Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3 First Run Review: Salomon's Most Competitive Carbon Racer Yet

Introduction

Salomon has finally refreshed its top-flight carbon plate racing shoe. The S/Lab Phantasm 3 arrives a couple of years, maybe even three years, after the Phantasm 2, and it is a fairly significant update: an all-new upper, a noticeably lighter build and a spec sheet that looks far more competitive against the best super shoes on the market.

It is priced at £260 or $280, which is certainly expensive, though roughly in line with most carbon plate racing shoes, maybe slightly above average. After a hard first session in it, this reads like the most capable carbon plate shoe Salomon has produced so far.

Design, Weight and the New Aerodynamic Upper

The headline numbers are strong. In a UK 9, the Phantasm 3 weighs just 185 g or 6.5 oz, which is actually a little lighter than the listed weight. You very rarely see a shoe come in under the brand’s listed weight in a reviewer’s normal size, and given how much foam is underfoot, that is genuinely lightweight.

The stack sits at 39 mm at the heel and 33 mm at the forefoot for a 6 mm drop. The midsole uses Salomon’s Opti Foam Plus, a PEBA-based foam rather than a TPU, so you get a bouncy, responsive feel rather than a denser ride. A full-length carbon plate, Salomon’s energy blade, runs through the midsole, and it sits low and deeply scooped under the forefoot rather than floating higher in the foam as some shoes do.

Then there is the upper, which is the most eye-catching part of the update. A lightweight fabric runs up over the ankle like a small gaiter and folds over the laces. Once you tie them, you tuck the ends in, and the whole midfoot becomes a streamlined sheath. Salomon claims that at 20 km/h, roughly a 2:06 marathon pace, the aerodynamics are worth about 18 seconds. That is not a huge difference, and if you run slower than that, the benefit shrinks further. For everyday runners in a baggy vest, this is a detail you can largely ignore.

Fit is true to size for most runners outside the UK. A UK 9 converts to a US 9.5 with Salomon, which is the smaller of the two UK conversions some brands use. If you have been wearing Nike or Saucony, where a UK 9 maps to a US 10, bear that in mind. In practice, the US 9.5 delivered a good fit with comfortable room around the toes.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The gaiter-style upper does add a bit of fuss to getting the shoe on and off. You open the laces wide, get your foot in, pull the fabric up and fold everything under. It looks fiddly, but once running, it is not noticeable at all. On the run, the fit was comfortable and secure, with no friction points, even when the upper was soaked through in heavy rain.

Outsole coverage is fairly minimal on the forefoot and heel, but the material has been improved over the Phantasm 2, which felt slick in wet conditions. That improvement proved itself quickly, as the first test session took place in genuinely grim, flooded conditions with no grip concerns at all, even cornering at pace.

Ride Feel: Fast Turnover Over Flashy Bounce

On paper, you might expect a super-soft, super-bouncy ride from a shoe with this much PEBA foam. In practice, the ride feels firmer and more controlled than expected, closer to a Hoka Rocket X-style racing feel than a Cielo X1-style bounce-fest. There was no deep sinking sensation at the heel, just a little give, a flowing transition and a decent amount of pop off the toes.

During a 20K session that included two hard 5Ks at around marathon pace either side of an all-out parkrun, the shoe turned over well throughout. The marathon-pace efforts felt particularly good: controlled, cruisy and comfortable at 3:27 per kilometre with the heart rate staying manageable. The parkrun itself felt okay rather than spectacular, and the fastest moment of the whole session came right at its start, which hints that faster runners or those with a longer gait might extract a bit more spring from the plate.

It does not feel as dramatically light on the foot as some of the very lightest shoes, despite the 185 g weight. But it is a fast-turning, effective carbon racer that quietly did the job across all three efforts, even helping hold pace on a day when the legs were not cooperating.

Grip in the Worst Possible Conditions

This session was an accidental torture test. A parkrun path that occasionally floods was flooded in three places, with rain falling through most of the run. The Phantasm 3 offered no grip concerns at any point, including fast turns on wet tarmac, a clear step forward from the Phantasm 2.

The underfoot feel also feels improved over the previous generation, with what seems like a bigger amount of foam and more bounce, all in a lighter shoe. If wet-weather racing is part of your calendar, that alone makes this a safer pick than many minima-outsole racers.

Who the Phantasm 3 Is Best For

This is a shoe that skews towards long-distance road efforts. Marathon pace, half marathon and threshold-style sessions are where it felt most at home, with enough cushioning to stay comfortable over a full 20K of quality running and enough response to keep the turnover quick.

If you want a first-run experience that blows you away with exaggerated bounce or featherweight drama, other super shoes do that better. But if you want a comfortable, cushioned, impressively light carbon racer that reliably does the business, the Phantasm 3 fits the brief well, and the pricing has become more palatable now that the rest of the market has caught up to Salomon’s early premium.

Buying Advice

Ignore the aerodynamics story; the real value here is the underfoot experience. Go with your normal size unless you are converting from UK sizing, where Salomon runs a size smaller than Nike or Saucony. Expect a firmer, faster-turning ride rather than a maximal bounce sensation, and know that the gaiter upper adds a few seconds of faff when putting the shoes on.

Conclusion

The Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3 is not the most mind-blowing first-run super shoe, but it is arguably the best carbon plate shoe Salomon has made: light at 185 g, well cushioned, grippy in terrible weather, and competitively priced against the rest of the carbon racing category. Things are clearly trending in the right direction, and it looks like a shoe that will hold up very well over longer sessions.