- Salomon has unveiled its latest super shoe for road runners, the S/LAB Phantasm 3.
- The runner has been updated to improve its aerodynamic efficiency, with Salomon working with a Swiss specialist firm to reduce its drag via an integrated gaiter.
- The Salomon S/LAB Phantasm 3 is now available from the brand’s online store, with a local RRP of $380.
For the last few years, much of the conversation around the super shoes that promise to make you run faster has focused on energy efficiency and impact reduction. Shoe brands have spent millions developing various kinds of carbon plates for midsoles, increased the stack height of those same midsoles, and explained their theories that carbon plates propel you forward and thick soles reduce wear and tear on your legs during a race.
Both of those things are generally understood to be true, but for its latest road running super shoe, the S/LAB Phantasm 3, Salomon has taken an entirely different approach to capturing marginal gains. Instead of finding speed through proprietary fibre or foam, it’s turned to one of the oldest tricks in the book: drag reduction.
To create the S/LAB Phantasm 3, Salomon worked closely with the Formula 1 aerodynamics specialists Swiss Side to understand how drag impacts shoes and how to reduce it. Their solution was a seamlessly integrated “cache-coeur” upper covering the laces with a gaiter, which, combined with a new midsole design, has allowed Salomon to reduce aerodynamic drag by up to 28% (compared to the shoe’s previous generation).
Combine that with a spoon-shaped energyBLADE carbon plate and a more aggressive heel/toe drop of 39mm/33mm (just sneaking under the 40mm stack height limit from the World Athletics Organisation), and you’ve got a shoe that’s reportedly capable of saving 18 seconds when running at a 2:06 marathon pace. Considering there are exactly zero Australians who’ve ever run a 2:06 marathon, none of us will be enjoying those full 18 seconds of free speed, but it’s a considerable improvement for footwear alone.
This is an interesting angle for Salomon to take as far as the endless pursuit of technologically driven athletic improvement. Anyone who’s ever spent time on a bike or in the pool will intimately know how much of a difference drag makes to overall speed, but the main players in the running world have spent very little time convincing consumers that drag is a significant factor.
One assumes this is because running is so much slower than cycling: it’s well documented that on a bike moving at 5kph, just 10% of your power is required to push you through the air, while at 40kph, it’s over 80%. But, as Gatien Airiau, Product Marketing Manager for Salomon performance footwear, points out, “the foot of a runner can go up to twice the speed of said runner, so about 40km/h for the fastest marathon runners.”
“We have been working on this concept for over two years, as we knew that this was an unexplored area in road running footwear,” he explained in a statement. “At this speed, improving the aerodynamics of the shoe has a real impact on the performance of an athlete over a full marathon.”
So if you’re hoping to hit any running PBs in 2026 – and you’re wondering how to go faster without running more – copping a pair of Salomon S/LAB Phantasm 3s could be your ticket to office bragging glory. They’re currently available from the brand’s online store, with a local RRP of $380.
