I tore the top of the Strike LS because I was wearing a pair of socks that were a little thicker than normal and I was having trouble putting them on. My toes were inside and in trying to get the rest of my foot in there, I pushed too hard while holding the sprayed membrane. The part he was holding broke. It was the fourth time I wore them. Oops.
It’s generally not a good sign if a product breaks after four uses, especially when that product costs more than $330. (That’s about $82 per run.) But I should note that even after that, I ran CloudBoom Strikes for about two months and put over 100 miles on the clock. With all that time and use, that small tear is basically the same size. The bioplastic maintains its shape and has not broken down further or affected the fit when I run in them. A tear is not ideal and perhaps something larger could have caused real problems, but in my experience the On material holds up. It just means that I felt the need to be much more careful when putting them on than I would with normal shoes.
Without a doubt, companies have been pushing this slip-on shoe thing. For example, the $350 Nike lace-up shoes Adapt BB could be controlled by an application that has since been closed. The question, really, is whether the extra 15 seconds saved each day by not tying your laces is worth the extra cost and careful attention.
Only elite athletes
The CloudBoom Strike LS are very, very good shoes. They are brilliant, comfortable and also technical wonders, and all that visionary scientific effort is laudable. (Go watch that video again. It’s fantastic!) It’s also worth highlighting its potential environmental impact. You can probably find more environmentally friendly running shoes, such as those made from algae, but On’s additive process for building these shoes has the potential to be much more efficient than standard shoe manufacturing: there’s no fabric scraps to throw away.
Photography: Boone Ashworth
Running in CloudBoom Strikes is great. They are lighter than any shoe I have worn before. even many barefoot shoesand they feel so soft that I can almost fool myself into thinking I’m bouncing around in my moon boots. But do you know what else makes me feel this way? Other On shoes, and ones that cost much less money. If you’re not an elite marathoner for whom every gram counts, you’ll get the same smoothness with On’s cloud monster, which, at $180, are almost half the price of sprayed-Ons. As an added bonus, you don’t have to treat them like delicate biscuits when you put them on for a run.
But wow, if you’re not worried about the cost, you’ll enjoy these lightweight shoes of the future. They are the lightest shoes you will find with the amount of cushioning they offer. Once you’ve put them on, you’ll find it hard to want to take them off.