Salomon Ultra Glide 3 trail running shoes review: Perfectly put together smooth operators for happy days off-road

First impressions

I have a love-hate relationship with Salomon shoes. I generally love the look, feel and reliably category-leading design of the fleet-footed French running brand’s trail running shoes, but often the last used on their more performance-orientated models squeezes my forefoot and I find the toebox too tight.

Painful bunions and the broad shape of my gnarled and trail-wizened floor slappers, means I often need to opt for boots and shoes designed specifically for wider feet, and I have struggled like Cinderella’s ugly sisters to try and make many Salomon shoes fit me in the past (especially the more technically advanced Slab versions, which prioritize performance-enhancingly tight foothold over comfort) usually to no avail.

Suffice to say I was over the moon to try the Ultra Glide 3 shoes on and discover that I could go straight out for a 6 mile (10k) run without suffering any pain whatsoever. Quite the opposite, in fact, these shoes felt like comfortable, grippy slippers. How exciting.

Look and availability

The Salomon Ultra Glide 3 is available for men and women now, for a comparatively reasonable list price and comes in a range of attractive colorways. Once again, the Salomon naming department has clearly been hitting the red sweets hard, and among the imaginatively named options are ‘Cosmic Sky’ and ‘Excalibur, Icicle and Neon Flame’. There is also a ‘Proto Pack’ option, which appears to be just another color choice.

Design and materials

The Hoka-led trend of trail-running shoes sporting spectacularly spongetastic maximist midsoles continues, and the Ultra Glide 3 boasts a whacking great stack that starts at 41mm above the heel, and drops to 35mm at the toe (not quite as insanely enormous as the recently re-released Hoka Mafate X, but big nonetheless). This cushiony midsole is made with impressively lightweight EVA-based ‘energy’ foam.

Continuing the lightweight design, the upper of the shoe is primarily comprised of a synthetic mesh, strengthened with a TPU skeleton (which forms a minimalist rand) and backed by an EndoFit internal sleeve.

There is generous amount of padding around the heel and across the top of the tongue, which is only partially integrated with the chassis, via a wide elasticated band.

The Ultra Glide 3 features a quicklace tightening set-up which is very speedy to use, and the Sensifit system ensures you can achieve a confidence-inspiring secure and firm fit.

This is the third generation of this shoe family, and the latest arrival has the same 6mm drop, but boasts very slightly deeper lugs than the Ultra Glide 2s. The design of the All Terrain Contagrip outsole is pretty funky – the arrow-shaped studs (some facing forward for traction, others pointing backward to help with braking) are well spaced out, to reduce the amount of mud and muck you might collect, and the face of the sole is wavy, with several deep dimples.

It's good to see some recycled content in the Ultra Glide mix with this model, although Salomon don’t divulge what percentage or which parts of the shoe have made using fabric spun from plastic bottles, but I’m going to assume it’s mainly the mesh in the chassis.

On the trails

I have been testing the Ultra Glide 3s over the last few months, while running on woodland trails, moorland and hillside tracks, pebbly beaches and rocky coastal paths, and can confirm that Salomon’s all-terrain claims about this model’s capability levels are legit. It really is a very versatile off-road shoe, which can handle just about any sort of landscape – and this really suits me.

The All Terrain Contagrip outsole isn’t just funky looking, it’s also highly functional, providing really good grip on everything from wet rocks to mucky trails covered in slippery tree roots. I love the fact you don’t end up running around with a heavy layer of mud on the underside of your shoes (thanks to the well-spaced lugs), and the all-ready substantial 4mm studs are made even more effective by the dimples in the design of the sole. Clever stuff.

And this shoe is super comfortable, no matter what sort of surface you’re running across. Obviously the midsole is massive, and that sumptuous degree of cushioning comes at the cost of any real feedback from the trail, but the energy rebound and sense of positive forward momentum while running in these shoes is extraordinary.

I like the level of connectivity and secure fit that is achieved with the Sensifit system and Quicklace tightening set-up. I didn’t experience any movement within the shoe (so I’ve no concerns about developing blisters), and not only does the Ultra Glide feel like it’s firmly clamped to my foot, I also don’t need to worry about laces coming undone. The padding and support around the heel is excellent too. I do wish the tongue was better integrated to the internal sock, however, as this would better protect against the ingress of grit and other trail debris.

There’s no rockplate in the mix here, the little rand doesn’t offer much in the way of protection against trail hazards, and the toecap is tiny, so the Ultra Glide 3 relies heavily on its monster midsole and giant stack depth to supply protection against sharp sticks and stones. I haven’t personally experienced any problems with this, but it’s worth noting if you habitually tackle more gnarly terrain or trails with lots of obstacles waiting to attack you.

The Ultra Glide 3s are not waterproof, and neither do they claim to be, but instead my sweaty feet have been enjoying the enormous degree of breathability offered by the mainly mesh upper. I found that these shoes also drain very well after you splash through water obstacles such as streams, but all that padding around the heel becomes sodden and heavy, and it takes ages to dry.

All things considered, though, the Salomon Ultra Glide 3 is a very well-designed, ridiculously comfortable and impressively versatile shoe, which serves regular trail runners extremely well and can cope with almost kind of terrain and distance.

• Get the most enjoyment from your adventures with the most comfortable trail running shoes
• Pair your shoes with the best trail running socks, shorts and tops

Also consider