Salming Miles Lite Review

Before I even go further with this review, I really need to apologize to Salming Malaysia for sitting on the Salming Miles Lite review for so long.

With Nike being all the rage these days, a lot of smaller shoe brands are oftentimes overlooked and they do produce some gems of running shoes sometimes and Salming happens to be one of them. More popularly known for their trail shoes over here rather than their road shoes, Salming has been quietly producing some pretty decent road shoes.

My first experience with a Salming was with the Salming Race R21, review here, a racing flat (I've always loved racing flats) and I loved that Race R21 a lot. It was fast, it was light, it was simple and it worked! It was a No Nonsense shoe.

My second experience with Salming was the original Salming Miles but I had a bittersweet experience with it. I found it too heavy and it felt bulky. I could run with it but it didn't endear to me. A couple of months back, Salming Malaysia buzzed me and asked if I would like to give the Salming Miles Lite a spin. I wasn't too sure cos my shoe reviewing brains weren't really working but being a shoe geek, I couldn't say no 😁.

The Salming Miles Lite is basically an update of the Salming Miles. Like I mentioned earlier, while I could run the original Miles it felt heavy and bulky. If I recall correctly, the Miles was in the region of 11oz or so which for someone like me who's more accustomed to much lighter shoes, was really heavy. The fit was also another issue that made the entire Miles feel bulky, constrictive and clunky.

The Miles Lite on the other hand addressed both the fit and weight issues and made the shoe a lot more livelier on the feet. The upper lost all that unnecessary extra overlays of the original and replaced it with a simpler but a lot more effective mesh upper with just one minor overlay on the toe cap. This in turn helped reduced the overall weight of the Miles Lite to just 9oz and made the shoe a lot less clunkier than it's older sibling.

With a simple yet functional upper, a lightly padded collar and heel counter which complements the thin yet cushioned tongue (unlike the older Salming models that tend to have much thicker tongues), the Miles Lite epitomizes the "No Nonsense" tagline.

The Salming Miles Lite has a midsole stack height of 23mm heel and 19mm toe and equipped with Salming's proprietary RECOIL™+SoftFOAM™ to provide the necessary cushioning for this 4mm drop shoe. While the cushioning is firm and forgiving it is far from being a "soft" shoe. The Miles Lite is catered and built for a runner who likes a little feel of the road and the RECOIL foam adds a little snap during toe off.

The outsole is laced with lots of extremely durable rubber and I've covered close to 140km in them with hardly any wear so durablity shouldn't be an issue at all. Besides the outsole rubber provides pretty good traction even on wet surfaces.

As mentioned above, I've taken them out close to 140km and used them in all kinds of road surfaces and in wet conditions and I'd have to honestly say they're a huge update to the original Miles. The Miles kept tugging at the back of my mind on all my runs while the Miles Lite disappeared from thought after a kilometer or two. While the upper could still do with a little more improvement, the cushioning was definitely on the plus side for me.

The Salming Miles Lite is a capable no-frills daily trainer that can be used for those easy, long run days but can deliver the goods should you need to ramp up the pace a little. If you like a little firmness underfoot, the Miles Lite fits the bill nicely. Firm yet with enough cushioning but short of being mushy or energy sapping, the Miles Lite can work for any distance.

Would I recommend the Miles Lite? Well, with the current going rate of some shoe brands out there, the Salming Miles Lite is really an affordable option for those looking for a reasonably priced shoe that can be used on a daily basis for a lot of kilometers and in various road conditions. It's reasonably light, has good cushioning, affordable and extremely durable. So yes, I'd recommend them. The Salming Miles Lite is retailed at RM420.

Salming Malaysia also has a host of different models that are highly rated overseas such as the En Route 2, the Race 6 (a favorite of mine which I've been eyeing but yet to actually try), the Speed 6 and their trail models, the Trail 5 and Elements which are available locally. For more info on Salming shoes, apparels and accessories, check out Salming.com.

This review is based on my own personal experience with the shoe and is in no way influenced whatsoever by Salming Malaysia. The Salming Miles used in this review is kindly provided by Salming Malaysia.