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S-Lab Ultra Performance Review

The S-Lab Ultra, as the name suggests, is a pair of long-distance running shoes, and again, Francois D ‘Haene is involved in the design , development and testing of the new shoes after designing the s-Lab Sense Ultra. Then what surprises will it bring us this time? Let’s have a check.

In the UTMB race in 2017, Francois D ‘Haene wore the shoes in the first half of  the match and finally won the first prize with an all-time record. And since he is very good at long-distance running, he won the MIUT and UTMB, taking the UTWT championship with 2000 points. Since then, his race shoes have been customized by Salomon. Besides, his running style is similar to that of most ordinary runners; hence, it is acknowledged that this running shoe is more suitable for most runners than other technical shoes of the S-Lab series.

The S-Lab Ultra is officially positioned as a comfortable shock-absorbing long-distance running shoe. And here are details about the shoes. It weighs 300g which is not so light, but not so heavy, neither. To ensure a comfortable wearing experience, the cushioning has been injected with some excellent technology. The fore part of the cushion is a foam intercalated technology called Energysave to ensure a lasting cushioning effect while the full-foot Energycell+ ensures smooth movement. But the shoe endears itself to me in that it fits my feet nicely and wraps excellently well. And the SkinGuard can protect my ankle as well as offer stability. Above all, because of its nature as a pair of running shoes, it must be capable of dealing with all kinds of roads. And I should say that it did satisfy me in this respect. Just take a look at the outsole and you’ll find out that it is the pattern of the sole that helps greatly.

Here are the four editions of S-Lab shoes. They are S-Lab Ultra、S-Lab Sense Ultra、S-Lab Wings 8、 S-Lab Wings from left to right.

As a fan of long-distance running, I have tried many running shoes before and it is not until recent years that I decided to pick the S – Lab series. And finally my choice turned out to be quite right. I have participated in several races in recent years and the S – Lab shoes have accompanied me along the way and helped me finish the races smoothly. On top of that, I can see great upgrade in every edition of S-Lab products, which is rather surprising.

The breathable mesh cloth on the vamp adopts the Sensifit technology as well. With sufficient wrapping and larger TPU and the new Side Wing designed to enhance the vamp support, the shoe’s performance has been greatly improved. But there is one problem: I am a wide footer, so I feel a bit shackled underfoot. With respect to this point,maybe I still need some time to get used to it.

It is worth mentioning that the material of the top line has been upgraded to a softer artificial suede, which makes it more comfortable to wear and reduces the friction of the heel during long races.

So as to get a comprehensive knowledge of the shoe, I did a lot of test running. On rugged roads, the shoe was flexible enough for me and provided me with sufficient cushioning and feedback. The sturdy TPU covering toe and upper provided protection while the midsole TPU offered shock relief and made me change directions smoothly. I have also tried to exercise outdoors on a drizzly day and the truth was it still gripped nicely, which did surprise me.

Overall:

In short, this S-Lab Ultra is a nice running shoe. On the strength of my experiences, it is cost-effective and deserves your trying.

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A-FlashFoam 2.0 Performance Review

In 2017, Anta released its own A-Flashfoam midsole material, which was then applied in several of its running shoes. Among them, two  pair of running shoes debuted in the 2017 Kunming and Chongqing Marathon respectively, which were immediately sold out.

So since I am crazy about this kind of sport, I am also full of expectations for A-Flashfoam. Therefore, let’s get acquainted with today’s protagonist — A-Flashfoam 2.0.

Leaving the shoe’s performance aside, its appearance alone is appealing enough for me. The colorway I pick up here is the “midnight blue” which looks more “mature” and “calmer”. There are also other colorways available which are black, cold grey, ivory white and fluorescent dark red.

The vamp is made of ultra-light and elastic fabric. And it is made of double-layer fabric though, there is a large number of air holes designed on it, which makes it more than suitable for running in summer days. In terms of the toe, the popular anti-collision design is adopted there.

You can see from the image that the shoe tongue and the shoe collar is an integral whole. The material used is elastic as well as  extensile so as to increase the wrapping.

The midsole is the a-Flashfoam, the core cushion technology of this brand, which is a mixed material of EVA and TPU. There are also altogether seven gradually enlarged oval hollow designs adopted from the toe to the heel, which reduces the weight of the shoe.

The outsole material used is the lightweight and wear-resisting rubber which the same as that of the first edition. The oval hollow design and scale texture in the outsole can improve the grip of the shoe in the process of running and more importantly, reduce energy loss.

The insole is the 5mm soft EVA with an arch design which can fit runners’ feet nicely.

The initial feeling it gave me was that the shoe is very light. The data given by officials indicates a single shoe weighs only 240 grams while my ultra boost is 285 grams.

Since this is a shoe designed for long distance running,  it is especially important that the shoe has nice cushioning performance. So first of all, I simply tested the performance of a-flashfoam midsole performance by squeezing it with my hand. When I pressed the shoe with moderate strength, it turned out that there was an obvious compression and then immediate feedback. And in order to further confirm that, I carried out a 10 km run. During the whole  process, the midsole was continuously giving me sufficient feedback that I did not feel fatigued after the running. That is to say the shoe is rather reliable in this respect.

The size of the shoe is quite right. With a pair of socks  of moderate thickness, the feet will be firmly locked inside the shoes. So the wrapping is also very nice.

I am used to running at around 7 pm when there are gentle breeds.  And every time I finished running, my feet were still quite dry and I felt rather comfortable, which should be credited to the dense air holes on the vamp.

To be honest, I had thought the outsole would be a fatal drawback of the shoe since it was very thin. But it turned out that I was incredibly wrong. After this period of testing, running over 50 km and daily  wearing, I found, in fact, that the outsole is quite wearable and a short period of intensity training will  do little damage to the sole.

Overall:

In short, the shoe is cost-effective. And since the summer days are here with us, are you in want of such a pair of excellent shoes? If so, you might as well have a try.

 

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Close look and opening: LeBron 7

The newest edition of the LeBron, LBJ 17 is now available and there are several colorways available as well. So knowing that there must have been lots of people waiting for more details about this LeBron7, I bring this article to share with you and hope you can find something helpful.

The shoe box is the same as it was back then. But the ZOOM was changed to full-foot Max for the first time.

Many people will ask why the shoes are related with “red” in its name when there is no any “red” element in the shoes. In fact, it is because there is a pair of red laces given along with the shoes and this is also the colorway that James once wore.

The details of  this LeBron 7 and the first-year version are almost exactly the same. With the familiar as well as classic black and white and the lake green and red embellished, the shoe looks quite elegant.

Take a look at the detail of the swoosh on the side.

And then at the heel part is the classic King James logo.

The return of the Air Max in the LeBron 17 will be a homage to the LeBron 7 which is the first LeBron shoe to be installed with the Air Max.

Whether the shoe is worth trying? If you attach great importance to a shoe’s appearance, then this LeBron 7 is a nice choice and I think it looks especially nice with the red laces. But it is not that reliable on court. It wears a bit hard underfoot and even for relatively heavier players, the shoe is not springy enough. Besides, the wrapping is far from enough and its grip is just of moderate level. The cushion is good though, it is, as mentioned earlier, not soft and bouncy. As the first full-Max LeBron shoe, it is bestowed with more meaning instead of performance.

In 2009, when the Air Max LeBron 7 was released, it can apparently concluded from the name that the shoes’ cushion setup changed significantly: the Air Zoom cushion was abandoned in favor of the full-foot Air Max.

Though the Air Max is less flexible than the ZOOM cushion, the shoes are favored by many heavier players.

Overall

To sum up, this retro LeBron 7  would be more suitable for daily outing. But for actual combat, its performance is a bit below par. But anyway, as I mentioned earlier, if you are much more into its appearance, you might as well take a shot.