Product Review - Salming Speed 3

A fast package with elements to be a great shoe

Salming?? What brand is that? That's my first reaction when I first heard about the brand name some time back but who am I to blame for being ignorance except for myself. Salming is a sports brand from Sweden and was founded in 2001 originates from the legendary Swedish ice-hockey player name Borje Salming. Ice-hockey? no way!!! Well, although the founder is a legendary ice-hockey player, but the product carry today has nothing to do with ice-hockey but rather focused on Squash and Running products. The brand is not yet established or known by many in this market, but there do have a good range of products with the tag line of "No-Nonsense" and it is an established brand in parts of Europe and even in the United States.

I received this pair of Salming Speed 3 (SS3) as part of the winner of a photo contest with any Salming product. Was jumping with joy when I found out I was the lucky winner to receive a pair of their running shoes. I didn't had the chance to run much with the SS3 earlier as I was preparing for my Gold Coast Airport Marathon 2016 and most of the time training using the race shoes. However whenever I find opportunity I would snug in some mileage with SS3 mainly on shorter distance run. Now that I have clocked in considerable amount of mileage both short and long runs, about time I put down my opinion on the speedster

I have no prior experience to any of Salming's shoe but on the onset the shoe looks to be fast and have a low stack height (visually). Oh well, it was made to be a fast race shoe with a 5mm (16mm/21mm) heel-to-toe drop and comes in bright orange eye-catching colorway, even a cow can see me from afar. When I first put it on, immediately it felt comfortable with a solid platform to begin with, the light package weighing only 7.6 ounce on a US size 9 confirming it has all the right elements to be a good race shoes.

The ride is smooth in general on both the short and long runs. With the low stack height, I was first worried that the shoe to be on the stiffer side and my legs will definitely stage a protest if I ran in it too much. Surprisingly it is well cushioned, not too much but just the right balance to take the pounding away from the feet and yet retain the responsive elements on road running.

There is no surprise on the upper, the top outer layer uses a harder material that feels like a plasticky/nylon mesh overlaying mid layer helps stablized lateral movent while the inner softer layer mesh add a sock like compfort all connecting to the tougue. I have no knowledge on the design philosophy on the SS3 upper but the end results gave the shoe upper a pretty solid fit holding on to the feet and at the same time the softer inner layer provide the flexible soft touch. Mostly very well executed with the design, but the plastic layer on the toe area does not really suit my taste and could well be shaving more ounces if the plastic layer is taken away or replace with a thinner layer of mesh. Just a personal choice, not a deal breaker and nothing wrong with the upper

Notice the plastic layer at the toe area? Didn't really like it

The sole however is unique. let 's start with the midsole, it is molded using injected EVA form call RunLite. It blends the right amount of soft cushion without taking away the firm and responsive feel of a racing shoes. It gives the runner the all important fast and road feel but at the same time forgiving on the legs on a longer outing.  On the outsole, it feels soft but the company put the harder LiteRubber at all the right places making it more durable at the common wear and tear area just like what other brands would do.  What caught my eye on the outsole was the word 62/75° somewhere at the midfoot section, now I have done a bit of googling for the unique feature here and Salming has come out with a pretty interesting philosophy here. The bottom 62% of the shoe (midfoot to heel) offers a stability platform while beyond the midfoot belly line which was angled at 75° (forefoot) adding flexibility aiming to provide runners a much better toe off and turnaround which works pretty well for me.

TGS 62/75°

All said, the SS3 is a promising race shoe and living up to the tag line of "No Nonsense". I have done variety of distances ranging from 5km to little over half marathon distance over the course of a few months. The ride is good to my taste and the feel was consistent across short or on a longer outing. The light weight package is a great partner for Speedwork and Fartleks, depending on runners I would not hesitate to race the shoe up to a half. SS3 is not a world beater but their famous ride performance is at par if not better than other established brand seen here in Malaysia. Only negative that I have to say about is the harder outer layer of the upper that comes with too much plasticky material especially on the toe area. I say you go get yourself  a pair and you'll understand what I'm saying. The shoe is retail at RM 390 but unfortunately you would not be able to find it on any retail store. To find out more about the shoe, you can visit www.salming.com/my or drop them an email on salming.my.kl@gmail.com

Salming Malaysia had brought in a good range of products. The apparel line is pretty interesting too, I had tried on their Salming Run Race Singlet, not the lightest race top out there but the slim fit cutting does add pluses to the look department, but if you prefer to the looser end just up size it from your normal sizing.

The Ultralite Jacket that I have,... love to bits. Is super light made out of 100% polyester. It is capable of blocking light wind and light water repellent with a hidden pocket at the side seam. More importantly it looks really good and a no names mentioned tried stealing it from me LOL

The Ultralite Jacket that I wore in GCAM16

The contest winning shot!!