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On Cloudsurfer Trail - FOR REAL - Running On Clouds!
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May 23, 2024
Mike Postaski goes in-depth with the new Cloudsurfer Trail From On - 00:00 taking you through the details and a quick trip round the beautiful Foothills of Boise, Idaho for an on-the-run review with fit, feel, ride discussed along the way with at 15:02 Conclusions Also watch for the bonus "Trail Gear Tip"! CouldTec pods with CloudTec Phase design.. not a gimmick.. It really works! Multi Tester Written Review: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2024/02/on-cloudsurfer-trail-multi-tester.html Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 100's of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, Mike P here from Road Trail Run and today I'll be reviewing the ON Cloud Surfer Trail
0:06
Cloud tech pods? If you're unfamiliar with ON, do these things actually work in cloud tech phase
0:13
What the heck is that even? Now, I haven't run or reviewed too many ON shoes in the past, so I'll be coming at you with a somewhat fresh perspective here
0:41
I recently reviewed the ON Cloud Venture Peak 3. This is a totally different shoe than the Cloud Surfer Trail
0:48
Firm, it does have those cloud tech pods, but there's a drastic difference and we'll get into that later
0:53
But before we dive in, let's take a look at some specs. The Cloud Surfer Trail sits at 32.5mm under the heel and 25.5mm under the forefoot for a 7mm drop
1:04
Now the midsole again is made up of those cloud tech pods with Helion foam
1:09
In my US size 9.5, the Cloud Surfer Trail weighs in at 9.7 ounces and that's 274 grams
1:15
The Cloud Surfer is available now for $160. In terms of fit and sizing, I've got a US 9.5 here, fits my foot perfectly
1:24
If you take a look at the toe box, it does tend to taper a bit at the front, which is not generally something that I like
1:30
But the upper is quite compliant, quite flexible. I didn't notice any issues rubbing on either side of the toe box
1:39
The material has quite a bit of give to it, so it's really oriented towards comfort
1:43
We have kind of a dual layer mesh here, smooth around the inside, perforated all around the outside
1:50
From the inside, you can kind of see through there. It's very well ventilated here, no problems with breathability in the shoe
1:58
There's quite a lot of design elements into this shoe, that was one of the first impressions
2:02
You have this X-shaped lace design, embroidered on both the medial side and the lateral side
2:10
Lace loop design here with embroidered stitching to hold it on. More stitching around here to support the inner bolsters around the ankle collar
2:19
The tongue sits perfectly flat, gusseted tongue. The design and shape of the tongue just fits perfectly over the top of your foot
2:28
And that's something that I noticed with the Ahn shoes that I've run and tested in
2:32
Perfect, secure fit and design. Now, Ahn's website for the Cloud Surfer Road version talks about how they try to use less plastic in the design
2:42
Again, here in the rear, you have more of these embroidered sections. Instead of having a plasticky area here, they use thicker embroidery down here at the bottom of the heel
2:52
Really not much plastic on the shoe that I could really see
2:56
Going back towards the front for the tongue, you have nice pass-through for the laces
3:00
Again, it's gusseted. The tongue does not move around at all. You also have a nice lace loop here to tuck the laces. That's always a handy feature
3:08
Looking back at the heel counter, it's not overly high. Folding it over here where the counter is, not overly stiff
3:16
Along the interior, smooth, soft mesh. No hot spots, no irritation. Kind of comes up a little bit here
3:24
That doesn't hit my ankle in any way. That doesn't cause me any issues
3:28
It's perfectly fine. Again, smooth and soft along the inside. A really well-done ankle and heel collar
3:35
In the front here, we have a little bit of a wraparound toe bumper. Not super sturdy. This shoe is not designed for technical trails
3:41
So just to give it some structure. Moving down to the midsole of the shoe, this is the most interesting part of the Cloud Surfer
3:48
In the past, in the On shoes I've tried, the Cloud Venture Peak had the Cloud Tech
3:54
pods only under the heel. That shoe was designed for technical terrain
3:57
I could compress them when I'm standing in them, but I didn't notice anything on the run
4:01
The heel was actually quite firm, even with those voids under the heel
4:06
Also, the Cloud Vista had a more regularly shaped and regularly oriented set of pods going throughout
4:14
I really couldn't tell what they were for, what they were doing
4:17
I didn't notice any difference in cushioning compared to, say, a regular midsole without those
4:23
voids. On has done something completely different here with the Cloud Surfer Trail and also the
4:28
Cloud Surfer Road version. If you take a look at these pods, you'll notice that they're not
4:33
regularly shaped. On the lateral side, the voids are much bigger and they're horizontally
4:39
oriented and they gradually tilt up towards the front. Switch around to the medial side, the pods are much smaller
4:48
And that's noticed as soon as you put them on. This rear lateral corner of the heel is much softer than the interior medial side
4:58
So you have a really soft crash pad landing. I would say when you put them on diagonally across the lateral heel, you really notice
5:08
that compression and softness under that outside portion of the heel. And as you roll into your stride, if you're a heel striker, you would notice the supportive
5:18
medial side, which is a little bit firmer, but it tends to gradually get into that firmness
5:25
Now, On calls this Cloud Tech Phase. It's more of a mechanical compression
5:31
Now, as a midfoot striker myself, the pods under the forefoot, if you could see here
5:36
they're horizontally oriented and they're just ever so slightly larger on the lateral
5:42
side. It's more of an even feel under the midfoot. There's not as much variation as you would feel if you're landing on the heel
5:49
So for me as a midfoot striker, that really soft outer heel really wasn't apparent in
5:55
my normal foot strike. Now, one other thing that I need to mention here, there's no speedboard in this
6:02
Thank you. The Cloud Vista, the speedboard was very noticeable in my foot
6:07
It was almost like a marble right under the ball of my foot
6:10
So with the absence of the speedboard, you don't have any of that firmness
6:14
You don't have any sense of a singular point of protrusion under the ball of your foot
6:19
which me and some of our other testers also felt. It's just a much better feel under
6:23
Taking a look at the outsole here, we have On's Mission Grip rubber
6:27
We have really shallow lugs in this Cloud Surfer here. I measured them at 2.5 millimeters
6:32
They're pretty widely spaced out. There's some flex grooves around here under the toe, right along the front and a big gap
6:39
here in the middle. This shoe is made for more moderate trails, light trails, gravel trails, road to trail
6:46
It just doesn't have the outsole to handle real even moderate plus or technical terrain
6:52
at all. Now, one thing to mention, there's a few depressions here towards the middle and the rear of the
6:58
shoe, and those got packed up with a little bit of mud. That also begs the question, if you run through some really muddy terrain, there's no getting
7:06
around it. Mud is going to get into these. That's just something that's inherent to this design
7:11
I don't know how you're going to get around that. If mud sticks into these pods, it's going to be tough to get it out unless you come
7:17
home and scrape it out with a stick. So I'm actually geared up for a run right now
7:21
I'm going to take these out. It's a nice bluebird day, and we'll get into the ride when I get back
7:51
That was the perfect terrain for the Cloud Surfer here
8:03
Nice dirt, smooth, a little bit loose, a little bridge over here
8:12
Cloud take pods, just cruising along on this stuff. I'm going to walk up a little hill here
8:25
It's an easy day. Trail gear tip here. Get yourself a nice, light, white windbreaker
8:35
It's about 45 degrees Fahrenheit out here right now. As you can see, nice bluebird day when you're dealing with these kind of cool-ish, almost
8:46
cold temperatures. Sometimes it could be windy. You want to block that wind out
8:51
But if you wear a dark color, you get that solar gain. When you start sweating, you start overheating, it's just better to have a nice, white, light windbreaker
9:04
Reflect the heat. One less variable to worry about. I'm walking here
9:12
Don't worry. We'll find some fun stuff. Midsole is feeling really good here
9:18
Get a little support under the arch, a little bit of contouring
9:24
I'm not noticing that extreme softness under the lateral heel because with my foot strike
9:31
pattern, I'm not really compressing that part of the shoe. Walking again
9:40
I almost forgot, I did leg strength yesterday. My legs are a bit heavy
9:49
Okay, so here we go. Little descent here. Gravelly, a little rocky at times, some uneven spots
10:01
FileSurfer should handle it well. We'll go over there later, test a little bit of a steeper descent
10:10
Okay, so coming down that descent right there, pretty gradual. That really shows what's so great about this CloudSurfer midsole
10:18
You get that graduated compression from the outside into the inside. Instead of having one regular sensation of even foam underfoot, it really graduates from
10:30
soft to slightly firmer as you roll from the outside to the inside
10:35
As you roll from the outside to the inside, and that's due to those newly oriented CloudTek pods
10:41
When I was running uphill, I don't typically land so much on the heel, especially on the
10:45
outside of the heel. So it's not super noticeable for me on level grades, but on the descent, definitely noticeable
10:52
All right, now let's find some rocks. Now, some of the sections back there were probably a little bit too technical for the
11:16
CloudSurfer trail. If you're new to trail running, going down a descent like that, rocky sections, the hold
11:23
of the knit upper is just not crazy secure. And also, like I said, the foam is pretty dynamic underfoot
11:30
The graduated compression on top of the kind of knit upper, it's not totally locked down
11:36
made more for moderate, easy type trails. So I'd say if you're new to trail running, that's something that might be a little tricky
11:43
The more experienced of a trail runner you are, the more proprioceptive feel that you
11:47
have, you can adapt a little bit more to different types of foams and feels underfoot
11:52
It was no problem. I actually found it quite fun. A little bit bouncy, very soft underfoot, but under control
11:59
I wouldn't want to be running in that kind of terrain all day long, especially if it
12:04
was steeper than that in this shoe. I just noticed when I was recording, as you can see, got a piece of grass, went right
12:14
through those pods. I guess that comes with the territory. So let's head back up this section
12:24
Same technical kind of section, uphill. Should be easier to handle without the speed of the descent
12:40
Now that whole section I just tested, a little bit down, a little bit up
12:45
It's probably a bit above the pay grade of this shoe. It's manageable, of course
12:51
If you're running slower, taking it easy. But if you really want to rip through that section, the shoe just wouldn't be stable enough
13:01
But a day like today, for me, easy day, cruising around, having fun
13:06
It's great. I love them. Now we're heading over to that little section I pointed out before
13:14
A little steeper, but it's smooth, not technical. So
13:41
OK, so I took a couple of time lapses there on the way up. So you get an idea of what I'm going to try to take on the way down
13:47
Try to run a little fast, see how the Cloudsurfer handles it. So
14:19
OK, so Cloudsurfer trail handled that pretty well. Got going pretty quick there
14:23
I'll have to check the speed when I get home. Also have to check on the grade
14:27
Probably around 8 to 10 percent on average. There's a few steeper pitches
14:32
My foot was sliding a little bit forward on some of the steeper parts. Kind of felt it a little bit in the heel, but the upper is so soft, compliant in the front
14:40
It's kind of just holding my foot right in the front. There's no really hard parts around in the toe box, so didn't feel like I was jamming
14:47
up my toes. So all in all, it's pretty pretty solid for a kind of a mid stack, soft feeling shoe to
14:54
take a descent like that so fast. All right, let's head home and wrap it up
15:00
All right, so we're back from the run. That was a little bit of an impromptu on the run review
15:05
So let me know if you like that. I tend to do my best thinking on the run, so you might get better insights
15:12
The most distinguishing factor about the Cloudsurfer trail is the nature of those Cloudtech pods
15:18
The graduated setup that I talked about earlier, it really works well, I have to say
15:24
On shoes, I was never really a fan. I thought the Cloudpod thing was a bit gimmicky
15:29
Honestly, the way this is designed, the way the compression is gradual from the outside
15:35
toward the inside, it just worked. I don't know why they didn't do it this way in the first place
15:40
The ride was super smooth on level ground, totally comfortable. It's a great easy paths, easy trails cruiser shoe
15:48
On the descents, I tried to push them a little bit in some little bit of technical sections
15:53
a little bit of steeper sections, just to kind of push the limits a little bit
15:56
They did hold their own. Like I talked about on the run, if you're a newer runner, perhaps with a softer shoe
16:02
like this, that might be a little bit tricky. But if you're experienced with technical running experience on a lot of different types of
16:09
trails, they could go up to some moderate terrain. You shouldn't have a problem there
16:13
One thing noticeable was the heel hold, I think could be a little bit improved
16:17
You have this stitching here on both sides that denotes the inner ring of padding on
16:21
the inside. The only thing is, it kind of just stitches it into separate sections, but the top section
16:27
is not any thicker. I'm not really sure what the intention of the stitching is
16:32
Maybe it gives it a little bit of definition, but I think if this section above the stitching
16:37
would be bolstered a little bit, perhaps you'd get a little bit better heel hold
16:41
It wasn't really an issue. Like I said, smooth trails, level ground, really comfortable collar
16:47
Just perfect for easy, smooth trails. I just noticed it a little bit on the descents when I was going a little bit faster, but
16:54
that's really not an issue. I think the speeds that I was kind of testing them out on and some of the grades, like really
17:01
a little bit beyond what their ideal range is. The weight of the shoe feels very light
17:06
I mean, you feel like you're getting a lot of cushion at only 9.7 ounces
17:10
The Cloud Vista that I tested earlier, which is volume wise a much smaller shoe, seemingly
17:16
it should be much lighter. That was 10.2 ounces, a half an ounce heavier than this shoe
17:22
And this shoe just has a way more cushion feel and it's half an ounce lighter
17:26
Really great job. The ratio of cushion to weight is really great for this shoe
17:32
So that about wraps it up. Cloud Tech Pods in the Cloud Tech phase design from On
17:39
It's not a gimmick. These pods really do work. If you were skeptical before, as I was, I would invite you to give these a chance
17:48
Any questions or comments, leave them down below. Thank you for watching
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