Like most runners I am always searching for a shoe that can give me “the edge”, so when I was given the chance to review the new Salomon S/LAB Spectur, I jumped at it.
Since I started ultra running in 2019, at the tender age of 50, I’ve run mainly 50 milers with a few 100 milers and Race Across Scotland (215 miles) to add to mix.
I do pretty much all of my training for races around my local area, which consists of mainly flat coastal path, with a few sections of trail and the occasional small hill to contend with, although I do have the hills of North Wales a relatively short drive away, which I have used in the past.
The S/LAB Spectur is the realisation of over two years of research and development by Salomon. They have spent that time looking at how beneficial the latest “super” shoes are for the average runner. What they found was that the benefits of the “super” shoe were only really felt by the top 4% of runners (sub-3-hour marathon). Salomon wanted to develop a shoe that would bring those benefits to the other 96%, (you and me), and thus the Spectur was born.
To be clear this is a race shoe and has not been designed for everyday training runs.
The Spectur weighs in at 235 grams and features a carbon footplate, dual foam cushioning and improved stability due to enhanced mid sole geometry.
On first trying the shoes on, my first thought was bouncy! The fit was incredibly good, something I personally have found can be a bit hit or miss with other Salomon shoes. The heel cup gripped firmly and although not wide, the toe box felt comfortable. When I walked around in them it felt like the shoes were trying to propel me forwards, which was a strange sensation initially but something I quickly got used to.
As I mentioned previously, the Spectur is designed as a race shoe. So other than a couple of short training runs, where I found the shoe to be really comfortable, and a club mile run, where I took 6 seconds of my time from the previous month (a very positive sign). I didn’t use the Spectur again until the Heaton Park Ultra Loops.
8 hours of 5km loops was an ideal test of the shoe. The loop consisted of roadways and paths around the park and a short trail section connecting two paths.
On the roads and paths the Spectur was brilliant, I felt like each time my foot fit the ground, the shoe was cushioning my heel and rolling my foot forward to push me off on the next step. The trail section, which was thankfully short, was where the Spectur showed its shortcomings, the lack of grip meant that I was slipping and sliding all over the place on this section, something that only got worse as this section got more churned up as the race progressed.
Thankfully, the off-road section was short, so it didn’t affect me to much and I quickly got back into the swing of things. After 60km and 12 laps I called it a day and was overall very impressed with the Spectur, the lack of off-road grip being my only gripe.
The next outing for the Spectur was GB Ultra’s Chester 100, given that the weather in the run up to the race wasn’t great I knew that there would be a lot of mud on the course so decided that I’d only use the Specturs for the final canal section and the lap of the running track to get to the finish.
Putting the Specturs on with only 5km to go felt like putting on pillows! Even if it was only psychological, I felt like the shoes gave me the boost I needed to get across the finish line, I even managed to put a sprint on and overtake another runner on the final lap.
Would I recommend the Salomon S/LAB Spectur?
If you want a shoe that can give you a boost for a road or track race at any distance, then absolutely yes, they are a fantastic shoe that I’m glad is in my quiver. If whoever, like me, you race off road too then the Pulsar (amongst others) is a good choice.
Review by Craig Jackson
Salomon
S/LAB Spectur
Available for sale on 15th May 2024
£210
