Salomon XA Pro 3D vs. Speedcross 3

Quality footwear is key to enjoying your time in the backcountry, but that doesn’t mean that your 6-pound pair of leather Danners are going to be the right choice for those summer jaunts.

Fortunately there are many, many lightweight low-top outdoor shoes available that can fit the bill.  Because I’m a little bit of a shoe snob, I’ve gravitated over the past year to 2 of the offerings from Salomon, the Speedcross 3 trail runner and more recently, the XA Pro 3D “adventure shoe”.

Salomon is well known for their ski boots, but also makes some pretty badass trail running and hiking footwear.  Their niche is lightweight footwear that fits and wears like regular athletic shoes, but with technical features designed for the trail.

Speedcross 3

The Speedcross 3‘s were my first pair of Salomons, and I got them mainly because I was lacking a pair of shoes that fit the void between a heavy, traditional ankle-height hiking boot and low-profile, low-cushion technical approach shoes.

The Salomon Speedcross 3’s grabbed my attention with 5-star Amazon reviews and no shortage of “internet influencer” recommendations.  The reviews touted them as lightweight, all-day comfortable with no break-in period, and suitable for trail running, hiking and general piddling around.

When I found them in a non-heinous color way on Amazon for a good price (~$100), I took the plunge.  With over a year of use, there’s some things I really like about them, and some things that I don’t like so much:

Likes:

• Comfort: True to the reviews, the Speedcross 3’s were comfortable right out of the box.  No blisters or hotspots, ever.
• Weight: absolutely no fatigue due to the weight of the shoes (can’t say the same for my Danners)
• Lacing: Salomon’s “quicklace” lacing system, in which you use a pull-tab to tighten the laces is easy to operate, provides good adjustability, and your shoes never come untied!  Also, the excess laces stuff into the tongue of the shoe (out of the way).
• Aesthetics: The Speedcrosses are an attractive shoe, looking sporty without trying too hard.

Dislikes:

• Cushioning: The soles of the shoe are soft and flexible, but maybe too much so – I don’t like that I can feel the outsole lugs on the sole through the cushioning on hard surfaces.
• Grip: The Speedcrosses, designed as a trail running shoe, are not super grippy or confidence inspiring in rock-scrambling situations.
• Durability: I wore out the lugs on the outsole in less than a year of moderate use, which is a bit disappointing for a shoes that MSRPs for $130.  At this point they’re relegated to around-the house/gym wear.

Salomon XA Pro 3D

When my Speedcross 3’s were on the outs, I started shopping around for their replacement.  Based on both what I liked and disliked about the Speedcrosses, I decided to go for the Salomon XA Pro 3D‘s, which are more on the “hiking” versus “trail running” spectrum, with a little more foot protection, have hiking-oriented outsole, yet are still lightweight and with the same quicklace system as the Speedcrosses.  Again, Amazon was my vendor of choice, and I picked up my pair for about ~$110.

While I’ve only had the XA Pro’s for about 6 weeks, I got a pretty good read on them after a week in Maine that included 25+ miles of technical hiking and several more miles of casual wear.  So far, the Salomon XA Pro 3D’s are checking nearly all the boxes:

Likes:

• Comfort/Fit: The tongue of the XA Pro wraps completely around your foot, which, in conjunction with the quicklime system provides for a very secure and comfortable fit.
• Laces: the XA Pro 3D’s have same quicklace system that I loved on the Speedcross 3’s
• Grip: Through near-vertical rock scrambles and also in the loose stuff, I felt completely surefooted in the XA Pro’s – they provided excellent grip!
• Protection: The XA Pros are slightly more structured than the Speedcross, featuring a little more toe-box protection, which I appreciated in the rocks.
• Weight: These shoes are still  light at ~0.9 pounds!
• Ventilation: The synthetic uppers of the XA Pro use a more breathable mesh than the Speedcross 3’s and keep my feet a little cooler in the hot summer weather.

Dislikes:

• Break-in: Unlike the Speedcross 3’s, the XA Pro 3D’s needed about ~8 miles of hiking to “become one” with my feet.  Now mind you they weren’t terrible, but had some pressure spots that had to work themselves out.  I attribute it to the XA Pro 3D’s being a little more structured than the Speedcross 3’s.

So there you have it – I think both offerings from Salomon are solid options, but in the end, the hiking-oriented design of the XA Pro 3D is a better fit for most of what I’m using these types of shoes for.  Your Mileage May Vary.  Happy Trails!