Ultra Glide 3 vs Ultra Glide 4

The Salomon Ultra Glide 3 is a soft, high-cushion trail running shoe built for one thing: keeping you comfortable when the miles stack up. This is not a nimble mountain racer. It is a long-day cruiser for runners who want to switch off and let the shoe soak up the ground on runnable trails, canal paths and gentle single track. At 285g with a 6mm drop, it sits in that easygoing daily-trail zone, closer in spirit to a road-to-trail shoe than a technical fell weapon. The Contagrip outsole handles dry hardpack and light mud well, though it is not built for deep bog or scrambling. We rate it as one of the more forgiving ultra-distance trail shoes going, a shoe you reach for on tired legs and back-to-back weekends. If you want protection, softness and a relaxed ride over big distances, and you are not chasing course records on gnarly ground, the Ultra Glide 3 is an easy shoe to recommend.

The Ultra Glide 4 is Salomon's soft, high-stack trail runner built for one thing above all: keeping your legs fresh over long, rolling miles. With 38.6mm of heel stack and a moderate 7.5mm drop, it sits firmly in the cushioned trail shoe camp, closer to a plush daily trail cruiser than a nimble racer. At 295g it is not the lightest option out there, but that weight buys you a genuinely comfortable, protective ride that soaks up rocky, uneven ground on the way home from a big day out. This is a shoe for runners who value comfort and easy-going stability over sharp, aggressive handling. It thrives on smoother, non-technical trails, gravel, forest paths and long ultra efforts where fatigue is the enemy. If you want a running shoe that lets you switch off and just log the distance, the Ultra Glide 4 makes a strong case at its £130 price.