Salming Greyhound Shoe Review

Salming is not a brand of shoes you would normally see on the roads in this country but I respect their boldness and determination in taking on some of the bigger players in this huge running shoe market. One thing they have over here is a huge following in the trail running category and their trail shoes the likes of the Salming Trail 5, just to name one has been getting rave reviews from runners hitting the trails.

Now, I'm no trail runner and this review is about their road shoe, the Salming Greyhound. Crafted for hard-surface running – unleash the Greyhound in you!, that's how the Salming marketing team likes to promote the shoe. Being a true shoe geek, I'm always one to try on any shoe that catches my eye, irrespective of brands out there though I have a few of my all time favourites.

Th
e Salming Greyhound is the first true cushioned daily trainer from the Swedish brand. Coming in at US8.5 out of the box, they weigh a little under 10oz, which is a little on the heavier side of things compared to the other shoes that I use on a daily basis. But being a shoe tailored for hard-surfaces, the weight isn't really too huge of a problem for me.

What I like about the Greyhound is that the upper is a lot and I mean a lot better as compared to their other shoe models. The upper was crafted on the less is more analogy. The main body of the upper contains a lightweight one piece 3 layer construction that literally holds your foot in place nice and snug. The simplistic material of the upper also provides great breathability, something that is important to me seeing as how my feet will be spending hours in a running shoe. The upper in my opinion is definitely two steps up as compared to their other models.

The tongue is of a gusseted construction and pretty thin translating to a comfortable wrap around feel on your feet and comes with thin 'racing' laces (not sure what they mean by racing laces though). Now that's one thing I'm not really liking about the Greyhound. The laces are positioned much further back and leaves a large and maybe a tad too roomy toebox that my feet tended to move around a little more than I liked. But I have very narrow feet and someone with wider feet would appreciate the roominess.

Now, the highlight of the shoe here is the cushioning. While a lot of shoe companies hype about their running shoes being built for hard surfaces, the Salming Greyhound actually delivers on that hype. The Greyhound's cushioning actually feels like you're running on a track instead of the sidewalk or roads. This is down to the mid-sole's Recoil PLUS reactive compound that provides the superb cushioning and 20% more energy return. It feels comfortable enough without being too mushy.

The Salming Greyhound uses a Vibram outsole and is touted to be 25% more durable as claimed by Salming which after numerous miles in them is proven to be true as my pair has hardly any wear. But I find that the Vibram outsole adds to the overall weight of the shoe. The pattern of the outsole which has a somewhat racing slick like design, provides excellent traction on most surfaces I've run on such as asphalt, concrete and even some very simple trail like surfaces. The grip was phenomenal as is expected of a Vibram compound. I've not run in the rain with it though I suppose it will still provide decent traction in wet surfaces.

The Greyhound has an internal heel counter that wraps nicely around the heel, maybe a little too nicely as it took me a couple of runs for the heel area on both sides to get a little more pliable that it stopped digging into my Achilles. But a slightly higher socks than my usual no shows helped with that issue.

So, is the Salming Greyhound worth your ringgit? I'd say yes. If you're someone that does a lot of mileage on concrete or asphalts, they're a superb shoe based on the fact that they're highly cushioned. In fact, while I'm in my current recovery and rehabilitation mode, they're the go to shoe for me based on how cushy they are and yes, with the Vibram outsole, I'd even wager they're good for the less technical trails too.

I've tried them for short runs, longs runs, both slow and fast and while they're not really built for speed, they do work best for those longer runs when you need a lot more protection under your feet. To me the Greyhound embodies a more laid back, peaceful yet surprisingly functional running shoe. If a racing flat is comparable to a sports car, I'd say the Salming Greyhound is more comparable to a cruiser.

The Salming Greyhound is currently available for FREE trials at your local Salming dealers. Of course terms and conditions do apply. The Greyhound retails for RM565.00. The Salming Greyhound model I based my review on was so kindly provided by Salming Malaysia and the review above is of my own experience in the shoe and is in no way whatsoever influenced by Salming Malaysia.