REESE: Back in 2023, I noted that the Cloudultra 2 ran a little small, and I needed a size US W8, a half size larger than I normally wear. So, of course, that’s the size I requested this go around. But it appears that On didn’t just do some fixing of the performance of the shoe, but they did change their sizes up a bit. It now runs true to size (On, please send me a US W7.5, I want to run in this shoe more).
Maybe it’s not something I dislike about the shoe, but it’s worth noting if you’ve run in On shoes before. Also, it’s worth bringing up since I did find the toe box to be a bit of a strange fit. But before I get to that, let’s talk about my biggest gripe. And by biggest gripe, I mean, it’s actually not a deal breaker. I just think it needs some tweaking. I want this shoe to be the best shoe possible.
The platform of the shoe is kind of the only thing I’d consider changing. The base of the shoe feels oddly narrow. I, like just about every runner, tend to pronate ever so slightly, so having a shoe that is a little more hourglass-shaped or at least has a wider platform under the ball of the foot gives me extra stability on smooth or technical terrain.
I realize that having just exploded my ankle might have my headspace a little more focused on stability than normal, but even when I wore this shoe hiking, I noticed I was a little uneasy walking down technical sections because it felt like I would roll to the outside. It’s not a huge deal breaker, but for a race shoe, I’d want a shoe that doesn’t slow me down at all, and needing to be extra cautious because of stability might negate all the hard work On did to get this shoe so light and race ready.
Adding on to that, I felt like the outside of my foot was a little cramped, but I had plenty of room on the inside, near my big toe. I think just fixing the shape of the toebox in general might be needed in this shoe. I’d be curious to see the state of my feet after several hours, knowing that it’s a little snug now. Conversely, I did wish my heel locked down a little better. I do wear inserts in my shoes, which always push my heels up ever so slightly, but I typically don’t have issues with my heels coming out. I had to use the last lace eyelet to ensure my heel was locked in.
