On  Cloudultra Trail-Running Shoes - Men's

I got these for trail running and backpacking. They've been amazing, I feel stable on all sorts of terrain. I'm not an ultrarunner, I usually run 5 trail miles at a time or backpack 10-15 miles in a day. I just hit 450 miles on my first pair and even though I know I need to replace them soon, I honestly can't tell the difference from when I first got them. Tread wear has been minimal. My only difficulty has been when backpacking, I don't seem to be able to lace them tight enough to avoid my foot slipping forward enough to jam my toes on descent. I have a pair of CloudVentures too and those have become my preferred backpacking shoe.

So impressed with these shoes! I ran 46 miles over two days in the Grand Canyon in them on rocky trails. They have a firm feel and are very responsive but still provide plenty of cushioning that my feet felt great and the rocks never bothered me.

Excellent shoe. I had the Cloudventure a few years ago and didn’t like it at all. It was well made, but poorly designed—stiff, uncomfortable, and hurt my knees. I was skeptical purchasing the Cloudultra, but have found them to be an excellent shoe. Good performance on the dry, rocky desert trails I run on. Very comfortable and just the right amount of cushioning. I wouldn’t say they’re soft at all. The shoe quality is excellent and have ran several hundred miles on them and they’re holding up well. Would like to see a slightly more aggressive tread. One thing I really like is how breathable they are. I run in hot temps and my feet don’t get hot.

I am a big fan of On running shoes and my other models have been great, but like another review my shoes also suffered from a torn eyelet the very first time I went for a run. I cannot believe that this particular design made it through testing! Very disappointed in this particular shoe.

These shoes have out before I was even able to test them. When tying the laces for my first run, one of the eyelets just ripped out. While this may be an isolated case, the design is poor. The bottom eyelets are only glued and not stitched. It’s not a question of if but rather when these give out. Super bummed because the shoes feel amazing and look good too.

These shoes do not fit like the common models of On road running shoes, such as the Cloudflow. The Cloudultra have a substantial arch support that is very uncomfortable for those of us with flatter feet. The shoes are too narrow overall. They also have an upturned toe that I found uncomfortable. I returned these and am currently using a pair of On Cloudflyers, not currently sold by REI. Also, I do not recommend the Cloudventures either, because they have all the same problems as the Cloudultras. On's trail running shoes are in no way comparable to their road running shoes. I would recommend Altra trail running shoes over these.

Took this to Yellowstone and Teton in October. Did about 25 miles of hikes in everything from dry dusty/rocky/gravely to wet muddy/snowy/icy trails. Fantastic grip in the drier conditions. It can handle a little mud, but looses grip really fast the deeper the mud gets. Mudguards are sufficiently high. Incredibly breathable. The elastic band to tuck your laces in is just brilliant. Sock-like fit is the perfect amount of tight and I had no issue of my feet sliding around. Firm sole yet comfortable. Running on them is a pleasure. I use the lace flip thingy the opposite way. I like my toebox extra narrow so I tie my laces as tight as I can and flip the tool for some extra tightness. Only gripe is that on the very first day, I stepped on something that punctured a hole in the foam bottom. It protected my foot well. I never felt it (which is amazing becuase something sharp must have caused the damage). But still bummed that the foam is so delicate for a shoe made for trail running.

I wanted to like these expensive trail runners because I used my refund to make them a reasonable price, but no luck. They look great and I think they would be protective enough for my extremely rugged trails, but they just didn’t fit my extremely low-volume middle width feet. I added a second insole (Superfeet RunMax) to take some of the extra room, but then my toes were pushed up into the stiff fabric on top of the toes. They also have a tall collar, but I think my ankles would have adjusted to them quickly, but who knows as I never even ran in them. I was really looking forward to muddying these beauties up, back to my trusty Brooks Cascadia…

This is a great shoe for long distances on moderate terrain. Cushioning looks like it would be marshmallow soft but it's firm enough to provide a responsive ride while taking the shock out of rocks, roots, and hard packed gravel. The upper is soft, breathable, and very accommodating. I have a wide foot and at first glance these appeared to be very narrow but the upper stretches out perfectly to provide a secure fit with ample room. They used their own rubber compound for the outsole and in my experience so far the grip is pretty bad. The shoe slips easily on roots and rocks. Anything wet makes the lack of traction even worse. The lug pattern is not aggressive at all so it doesn't really "bite" into hard packed dirt or rocks covered in moss or lichen. Tackling technical trails in these was pretty treacherous, I'd stick to moderate trails, dirt roads, or even pavement. In summary, these are a great shoe for long distances on non-technical trails. I've had them out for several long runs of 11-15 miles and they've been comfortable and show minimal wear.

This shoe has a lot more structure than my original experience with On (Cloudflow Road Runner) shoes--and for me, that's a great thing. The structure holds up well after a number of long runs. Quite a bit of cushioning in this shoe, more than I am used to, but I liked it. The Cloudultra has a little plastic piece on the laces toward the toe-box. It's marketed as a way to make the toe box a bit wider as your foot expands during a long run. Seemed like an interesting concept, but I found that I never really stopped mid-run to make an adjustment... Maybe it works well for some folks--I did not use it. Finally, I loved the style and look when unboxing. My high-schooler son was impressed and called them "drippy," which I guess is good. On the other hand, my spouse noted that the large white angled heel against the black shoe body made it look like I wearing women's platform shoes from a distance. This was not something that bothered me (I'm much more interested in functionality), but thought it was kinda funny. Overall, a solid performer that I would recommend.