Salomon Aero Glide 4 Review: A Lightweight Max Cushion Daily Trainer

Introduction

The Salomon Aero Glide 4 replaces the Aero Glide 3 in Salomon’s road running range, sitting alongside the gravel version of the shoe. It is a max cushioned daily trainer with a road-focused design, priced at £145 in the UK and $160 in the US. At 256g (9 oz), it is genuinely light for the amount of foam underfoot, and that combination of cushioning and low weight defines most of what is good about it.

Who the Salomon Aero Glide 4 Is For

This is a shoe built for easy and steady daily training. If you want a comfortable, protective daily trainer to rack up miles in, a cushioned shoe to do all your running in, or you are a newer runner looking for one comfortable shoe that handles everything, it ticks those boxes well, and at a reasonable price given how expensive max cushioned shoes have become.

It also suits runners who find traditional big cushioned shoes too heavy or tank-like. The Aero Glide 4 has a nimble, small feel on the foot that some rivals cannot match.

Main Strengths

The midsole uses Salomon’s Opti-Vibe material, a supercritical TPU foam, with a large wedge of it and foam sidewalls your foot sits in for extra stability at the heel. Salomon calls the geometry a reverse camber rocker, a mild rocker that gently rolls you through your foot strike. The stack height is 41mm at the heel and 33mm at the forefoot for an 8mm drop.

The ride is soft and protective without being squishy. It sits at the lower end of max cushioned shoes, so it does not hit 45mm at the heel, but there is still plenty of foam and it felt nicely protective throughout testing, including a 15-mile long run. The foam is not something you sink into and wade through; it is reasonably responsive with a bit of bounce off the front, just not aggressively snappy. That balance makes it an enjoyable shoe for ticking over at daily training paces.

Comfort held up across around 50km of testing, including general easy runs, a 15-mile long run, and 5 miles at steady pace on tired legs as the second run of a double workout day. The heel collar is well padded and holds nicely, lockdown in the midfoot is good, and the Contagrip rubber outsole offers generous coverage and solid grip. A cutout in the midsole helps keep weight down.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The fit is the main caveat. The shoe runs narrow through the midfoot and toe box, with a snug, slipper-like feel. One tester with wider feet found the little toe squished and the toes cramming together towards the end of long runs, though another tester who tapered more sharply only at the forefoot had no real problems and recommends sticking to your normal running shoe size.

The padded tongue is high-rising and a little fiddly to position, and the shoe is slightly more noticeable on the foot than some daily trainers that simply disappear. The ride is also a touch soft on slower miles, with a flexible midsole that makes transitions feel slightly sluggish on faster efforts. At marathon pace it can do a job, but it is not a dedicated speed shoe, and runners who prefer firmer, more immediate feedback may prefer the gravel version of this shoe, which has a firmer, snappier ride plus better grip and durability.

Buying Advice

If you are a pure road runner who might touch light trails only very occasionally, the Aero Glide 4 is the better pick of the two versions. If you want more versatility, grip for harsh conditions, and a slightly firmer ride, the Aero Glide 4 gravel is worth serious consideration, and many runners may prefer it overall.

Among big cushioned alternatives, this sits alongside the Nike Zoom Fly Plus style cruisers and the Kinvara Max as a different style of max cushion shoe: lighter and more nimble, with slightly less bounce. It comes up just a notch below the most versatile rivals in its class, but as an excellent cushioned daily trainer it remains one of the best options available for easy miles and all-day comfort.

Conclusion

The Salomon Aero Glide 4 is a well-put-together max cushioned shoe that crams loads of plush cushioning into a relatively lightweight package without feeling bulky. It delivers smooth, protective comfort for easy and steady running, and a bit more versatility than your average cushioned shoe thanks to that low weight. The narrow fit and modest snap keep it from the very top of the class, but for comfortable daily training miles, it is a shoe well worth checking out.