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From one of the earliest supporters of Trivelo we bring the Salomon Alphacross Review. Huge thanks to Bryan for his continued support and his wonderful review of these awesome looking trail shoes.
Summary of Salamon Alphacross Review
Trivelo Score 4.5/5
After 6 weeks of doing the Salomon Alphacross 4 Review I still love Solomon running shoes and would be my first pick for trail running shoe. My findings with the Alphacross 4 are that they are a great light weight Grass or Gravel shoe.
Pros
- Good looking trail shoe with simple design
- Very lightweight and comfortable
- Perfect for grass and gravel surfaces
Cons
- Grip not as effective on wet rocks and tree roots
- Non Gore-tex shoes are not waterproof so over time your feet can become wet
Review of the Salomon Alphacross 4
Hey, my name is Bryan Hutton. I race cyclocross in Scotland CX League and Super Quaich Series. Cyclocross tends to be about late autumn and goes on into the depths of winter. There will be times where I have no option of riding the bike on some sections of the course due to the depth of mud or snow, so to help me in my training I add in some hill running and trail running. I am glad to have been selected to do the new Solomon ALPHACROSS review.
If you are looking for new regular running shoe as well read our review of the best alternatives to the Asics Nimbus. The Nimbus is a fantastic neutral running shoe but the design has changed making it more narrow so you may want to look at others.
First Impressions of the Salomon Alphacross Trail Shoes
Unwrapping the packaging and opening the box I lay eye on a nice looking pair of shoes. Dark material and black sole. Nice and simple colours and definitely something I would have picked off the shelf.
First thing I notice when I lift them out the box is the weight. These are a very lightweight shoe. I have the Solomon Speedcross and have these for the past few years. The Alphacross are about half the weight! Being a weight weenie I am liking these shoes even more.
Slip the shoe on for it’s first to fit, at the heel of the shoe, there is a great addition. A long tab is there to help hold the shoe and not crush the back while you slip your foot inside. I am a UK 10 and normally some sport shoes are tight around the forefoot but Solomon has made these quite wide and are perfect for my fat feet so a great fit so far.
The latest Garmin Forerunner 965 is a beast and I love their watches. I’ve never been tempted by an Apple watch since migrating to Garmin from Polar about 10 years ago. The latest Garmin is expensive though. If you are wondering if it is worth the upgrade read the detailed comparison of the Garmin Forerunner 965 v 955 v 945.
Field trials using the Salomon Alphacross trail shoes
My first run in the Salomon Alphacross was in the local woodlands with the dog. A lot of leaf litter and gravel on the trails and the shoes handle conditions well. Not one-foot slip and come home from my run and my feet haven’t rubbed away at the heal which is common for me and new shoes.
My next few runs I test the shoes to the max by hitting the hills. My favourite place to go is the Old Kirkpatrick Hills. These are situated about 5mins Cycle/Drive from my house in Clydebank.
I have been using a route that is about 10k loop. Conditions in the hills vary from gravel bridleways to single track deer runs and lots of bogs. At this time of year (November) it is very boggy and wet, after every run my feet are still blister free.
Improvements to the Salomon Alphacross
While doing my runs I felt that the grip of the sole can only be described as “Oily” on the wet rocks and tree roots. Had a few slips traversing roots and going over boulders during runs. I am not sure if they will get better as the grips get a bit of wear to them and hold he surface better. This led me to slowing down and losing a bit of confidence as things became technical. This being said, running down or up grass slopes where there is some thing for the grips to bite into I couldn’t fault the shoe.
Last thing that could be improved would be a Gore-tex layer, like the Speedcross. I know that your feet never stay 100% dry hill running but would be nice to do a park run in them an have dry feet heading back to the car. All in all a great Grass/Gravel shoe super lightweight and very comfortable shoe and would happily buy from a store next time I’m looking for running shoes.
Best Price for the Salomon AlphaCross
Latest Deals – Buy the latest Salomon Alphacross 5 from the Salomon Amazon store for £99.99
Latest Deals – Buy the latest Salomon Alphacross 5 from Salomon direct for $100
Best Alternatives to the Salomon Alphacross
Salomon Speedcross 5 trail shoes for £99 (best current price) direct from Salomon in their Amazon shop.
Or the latest Salomon Speedcross 6 trail shoe for $145 from Salomon US direct
Read the review from Melanie from Team Trivelo and her review of the Salomon Speedcross.
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About the Author
3 Comments
Serial Fisher · 06/08/2020 at 1:30 pm
Thank you for the review. Very helpful.
Ian Reed · 15/05/2020 at 8:49 am
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article. Love the look of these shoes.
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