Salomon XA PRO 3D V8 Men's Trail Running Shoes

Product Information

The Contragrip outsole inspires confidence on a variety of terrains. The lugs hit a perfect balance between flatness and aggression which makes the shoe wearable around town as well. According to the brand, the lugs on the XA Pro 3D V8 are 3.5 mm deep. With that said, the Salomon XA Pro 3D really stood out for a hybrid shoe. Light, agile, protective, and incredible traction allowed running and hiking with ease. There are so many amazing features to these shoes that, after trying them, you might be wondering what you’ve been putting your feet into all these years. The cushion on this shoe is just between medium and high, which means your feet won’t be too sore after long runs. This is one heavily padded tongue and we loved it for it! In the lab, we proved it - our caliper showed a remarkable 8.7 mm!

Salomon offers legal language for its warranty claims. After parsing through it, we found that it offers a two year limited warranty on shoes, which includes manufacture defects and workmanship issues. Customer service is solid though, so get in touch if there’s an issue. I tried this shoe on a brief test run, and I really enjoyed its soft feel and excellent forefoot flexibility—the shoe felt smooth and comfy on pavement and dirt. The generous toe box gave my toes plenty of wiggle room, and its wide footbed left me unconstricted at midfoot. The upper is another highlight: Soft padding around the ankle creates a comfy fit, but it’s stiff enough to provide some support. For runs that involve a mix of pavement and dirt, the Ultra Glide 2 is the model you want on your feet. Salomon shoes are renowned for their traction, which they achieve thanks to the company’s proprietary Contagrip rubber outsole. The grips come in five patterns with lugs–small cleat-like protrusions that extend downward from the outsole–that come in different shapes and sizes, many of which are made for specific running conditions. A heavy trail runner. It makes up for the weight in stability and durability, but you will feel these on your feet.

Jon Rosenberg

The Contagrip outsole shines on varied surfaces but does struggle a bit in really wet or muddy conditions. Its massive size says it all: the XA Pro 3D is a workhorse. It’s a beast of a shoe with a broad and stable platform. In fact, it’s one of the few trail running shoes with a support feature explicitly designed for overpronation. However, there’s a downside: at 340 g/12 oz for men and 300 g/10.6 oz for women, it’s closer to a hiking shoe than a trail running model. It’s one of the recurring points made by testers, with some of them even preferring the XA Pro 3D for walking. Besides its bulkiness, the platform is relatively rigid, according to the trailers who tested it. This type of configuration has the advantage of offering more stability but can considerably reduce comfort. The forefoot is 99.2 mm in its widest part based on our caliper's measurement. This is 1.1 mm wider than the average. Having measured the internal shoe length from heel to toe, we can confirm that this Salomon shoe runs true to size. We got 260.1 mm in a men's US 8 which corresponds to the US 8 size in the brand's official size chart (260 mm). Salomon is known for a very narrow fit, and that is true with the XA Pro 3D. However, they do offer a wide version for those who want to try to make it fit!

The XA Pro 3D combines the comfort and light weight of a running shoe with the support and protection of a hiker. We tested the non-waterproof XA Pro 3D, but the shoe also comes in a Gore-Tex version for both men and women (at a higher cost and slight weight penalty). While some will appreciate the added protection of the waterproof shoe, I don’t often find the tradeoffs in weight, cost, and—most importantly—breathability worth it. You always run the risk of water entering over the ankle of low-top shoe, and the waterproof version will take much longer to dry out than mesh when soaked through. It comes down to a matter of personal preference, but in this case, I was happy to have the faster drying time of the non-waterproof XA Pro 3D.Compared to more modern trail runners that cross over into the fast-and-light hiking world (like the Hoka One One Speedgoat and Altra Lone Peak), the XA Pro 3D feels fairly dated. In particular, I found the shoe to be rough and unpolished along the interior—akin to a running shoe I might have owned 10 years ago. Further, if you’re used to the integrated tongue that you get with some of Salomon’s other running models, including the Sense Ride 4, you might be disappointed with the XA Pro’s detached design, which adds bulk and makes the shoe less streamlined overall. And lastly, despite a reasonably light build, the XA Pro 3D feels notably stiff and cumbersome underfoot. For a sleeker, softer, and more modern design for hiking, we’d recommend a shoe like the aforementioned Lone Peak or Salomon’s own X Raise. In the forefoot, our caliper's measurement shows 20.4 mm. This leaves us with a whopping 14.6 mm drop! This indeed makes the shoe unsuitable for mid- and forefoot strikers and puts it more into the hiking footwear category where landing on the heel is natural. Due to this shoe’s popularity, Salomon has a lot of models that diverge from the main one. The one to look for is the XA Pro 3D GTX, which is the same shoe but with a Gore-Tex liner, to keep your feet dry, and it’s offered in men’s and women’s.

The only concern is the diagonal lace that goes across the toebox. It rested right over our big toes and put some pressure on that area. That tongue is a monster! Based on our measurements of the shoe's treads, they are actually a little shallower - at 2.9 mm. This is a little thinner than the average 3.4 mm for trail running shoes. With a listed weight of 1 pound 5.2 ounces per pair (1 lb. 6.6 oz. for a women’s 8.5 on our scale), the XA Pro 3D is lighter than most low-top hikers but heavier than its trail running competition. For comparison, Altra’s Lone Peak 6, which has similar crossover appeal, weighs just 1 pound 1.4 ounces, although you do give up a fair bit of protection with such a lightweight build. Other versatile designs including the La Sportiva Bushido II (1 lb. 1.6 oz.), Brooks Cascadia 16 (1 lb. 3 oz.), and Salomon X Raise (1 lb. 2.7 oz.) also undercut the XA Pro 3D. On the other hand, the Salomon is lighter than traditional hiking models including the more durable and protective Merrell Moab 2 Ventilator Low (1 lb. 12 oz.) and Keen Targhee Vent Low (1 lb. 8.7 oz.). And it’s worth noting for those that used the prior generation, Salomon did shave around 0.7 ounces per shoe with the v8. Despite being recently updated, the design feels dated: The interior is fairly rough and the cushioning isn’t bouncy and plush like many modern trail runners. The Pulsar Trail Pro 2 isn’t perfect. It’s not very supportive, and the fit at midfoot was a bit too narrow for my liking. Even with those caveats, it’s a very capable trail shoe, especially for runners who want an agile, speedy feel.I wish I had known about the Salomon XA Pro 3D sooner, though I guess if I had I wouldn’t be writing this review. I love just about every darned thing about these shoes. They inspire confidence on the trail and make my feet happy mile after mile after mile. I won’t hesitate to buy the same pair of shoe for years to come. Where to Buy Salomon XA Pro 3D

The Genesis shoes were perfect through the snow and through all the trail sections,” Dauwalter said in a Salomon press release after her record-breaking Western States race.This updated version of the iconic XA PRO 3D is lighter and softer while retaining all the essentials benefits of the original (stability, cushioning and grip). Featuring Contagrip premium wet compound and an improved 3D chassis, this shoe effortlessly accompanies you wherever the trail takes you. It features 2.9 mm lugs which really are just moderately aggressive compared to other Salomon trail shoes. This heel-toe drop is quite high for trail running shoes, but pretty standard for boots and hiking shoes. If you want a zero-drop experience, or close to it, this is not the shoe for you. My one major complaint about the lacing system on the XA Pro 3D is the placement of the lower eyelet near the top of the toe box. This creates a diagonal lace across the front of the shoe that I found rested right over my big toe and put a lot of pressure on that area. To make matters worse, the system makes it difficult to loosen the lace over the toe box while keeping things tight around the ankle. All in all, I wish the eyelets were laid out differently, but I know many hikers who have been unaffected by the layout—it all depends on the shape and position of your foot in the shoe. While we like the XA Pro 3D for fast-and-light missions and the occasional trail jog, we hesitate to recommend it as a dedicated trail runner. Compared to my go-to option, the Topo Athletic MTN Racer (15.4 oz. per pair), the Salomon feels clunky and slow, and the 11-millimeter drop (compared to the MTN Racer’s 5mm) isn’t as neutral as I prefer. If you’re in the market for a do-it-all shoe and aren’t trying to break any speed records, the XA Pro 3D is serviceable. But if you spend a good amount of time trail running, we’d recommend a lighter and sprightlier model. Even similar crossover options including the Brooks Cascadia 16 and Altra Lone Peak 6 perform better in this regard.