Multi-purpose shoes
Product 2019
Woman, Man
To test the ON shoes, you have to be in a particular state of mind: to be ready to accept different sensations, to run with a product that is different from the norm. First we had oversized shoes on the market. We remember how the specialized press criticized these products with little curiosity and understanding, and sometimes with marked rejection. The same scenario appeared with the advent of minimalism: it took Christopher MacDougall’s bestseller, Born To Run, to convey the idea that the running shoe was not necessarily there as a cushion and an arch support and how marketing has been for decades.
Today, the market is more open to innovations, disruptive or not, and to new brands. The Swiss brand ON is in this category, intelligent outsiders who write their own story. In triathlon and road running, we see the beautiful ON logo more and more often. They just need to be more apparent in trail running, a market that has many very active brands. The Cloudventure is out there trying to defend the brand’s name on the trails. We were able to test them extensively during the winter and spring.
Straight away we noticed the quality of the manufacturing and assembly. All the materials are perfectly adjusted to a tenth of a millimeter, nothing exceeds and collages go unnoticed. We particularly liked the feeling of detail, the beautiful lines and the sublime finish. In short, these are a very beautiful object that we had trouble being rough with, and trailing through the mud. Also the ON Cloudventure fits perfectly into an urban environment too, they have eye catching style and design.
It does seem heavy when you pick it up, 310g, size 43 (beware these shoes sizes small). The weight is distributed in a nonlinear way: it is more pronounced in the heel and under the metatarsals. You don’t notice it when running.
When you get to know ON Cloudventure, you become curious to discover its unusual sole that forges its DNA. True to the brand, the Cloudventure is equipped with hollow rubber elements. Their mission is to provide cushioning and recovery. When running, especially on easy trails, the cushioning is quite hard, if you run forefoot there isn’t much filtration. The heel filtration is better but it is very far from certain shoes with more significant cushioning. To be honest, we expected softer cushioning. Basically the cushioning is present when you need it, for example in a descent on sharp stones, but in most cases, you have a shoe that has direct contact with the ground.
With its 6mm drop, the ON Cloudventure is average height for this type of product. Even if sometimes you may have the impression of being higher up.
The Cloudventure ON provide very original sensations because, or thanks to, its sole that has a central rib. This deep Y-groove plays on the torsional stiffness. There are three zones under the metatarsals. On each side of the foot, especially traversing a slope, the sole laterally adapts, it is amplified by the crampons’ flexibility. Do note, small stones can get stuck in the ends of the Y branches. So, the sole gives better proprioception with its lateral movement while keeping a rather rigid zone in its center for the direct transmission of the supports.
When you discover the ON Cloudventure you can be taken aback by the front of the sole with its very high traction power, as though it bites the ground to move forward. This grip is much less convincing slope traversing, where the shoe has less lateral support. This is a paradox since the Cloudventure behaves well climbing (powerful grip) and in the descent: great shock absorption, except traversing wet flattened grassy slopes, wet slabs, muddy slopes, make them lose points.
The sole that has perforated spaces that can fill up with mud, sometimes pebbles, snow, etc.
Your heel is well held and overall comfort is very good, very soft materials, the inner lining over the toes is really nice: we loved it. You could almost wear these shoes barefoot (DNA brand is very present in triathlon).
Very easy to put on, and the instep is well-designed, the laces don’t leave any pressure points and is well spread thanks to the high range tongue, very protective.
It’s ventilated on the front of the foot. The ultra-thin flat lacing is only 2mm wide. Despite its reduced diameter, there are no pressure points (thank you technical tongue). Even if it doesn’t slide at the front of the foot, adjustment is easy and fast. It you only have to do a simple knot and it remains tight. We adored the front asymmetrical lace oriented towards the big toe. Ditto for the lace loops: simply superb. Congratulations for the last grommet that takes the logo ON.
The stone guard is superbly integrated into the rest of the shoe. Bi-density, it is very effective. You don’t feel it around the toes. The toe box is quite narrow, it is necessary to have this specificity in mind when you buy: wide feet will need another model.
Congratulations on the small details: the little Swiss flag followed by Swiss Engineering (on the right shoe), the little ON logos arranged soberly and judiciously. There is no doubt, the lines and aesthetics of these shoes are superb.
The ON Cloudventure is an original trail shoe that displays superb aesthetics as well as a top-quality manufacturing. They are disruptive in their sensations due to the sole that has nothing to do with the usual market standards. We would have liked a lighter weight to be totally convinced. A product that is worth checking out.
6 mm 
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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