Tempo

Salomon Aero Blaze 4

Salomon's light road trainer — optiFOAM cushioning with snappy transitions, the brand's mainstream pick.

The Aero Blaze 4 is Salomon's core road trainer: an optiFOAM-based midsole at a 36 mm heel and 8 mm drop, tuned — in the brand's words — for an ideal mix of cushioning, responsiveness and snappy transitions, at a light converted 227 g.

It suits you as the road shoe for a Salomon runner: versatile enough for easy days and quick enough for structured ones, pitched by the brand itself at people training a few runs per week who want one shoe to cover them.

It is not a specialist — no plate, no max stack — and that is its argument. The Aero Glide above it does the plush long days; this one does everything else at $140.