Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 Review

The Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3. All pictures: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

The Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 ($200) has the few essential tweaks we would have liked with a view to lastly give this shoe the total reward that we couldn’t give its predecessors. The third iteration of this tremendous light-weight path racing shoe has a 6-millimeter drop, by means of reported 24- and 18-millimeter heel and toe stack heights, and an precise weight of seven.1 ounces (202 grams) in a U.S. males’s 9. The shoe is unisex.

These days, the path racing shoe panorama has modified. Some manufacturers’ path tremendous sneakers have come to market as principally a lugged outsole on a rocket-fueled highway midsole. Outcomes are blended. In a straight line, sneakers like the brand new adidas Terrex Agravic Pace Extremely and The North Face Vectiv Professional 2 are extremely quick and really enjoyable. The rockered form and carbon fiber plates switch vitality like no path sneakers earlier than them, however these sneakers are caveated by their downhill efficiency. Very clean trails and fireplace roads are fantastic, however add rock options or camber, they usually turn out to be a skittery journey.

A couple of manufacturers are racing into this territory, innovating on the fly, and seemingly hoping to discover a match for some runners or be the primary to market. The innovation is, by and enormous, coming from shoe manufacturers which have spectacular highway applied sciences, not ones that come from a strictly path or mountain-oriented background, with The North Face being an exception.

And, though Salomon will not be shy about its highway intentions with absolutely carbon-plated sneakers just like the Salomon S/Lab Illusion 2 and lots of extra choices for each day coaching or stability, they’ve left the S/Lab Pulsar 3 largely alone from an excellent shoe standpoint. It has no carbon plates or nitrogen-injected super-foam, and, in my view, that’s an excellent factor.

The place these aforementioned sneakers fall down with their stability, weight, and outsole dynamics, the S/Lab Pulsar 3 doesn’t. It’s a simple, tremendous light-weight shoe that’s nearly as good for going up as it’s down.

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Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 Higher

A lateral view of the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3.

Due to its built-for-speed qualities, the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 will not be a mountain operating shoe within the custom of La Sportiva or Dynafit, however the higher is likely to be extra sturdy than choices from these manufacturers, whose intention is to be burly and match for the alpine. Whereas these sneakers stand as much as powerful path circumstances, they’re extraordinarily un-fun to make use of, buying and selling bouncy midsoles for precision and floor really feel.

Taking a racing shoe off-trail usually means a dying sentence for the uppers, however talus operating within the mountains has not broken the S/Lab Pulsar 3’s higher. This impenetrable materials is made from Matryx mesh, the tremendous textile that’s turning into de rigueur in any high-performance (and high-priced) path shoe designed to final.

Salomon has used Matryx uppers in all three editions of the S/Lab Pulsar, and never one from the road has suffered harm. The truth is, all three variations stay in my rotation to at the present time. The integrity of this abrasion-resistant materials makes it an eco-friendly choice. Now, with a a lot beefier outsole, this shoe will final a whole lot of miles, with put on taking place at a extra equitable fee between the higher and outsole.

As I remarked in earlier opinions on this line, the SensiFIT lace system is nearly redundant. The higher stays as comfortable as ever. For my broad toes, there’s nearly no use for the laces.

Time and miles have battered my toes to the purpose the place I don’t discover extra discomfort from this slender shoe (possibly I’m overdue for a podiatry appointment), but when your tolerance for precise-fitting sneakers is low, you may need issues with the S/Lab Pulsar 3. That stated, there’s a tiny bit of additional room available by operating sockless, and to credit score the Matryx materials once more, whereas being extraordinarily powerful, it’s truly extra pliable than you’d anticipate. My toes, spilling over the perimeters, truly discover sufficient give to sit down comfortably.

It is a one-piece higher, which means that there isn’t a gusset, and the tongue is tack-stitched to the remainder of the shoe. One massive part of TPU overlays line the entrance of the shoe close to the toe and alongside the lace eyelets.

The S/Lab Pulsar 3 has essentially the most profitable match profile of all three editions. The primary one was comically comfortable, requiring many minutes to get your foot inside. The second was a lot improved as a result of the higher merely had extra give. The S/Lab Pulsar 3 slides on in seconds, such as you’d anticipate from some other shoe, even with out a still-lacking heel pull-tab. I’m unsure if Matryx has been reconfigured over time or if the entire package deal now simply has somewhat extra give. Sock-like is an overused descriptor, however this shoe really is.

For the report, all three editions of the S/Lab Pulsar I’ve examined have been the identical dimension, a unisex 12.5.

Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 Midsole

A medial view of the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3.

Power Foam is Salomon’s long-used midsole tech. Within the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3, it supplies fast response and gentle bounce, a sensation lacking within the aforementioned mountain operating manufacturers’ midsoles, even in new fashions just like the La Sportiva Prodigio (overview), which for me, nonetheless miss the mark.

Of all three editions of the Pulsar, this model of Power Foam, mixed with the 6-millimeter drop, provides a pleasant quantity of roll by your stride.

That is the extra rockered form of any earlier Pulsar — and people have been additionally fairly rockered — and makes the shoe adaptable to the highway while you’re not hammering on trails.

Regardless of the shoe’s intention for velocity, the midsole is solely not as agency as you’d anticipate. Salomon struck a really inviting steadiness between vitality switch and that “wish to run in” really feel we search for, particularly when your entry to costly sneakers is proscribed and also you want your one or two fashions to do extra than simply be reserved for racing.

Underfoot safety is ample, in all probability principally as a result of outsole, though the S/Lab Pulsar 3 makes use of Salomon’s ProFeel movie, a really skinny plate within the forefoot.

Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 Outsole

The outsole of the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3.

Of all of the updates to the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3, it’s the outsole that’s uniquely redesigned. The Contagrip materials is identical, however the lug depth expands to a whopping 4.3 millimeters, in comparison with the S/Lab Pulsar and S/Lab Pulsar 2’s 2.5 millimeters.

With hindsight, Salomon’s flaw in under-equipping the unique variations’ outsoles made it a much less apparent choice for a lot of path conditions. The two.5-millimeter variations merely underperformed in a wide range of circumstances — from free, dry path to technical rock to moist and muddy path. Sliding and treading calmly was an indicator of these sneakers and one thing that saved them from being really all-around racing weapons.

After I first acquired into path operating round 2006, the Salomon Speedcross was a flashy choice. I can nonetheless recall the aggressive and tremendous luggy outsole of that shoe from that period. Whereas the S/Lab Pulsar 3 will not be that excessive, it’s reminiscent and a daring replace for this specific line. Now you’ll be able to principally throw any path situation, dry or moist, on the S/Lab Pulsar 3 and be assured together with your selection.

Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3 Total Impressions

A prime view of the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3.

The place the unique S/Lab Pulsar was in pretty uncommon air, this 12 months, a string of comparable sneakers have come out that give stiff competitors to a shoe just like the Salomon S/Lab Pulsar 3. Specifically, these embrace the Merrell MTL Skyfire 2 (overview) and Brooks Catamount Agil. These sneakers additionally are available in a featherlight package deal whereas offering barely totally different dynamics in midsole trip with supplies like Pebax and carbon fiber. Each have an equally adept outsole to match the S/Lab Pulsar 3’s new design, and the Merrell additionally gives a Matryx higher.

Nonetheless, Salomon has risen to a brand new stage with the S/Lab Pulsar 3, and it ought to stay atop the pile, or at worst, simply alongside comparable sneakers on this class.

Light-weight racing sneakers have been a considerably abandoned class in path operating for some time due to the emphasis on sneakers for ultramarathons, however now, as customers are discovering extra curiosity in shorter-distance operating and racing, we’re benefiting from the depth of choices and competitors.

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