Immediately comfortable out of the box, the new Cloudventure Waterproof has an impressive way of delivering a fit that works for a variety of foot shapes. I have narrow, low volume feet and often struggle to find a precise fit yet the Cloudventure works as well for me as it seems to do for fellow runners who are wider of foot.
Weighing in at 275g in a UK 5, the new 6mm drop Cloudventure WP is light yet sturdy, a shoe designed for every day off road adventures that's built to last the pace. In a world of super expensive feathery footwear that has a habit of breaking down after just a few months, the new Cloudventure WP offers a refreshing alternative - a high-end premium running shoe engineered to endure.
In terms of on trail feel, the primary focus of the new Cloudventure is to deliver maximum enjoyment and performance on the descent where the majority of races are won and lost. The new Missiongrip outsole features a new high grade sticky EVA rubber compound and reshaped angular 'clouds' that combine to improve both traction and cushioning on fast downhill sections.
It all adds up to a grippy underfoot ride that impressed in all but the most sketchy of terrain - ie descending the lethal polished slippery rock on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh on a very wet autumnal morning when only gecko like suction cups would have ensured we stayed upright!
On that day however the waterproof properties of the Cloudventure WP really came into play. With rain teeming down and long wet grass fully in play, we feared the adventure would result in damp tootsies but all was well, toasty and dry in our foot world thanks to the completely waterproof upper.
The flip side of waterproof shoes is of course their potential to deliver on the breathability front and whilst we certainly didn't have sweaty feet, we suspect the Cloudventure Waterproof could feel a bit warm if you're travelling long distances in an Alpine heatwave.
Whilst almost everyone agrees that On Running shoes look cool as all hell, the elephant in the room has always been the propensity for stones to get stuck in between the 'clouds' in off-road terrain. The powers that be at On HQ believe the new Cloudventure sole with it's A-channel pattern will go a long way to solving this frustrating issue, claiming that the new shoe picked up ten times less stones in testing than previous editions.
We've put in around 200km on these shoes in the Alps and the Highlands of Scotland in a variety of terrain including low level urban trails, slippery muddy singletrack, deep heather, and shin deep snow and have only picked up one stone to date - definitely a result.
