Salomon Aero Blaze 3 Review
By David Salas
Salomon Aero Blaze 3Price: $139.95 at Running Warehouse
Weight: 8.1 oz, 230g (men's size 9), 6.8 oz, 193g (women's size 8)
Stack Height: Not provided at this time
Drop: 8 mm
Shoe Purpose: Daily Training, Workouts, High Versatility
Pros: Lightweight and responsive, incredibly versatile
Cons: Narrow midfoot with softer foam may be unstable for some
RUNNING SHOE SUMMARY
The Salomon Aero Blaze 3 is a neutral training shoe that is meant to give you a large amount of versatility. The shoe comes in at a competitive weight for the category. It uses a hybrid PEBA/EVA midsole to give a lightweight and responsible ride that can go both slow and fast. The Aero Blaze 3 is intended to be able to hit both daily miles and workouts. At $140, it may tick a lot of boxes for many runners looking for a lighter, low stack option in a market with so many high stack picks.
SIMILAR SHOES: Skechers Razor 5, New Balance Rebel v5
PAST MODEL: Salomon Aero Blaze 2
FIT
(To learn how a shoe should fit, check out our full podcast on fit by Matt Klein.)
David: The Salomon Aero Blaze 3 fits true to size in my men's 9.5, though slightly short. The engineered mesh upper is on the simpler side, but is decently comfortable and airy without feeling insecure. The shoe does have a generally performance leaning fit to it. The volume is a little bit lower throughout, and the lockdown is good. The width in the heel and midfoot is slightly narrow, with a normal width forefoot. The tongue is not gusseted, but I did not have any issues with slippage. The tongue material feels like a more traditional mesh, but padded enough for the laces. There is a heel counter present, that has sufficient padding. I did not get any irritation. The platform width through the midfoot is on the narrow side, and the upper does seem to follow this. It does not feel undercut, but you definitely get a little hold on medial side of the foot when the shoe is locked down. For those that like that feeling, you'll get it here. Being priced at $140, I feel this upper is pretty good. I do think the fit could benefit from being a little longer though. If you are sensitive to length, I'd advise going a half size up. I did not get any irritation, but I could feel my toes brushing up on the front on occasion depending on the terrain or position of my foot.
David's Typical Size: Men's US Size 9.5
Shoes that have fit David well: Nike Vomero 17, Saucony Ride 16, Puma Velocity Nitro 3
Shoes that have fit snug: HOKA Arahi 7
Shoes that have fit large: Salomon Aero Glide
Doctors of Running Checklist
Is This a Good Shoe for Walking: No
Is This a Good Shoe for Standing: No
Is the Forefoot Flexible: Mild
How Flexible is the Shoe: Mild
Is This a Good Heel Bevel: Yes
Recommended for Haglunds: Yes
Is This Shoe Orthotic Friendly: No
Recommended for Sockless: No
Durability Expectation: Normal to Above Average
PERFORMANCE
David: The Salomon Aero Blaze 3 is a fun shoe. The first thing you notice is the light weight and bouncy foam. The Energy EVO FOAM is a blend of PEBA and EVA. This foam reminds me a little bit of PWRUN PB from Saucony, in that it feels like a beaded PEBA that still holds its structure pretty well. The feeling is not mushy soft, but there is certainly some compliancy to the foam. The shoe does use a rocker geometry. The rocker is most noticeable in the heel. There is a good amount of rounding through the heel, with a more gradually rockered forefoot. The forefoot has a little bit of flexibility, but I would definitely place in the mild to moderate realm. There is no plate in this shoe, but there is still a touch of rigidity from the foam and full-length outsole.
The outsole is not full coverage, but hugs the edges of the shoe from heel-to-toe. There is a midline groove in the exposed midsole portions, but I am not sure it does much here. The ride definitely likes to go a little bit quicker. The quick transition in the heel rolls you into a narrow midfoot that really just wants to get off the forefoot and bounce off. The shoe feels in the middle with stack heights (probably in the 35mm range +/-), but the compliancy of the foam feels like enough cushioning for just about anything that you would need. The midfoot on the platform is definitely narrow and can feel unstable at times. I can run easy in this shoe, but I will say it prefers slightly uptempo efforts. I think I would personally reach for the Aero Blaze 3 more for road workouts and long runs vs. daily running efforts. The ride is lighweight, fun, and bouncy though.
STABILITY
(Learn more about stability in our full guide)
David: The Salmon Aero Blaze 3 is not a very stable shoe. The lower feeling stack height and good upper lockdown help, but it is not enough to counteract the softer foam and narrow midfoot. It is narrow enough to push out those who do have some stability needs. This is about as neutral as training shoes come, but thankfully it is not overly unstable. It is just really noticeable through the midfoot. The heel and forefoot are pretty good.
Thoughts as a DPT: Midfoot Stability
By David Salas, PT, DPT, CSCS
When making a shoe there are so many considerations. The first thing to nail down is the goal of the shoe. In the case of the Aero Blaze 3, that was versatility. The shoe does a great job of executing this from a cushioning, weight, and responsiveness standpoint. The shoe however does not do a great job of providing midfoot stability. When we look at how our ankle and feet move during running, there are a few things to look at. The big ones are usually during the stance phases of gait. Most people are going to land through their heels, with much fewer landing through the midfoot and forefoot. In any of these cases though, you will see some shock absorption through the midfoot. Nearly everyone will land with a slight lateral bias, meaning you will first touch the ground with the outside of your foot. If you are a heel striker, that is the outer part of your heel, and if you are forefoot striker the outside of your forefoot. As you land, gravity pulls you down and inward.
You will begin a movement that is commonly known as pronation, as a form of shock absorption. Pronation is the combination of ankle dorsiflexion, calcaneal eversion, and a bit of movement through the midfoot through your navicular. As you move into this, your foot will have a brief moment of natural collapse, where the ligaments and bones are in a looser position for shock absorption. Following that, the muscles will re-tighten and pull the bridge of your foot (navicular) back up and create a rigid lever to push off of as you transition into your forefoot and great toe. There are many people that don't have great stability when it comes to absorbing the former. As you land, there is a great amount of force that is pulling you inward. It is up to you, your strength, and motor control to help control that force, so that you can move onto the following step. If you have uncontrolled pronation, that is where a lot of people run into problems. Narrow midfoots are not necessarily a bad thing, but it is this population that can be really sensitive to them. When making a shoe that is intended to go fast, most people leave the midfoot more on the narrow side, for both weight and faster transitions. In training shoes though, it can be a bit more tricky on how wide or narrow to go. In the case of the Salomon Aero Blaze 3, I think they did go a bit too far in the narrow direction, especially with the softer foam and training considerations of the shoe. This is a pretty simple correction in the future though.
RECOMMENDATIONS
David: I have two main recommendations for the Salomon Aero Blaze 3. The first would be to work on the upper length. I do feel like it fits just short enough to give sensitivity to some folks. It is about as short as you can be while still being true to size. The second would be to work on improving the midfoot stability. The really rounded heel transitions well, but the midfoot can be a place where you can really feel your foot collapse if you don't have great control through the stance phases.
WHO IS THIS SHOE FOR?
David: The Salmon Aero Blaze 3 is a lightweight training shoe for someone that is looking to have a lively ride that is very neutral. The shoe feels like it has moderate stack height, with a softer but still resilient foam. The midfoot is a bit unstable, but the ride is very fun at controlled uptempo efforts. This will be a highly versatile option on the market, and honestly not a bad option at $140.
GRADES
David
Fit: B (Pretty basic materials, but with good lockdown throughout. The shoe does fit a little short though.)
Performance: A- (This shoe is just shy of an A. The foam and weight are great. Rocker is really good for goal of the shoe. The midfoot makes this a bit unstable though and cleaning that up could make for a much nicer experience.)
Stability: C+ (Heel and forefoot not too bad, but midfoot very unstable. Coupled with the highly rockered heel and this could be a deal breaker for some. Very neutral shoe.)
Value: A (If it works for you this can easily be a shoe that can eat up miles and go fast for a good number of occasions.)
Personal: B (I can appreciate the shoe. In select situations I love it, but I don't love it enough to give it an A across a larger amount of situations.)
Overall Design: B
SHOP | SUPPORT DORSalomon Aero Blaze 3Price: $139.95 at Running Warehouse
Shop Men | Shop Women
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FURTHER READING
Nike's stability trainer.
Hoka's super shoe with some stable elements.
Find all Shoe Reviews at Doctors of Running here.
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