fun with the Salomon having a noticed weight advantage.
Adidas Adizero SL 2 (RTR Video Review)
Sam: The SL 2 has a heel 2mm higher and the same forefoot stack height as the Defy. It weighs the same and is $10 less at $130. They are very similar in ride (energetic and quite soft) and in fit (on the generous and less structured side). The adidas has a core of top of the lie Lightstrike Pro foam surrounded by more conventional and also soft Ligthstrike 2.0 foam While the SL2 upper is also less structured and basic it is more secure and somewhat lower volume. The higher coverage adidas outsole grips better and provides stability to the platform. In the fun fast lighter duty daily trainer category the SL 2 is my pick in this match up.
Index to all RTR reviews: HERE
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Tester Profiles
Sam is the Editor and Founder of Road Trail Run. He is in his 60’s with 2024 Sam’s 52th year of running roads and trails. He has a decades old 2:28 marathon PR. These days he runs halves in the just sub 1:40 range if he gets very, very lucky. Sam trains 30-40 miles per week mostly at moderate paces on the roads and trails of New Hampshire and Utah be it on the run, hiking or on nordic skis. He is 5’9” tall and weighs about 164 lbs, if he is not enjoying too many fine New England IPA’s.
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1 comment:
Hi Sam,
Thanks for this review. Any thoughts on how the Defy compares to Salomon's Blaze and Volt? Also, any plans to review version 2 of those models?
Thanks!
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