Swiss running brand On has taken another confident step off-road with the release of a new shoe engineered for elite runners it says "pushes the boundaries of trail running."
The On Cloudultra Pro is the first release from the Zurich-based brand's latest Ultra collection, and if you can't tell by the name, it's built for runners who want to go the distance.
According to On, the Cloudultra Pro is intended to optimize your performance in ultra distance races, with "enhanced running economy, energy return and overall comfort," the latter of which the brand is well known for. Let's break that down, shall we?
What's the story with the On Cloudultra Pro?
Following on from the On Running Cloudultra road to trail shoes, the Pro adds the brand's latest and most successful tech in a much lighter package – the Pro weighs just 275g per shoe, which is nearly half the weight of the Cloudultras.
For comfort and energy return, the shoe is equipped with a dual-layer Helion HF hyper foam midsole. This is the first time we've seen this foam in an On trail shoe, but they used it in the Cloudboom Strike, a prototype of which was on the feet of 2024 Boston marathon winner Hellen Obiri, so it's no surprise that they think they're on to a winner.
Standing tall at 39mm under the heel, there's no question it's intended to rival shoes like the Salomon S/Lab Ultra Glide and Hoka Mafate X, but the rocker sole is more subdued than what we're used to seeing from On, and you're looking at the same modest 6mm drop as other Cloudultra models.
For energy return over the miles, On has sandwiched its "Speedboard" plate between the layers of foam. This isn't carbon – and according to a recent Salomon analysis of carbon plates in trail shoes, that may not be a bad thing – but it's the same idea and according to On it "converts the kinetic energy of each landing into a powerful take-off," essentially letting you go faster without increasing effort.
Obviously when you're on the trails and going over long distance, it can be the terrain itself that slows you down rather than your fitness, so for the outsole, On has applied its new Missiongrip outsole, which it says was selected from a design process that started with over 200 initial options that were narrowed down to a few for "rigorous" field testing.
The lugs aren't deep enough to write home about at just 3.5mm, but On says the testing process helped engineers "determine the optimal lug shape, orientation and density." This sounds similar to the approach Hoka has taken with the Mafate X and in our field tests, the right lug shape and orientation seems to be able to make up for depth even on technical trails.
The On Cloudultra Pro is available now for $260 / £250 from On in both men's and women's sizing. It precedes the On Cloudultra 3 which shares many of the same traits but is intended for all-levels of runner and is out July 3.
