SALOMON COMPARISON HYPULSE, PULSAR TRAIL & PULSAR PRO: 3 TRAIL SHOES & 3 DIFFERENT PLATES

Posted by Héctor Rubio on January 24, 2022 in trail running gear, trail running shoes, trail running spain | Leave a comment

SALOMON 2022 COMPARISON HYPULSE, PULSAR TRAIL & PULSAR PRO: 3 TRAIL SHOES & 3 DIFFERENT PLATES. Our  TRAIL RUNNING  section bring us today a deeper analysis on the Salomon Trail Running range for 2022. remenber we have introduced you the first glimpse of the Salomon Running and Hiking collection for 2022.

The French brand adopted for this 2022 plates new technology called Energy Blade in their competition road and trail running shoes with the brand new S/Lab Phantasm CF, and also continuing to evolve its performance in the trail running range with these 3 main shoes assisted by plates: the Salomon Pulsar Pro and the Salomon Pulsar Trail and the Salomon Hypulse. Lets go with the analysis by Hekruca

SALOMON TRAIL RUNNING 2022:
4 NEW SHOES & TPU COMPOSITE PLATES

To create footwear that will help runners improve and feel more confident regardless of their level, Salomon is bringing  Learning from decades of footwear and trail running expertise, the footwear development team at Salomon created Energy Blade, a plate in the midsole of the shoe that was partly inspired by the hooves of chamois, the species of goat-antelope that lives in the mountains of Europe.

“In the new Pulsar Trail range, we wanted to bring responsiveness and a feeling of ‘pop’ into the run,” explains Mike Ambrose, Product Line Manager for Trail Running at Salomon. “We’ve seen a lot of fun new shoes come into road running over the past few years, and we wanted to bring that same fun and excitement into trail. The Energy Blade is an exciting new technology that brings that ‘pop’ without compromising stability on the trail. No matter how fast or far you run, there is an Energy Blade for all runners in the range.”

By combining Energy Blade options with a new bouncy foam technology and Reverse Camber construction, the Spring/Summer 2022 trail running footwear range is the perfect mix of responsiveness, comfort and stability, while also offering protection on the trails.

The Pulsar Trail Pro and the Pulsar Trail feature an Energy Blade made of high-end composite material.

Similar Energy Blade technology is also used in more accessible models for less experienced trail runners, including the bouncy Hypulse shoe with a TPU Energy blade and the multi-tasking Impulse trail-running shoe. That means you don’t have to be Kilian Jornet to run with a plate-assisted shoe and enjoy the comfort and cushioning benefits of this new Salomon range.

Moreover, looking forward to this 2022, Salomon bring the updated ADV Skin 5 and 12 on your longer runs to carry your poles, jacket, keys, food, or the brand new ADV Skin belt on shorter days.

SALOMON 2022 HYPULSE, PULSAR PRO & PULSAR TRAIL:
3 TRAIL SHOES & 3 DIFFERENT PLATES

What have in common these three new Salomon trail shoes for this 2022? The use of the so called Energy Blade TR which activate forward propulsion, smooth and stable transitions on trails.

But, what is exactly this Energy Blade TR? Well, we will try to explain it. The Energy Blade has been introduced by Salomon to reduce the gap opened by carbon plates that have been in other brands for years.

For that, Salomon has developed this new technology called Energy Blade which combines plates made out of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethanes) together with the new foam Fuze Surge to adopt an original approach to the development of carbon-coated footwear.

For this, an insert technology has been created that will adjust to the needs of different types of runners. This involves adjusting the inserted material on each Salomon running shoe model, as well as the precise placement of the insert within the shoe to meet the needs of certain categories of runnersa s you can see in the below pictures.

Let’s go and see how these new technologies are applied in eah of these 3 shoes and what are they deisgned for. We are going to present each of the data sheet of the shoes, and then a comparison between the highlights of each of them.

SALOMON HYPULSE
100-130€* | 274 G. |6 MM DROP

For the slightly less committed runner, the Hypulse is a highly responsive trail running shoe that features a softer TPU plate, a TPU die cut, the Energy Blade, which increases energy return while ensuring a stable, comfortable ride.

SALOMON HYPULSE: DATA SHEET

• Price: 100€-130 € (pending confrimation)
• Weight: 274 g.
• Stackheight: 31mm/25 mm
• Drop: 6 mm
• Midsole: R.Camber rocker construction speeds up your transition and Fuzesurge foam.
• Outsole: Contagrip MA

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL
130*€ | 280 G. | 6MM DROP

The responsive, stable, and comfortable Pulsar Trail is packed with the same technology as the Pulsar Trail Pro, but with an Energy Blade TPU composite plate that is slightly softer and more flexible.

Energy Surge foam adds to the shoe’s responsiveness while also offering comfort in the midsole for a smooth ride.

The R.Camber rocker geometry combines with the Energy Blade technology to propel you forward and increase energy transfer, so you don’t lose speed. The Contagrip MA outsole has an optimized lug geometry that will keep you steady and safe from slippage on technical trails.

The Pulsar Trail is also available in Gore-Tex and TwinSkin versions.

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL: DATA SHET

• Price: 130 € (pending confrimation)
• Weight: 280 g.
• Stackheight: 32.5mm/26.5 mm
• Drop: 6 mm
• Midsole: R.Camber rocker construction speeds up your transition
• Sole: Contagrip MA

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL PRO
150€ | 270 G. | DROP 6 MM

The Pulsar Trail Pro brings TPU composite plates to trail running in a shoe that is both responsive and stable. The TPU composite plate, called Energy Blade, is a stiff plate that gives more power to the runner by limiting the energy lost on every stride. Thanks to its decoupled construction, the Pulsar Trail Pro is flexible enough to still ensure great stability and comfort.

This is the training version of the most racing S/Lab Pulsar, in fact, it is built on a wider base and uses a thicker midsole to create more comfort during longer training runs.

It will also be available in limited edition colors for those looking to add style to their trail game.

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL PRO: DATA SHEET

• Price: 150 € (pending confrimation)
• Weight: 270 g.
• Stackheight: 31mm/25 mm
• Drop: 6 mm
• Midsole: R.Camber rocker construction speeds up your transition
• Sole: Contagrip MA

SALOMON HYPULSE, PULSAR TRAIL AND PULSAR TRAIL PRO:
HIGHLIGHTS COMPARISON

UPPER

The 3 shoes share a similar upper where the feet are protected in all the right places thanks to the mudguard on the side and gaiter that keep debris from getting in. As you can also see in the below pictures (from left to right), the mesh is different in the three shoes, whith a more “opened” mesh for the Hypulse, with some strides for the Pulsar Trail and more closed (competition shoe) for the Pulsar Pro.

From the pictures, it is also visible why the Pulsar Pro weights less than the otehr two, as the minimailstit details are also visible in the upper, whenere for the Pulsar Pro there is no tongue, just the “sock” which embraces the feet.

As usual in Salomon, the brand classic laces are also here: quicklace cable laces. Not everybody likes them, but whoever fits with them,its “happy forever”. Easy to put on, easy to remove, no doubt.

MIDSOLE

We could say, here is the main different of the 3 shoes: the midsole and the combination of the different TPU plates with the Fuze Surge foam.

ENERGY BLADE TRAIL RUNNING: Energy Blade is a lightweight TPU plate built into the springy midsoles. Thanks to a unique synergy with the midsole foam and geometry, it activates forward propulsion and ensures smooth, stable transitions in all trail conditions.

ENERGY SURGE: Made up of one of our softest EVA compounds and 30% natural rubber, Fuze Surge foam is pillowy for instant comfort and responsive enough to keep rebound levels high. Engineered using less artificial polymers, this midsole compound delivers a more earth-conscious, smooth yet dynamic stride.

The 3 shoes share almost the same chasis and similar numbers: 31mm/25 mm and a 6 mm drop, the Pulsar Trail is 1.5mm higher with 32,5mm/26,5mm where the main different in the TPU composite plate used to activate the propulsion.

Unlike the Pulsar Trail and the Hypulse, the Pulsar Trai Pro (competition shoe) has a stiff TPU composite propulsion plate and has a decoupled flexible construction for stability and comfort. As with the Pulsar saga and the Hypulse an Energy Surge foam midsole, we expect the same softness as the preceding two which Salomon says provides 40% more responsiveness than their “prior” foams, we can assume as compared to Energy Cell+ but will confirm.

REVERSE CHAMBER:  Inspired by Salomon’s ski heritage, this curved midsole geometry helps you feel like you are floating over the ground and the three shoes are bulit with it.

OUTSOLE

Contagrip MA outsole with an optimized lug geometry delivers optimum grip to keep you steady and safe from slippage, even on fast and gnarly runs.

With similar drops and similar soles and similar lugs of 4mm-5mm*(pending ocnfirmation) offer a great grip in compacted surfaces andlong runs.

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SALOMON HYPULSE, PULSAR PRO & PULSAR TRAIL: CONCLUSIONS

SALOMON HYPULSE: is a training shoe which offers the perfect combination between weight 274 g., just 4 grams more than its bigger sister the Salomon Pulsar Trail Pro, confort and durability all of them provided by the midsole and Energy Blade which gives much more reactivity, but as shown above not with the same rigidity as the Pulsar Pro, so a “more beginners” shoe, perfect to enter in the assited plates world.

A lightweight shoe, 26 grams below the 300 grams mark, so maybe not for all runners which in combination with the TPU plate can made it a little bit rigid and hard for some strong runners.

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL: the next step into this new “Salomon asisted plates world”. Still a contained weight shoe, 280 grams,  which also does not enter into the maximalist world, as the stack high is 32,5mm/26,5mm, but which makes it the “bigger” of these 3 compared shoes. What these numbers tell us is that these shoe is designed a middle way between the pure competition shoe and the entry point, and/or for more long distances as this extra 1.5 mm of midsole are there for something

So maybe a really polyvalent shoe, for long trainings and also for competitions, who knows if even ultra marathons (even if we believe the Ultra Glide are more focused on this matter) where the benefit of the TPU plate can take some minutes away from the clock. We should, not forget that the Pulsar Saga has 4 different shoe which is valid for every single race specification.

SALOMON PULSAR TRAIL PRO: from the 3 of them, the most competition shoe. Its numbers, 270 grams, 6mm drop and lugs not as big as the S/lab Pulsar SG make it the “training” version of the most racing S/Lab Pulsar, in fact, it is built on a wider base and uses a thicker midsole to create more comfort during longer training runs.

The Pulsar Trail Pro brings TPU composite plates to trail running in a shoe that is both responsive and stable. The TPU composite plate, is a stiff plate that gives more power to the runner by limiting the energy lost on every stride. Thanks to its decoupled construction, the Pulsar Trail Pro is flexible enough to still ensure great stability and comfort and maybe more accesible to the public based on these 270 grams and not the only 170 of the S/lab Pulsar which are not designed for many runners.

So, as you have seen in this anaylsis a lot of to shose from Salomon in this 2022, but not only fomr the French brand, as we have also many novelties from Saucony, Brooks,  Asics, Hoka and many more to come.

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