APRIL reviews: CTM ULTRA 2, Solarglide 5 and Ultra Glide

Craft CTM Ultra 2, Salomon Ultra Glide and Adidas Solarglide 5: solid daily trainers?

Summary

In our April reviews we have three shoes, with which I ran in March and April. No videos published for them yet. And I am not sure there will be one. Not because the shoes are bad, but simply because I do not think they require that full video format for their review. More data on the Craft CTM Ultra 2, Salomon Ultra Glide and Adidas Solarglide 5 in the Shoe Supertool – go check it out!

Craft CTM Ultra 2: too underrated

The Craft CTM Ultra 2 is everything the CTM Ultra already was but with tiny improvements. The main difference is the implementation of Craft’s Ud Foam (supercritical EVA ranking at 39.3/100 on the durometer scale going from 0 – super soft – to 100 – super hard). To be very honest the foam is not drastically different from the EVA vault foam seen on the first version. The PEBA insert (check the video where I cut the CTM Ultra v1 to find the secret foam) is still present. Along with the thick TPU insole it adds a lot of cushion and bounce to that midsole.

The ride is stable, very gentle on the calves and Achilles with that 10mm drop and will work for a large population of runners.

The upper is too baggy for my liking and I struggled to get a proper lockdown in the midfoot. Heel is surprisingly fine and as very pliable, it will serve will people with tendon insertion issues in the heel (for which a too hard heel counter is a no go). Fit: true to size BUT in US size (EU charts does not correspond to most brands).

The most outstanding part of this shoe is probably its outsole that will be very durable and can work on almost any terrain.

Overall a solid daily trainer and one that is underrated in my opinion. More people would benefit from a 10mm drop stable ride in their rotation and the CTM Ultra (1 or 2) would be a nice pick.

Get your pair on Running Warehouse or on Top4Running

Salomon Ultra Glide: the perfect door to trail companion?

I realize this is a summer 2021 shoe but better late than never. And unlike most shoes I’m testing, I saw other reviews for this one before. That being said I was happy to test it and understand why people rated it so high.

The Salomon Ultra Glide is a max cushion shoe from Salomon with a 32/26 stack (6mm drop). Fit is true to size and unlike some Salomon shoes, I did not get any pinky toe rubbing in this one. First impressions on foot are good but I’m struggling to use the lace “box”. This will be the case even after a few runs. Either the laces are nicely hidden but I get some discomfort at the top of my feet, or they’re not deep enough in that pocket and tend to get out after some time.

The ride is surprisingly different from Salomon standards. No it’s not a soft ride but it’s far from some very firm shoes I tried in the past. The midsole compound is a blend of EVA + OBC (Olefin Block Compound from Dow) like on the Salomon Pulsar. It ranks at 40 on the durometer scale (when the Pulsar’s midsole was ranking at 31.6/100 – 9 points softer is quite a lot). That difference in durometer between the two shoes mainly translates as “dense” in terms of subjective feeling. The Salomon Ultra Glide ride gives you the feeling of having a thicker and less compressible slab of foam under your feet. I am usually a fan of EVA+Olefin foams as they give me a nice dampening sensation but here it is not really the case. That being said the ride is fairly cushioned but that comes more from the higher stack than from the midsole compound itself.

Outsole is nothing spectacular and that is one of the points which will keep this shoe away from most technical terrains. However from people living in the city and going to the trails via some roads, the Ultra Glide will prove itself as one the best “door to trail” option out there.

Adidas Solarglide 5

Boost returns! Well not really as it never left. But I must admit it has been a while since my last shoe with a Boost midsole. The Solarglide 5 combines Boost (at 25.8 on the durometer scale) with a top layer of EVA foam (at 38.5/100) and a plastic plate with lateral and medial extensions for both stability and a bit of propulsion (as per Adidas).

Upper is made of 50% recycled materials and I’m sure that number could have been even higher if Adidas reduced the total amount of padding and material. Despite that plushness, the upper provides with a rather roomy fit both in the toebox and heel. Runners with wider feet could be interested by such a fit.

And while most of the time I’m trying to forget about weight as a decisive factor when picking a daily trainer, the 352g (12.4oz) of the Adidas Solarglide 5 are clearly a drawback when it comes to the ride and versatility. The Solarglide 5 has a stable ride but that would benefit from a bit of responsiveness. The foam combo here is more on the plush side of things and while very easy miles are not unpleasant, the shoe shows its limits very quickly when picking up the pace.

Who is it for? People looking for a 10mm easy day shoe in their rotation. Wide feet are welcome too. Mild pronators and heel strikers should be better off than the rest of us. Oh and people looking for a decent price tag on a durable no-brainer easy day shoe.

Get yours here on Running Warehouse or Top4running

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