Hey guys I'm Alastair from Trail and Kale, and this is my On Cloudsurfer Trail review. Now if you've read or watched my On Cloudsurfer review then you already know that I really love the Cloudsurfer, it's gone through its ups and downs, it started off amazingly, went a little bit bad, the latest version of the Cloudsurfer 7 is back on track. This it's basically the trail version of that shoe. So I've been out running for a bit now on my local trails just to get a feel for these shoes, get some opinions down to let you guys know what they're like and I'm really excited to share my thoughts so far. All right then first off, who is the Cloudsurfer Trail designed for? Who's it targeted at? Well it didn't take me long to realize that it's going to be for people who want to run on very light trails so nothing too technical and this is for a few reasons, one being the midsole is quite plush and there is a little bit of roll on there because there's so much cushioning in it, it can collapse in areas that you might not really want on a technical trail, also the lugs are not the deepest but I'm going to go into this very shortly later on in this review so stay with me stay to the end you'll find out what's really good about these shoes what could be improved, my final opinions and whether it's actually worth your money. Let's start off with some of the key statistics for the Cloudsurfer Trail. They cost $160, they fit true to size so go with your usual sizing, there's a good bit of room in there as well so if you've got slightly wider feet they should be good for you as as well, the lacing system does up really nicely kind of traditional in style but it helps you get a very nice snug fit in the shoes as well. They're using On's Mission Grip for the outsole, which is awesome, super sticky, I love how that works on all terrain. They have a 7 mm drop from heel to toe, this is interesting because the Cloudsurfer has a 10 mm drop, and then finally they weigh 9.5 oz whereas the Cloudsurfer weighs 8.2 so I would expect the trail version of this shoe to be heavier it is a trail shoe there's going to be more protection in the upper, it's going to have to be more durable obviously a more aggressive outsole as well which there is and for all those reasons trail running shoes tend to be heavier of course you can step into that more exclusive range of the higher end premium trail running shoes which you can find on trailandkale.com because we review pretty much every running shoe out there, but those shoes do come with a much higher price tag as well. If you're enjoying this video please give it a like and subscribe to our channel for more running shoe reviews just like this one, and if you're not familiar with Trail and Kale yet we're a website designed to help you run your best, and that's through our running 101 advice, free training plans and running shoe reviews just like this! Okay let's get straight into what I really like about the on Cloudsurfer Trail I'm going to start with how they feel, it's not particularly a feature or one particular feature, they just feel really nice and snug on your feet, super lightweight - that they feel super lightweight although they're not hugely lightweight on paper, but they do feel light on your feet when you're climbing up hills like I'm doing right now hopefully you can see, not sure if that comes out on camera but it's quite a climb and it's going up like so and the upper is just super plush all the way around the collar and the heel counter around here just feels really nice. I guess that brings me to the second thing that I like and that's the upper, it's very breathable, you can see my socks through these holes, it feels great, very durable as well and like I said before the lacing system does a really good job of getting a nice snug fit, the tongue's nice and minimal as well but there is padding underneath these laces so it does feel nice on the top of your feet and then at the rear there's actually a nice finger pull to help you slip them on which is a nice touch from on okay the next thing I really like now this is a double-edged sword by the way is the CloudTec Phase midsole, pretty much the same midsole that you will see on the original Cloudsurfer 7 - the road version of this shoe - tons of cushioning, this compresses when you kind of put weight on it and that gives you really really nice response and just cushioning for longer distances when you're running and your feet will really thank you for how that feels over distance that is a double edged sword and I'll go over why in my things that I feel like could be improve for this shoe in just a moment, and then the final thing I'm going to mention for what I really like about this shoe is the Mission Grip outsole. The grip is awesome if you've read or watched my other On Cloud trail running shoe reviews then they all feature this Mission Grip rubber compound and it's super sticky, really really delightful to run in it's super nice it provides really great traction on most terrain to be honest I hadn't actually had a slip yet but again there could be some improvements to the outsole and I'll go into that now. So I've set myself up for the things that I feel like could be improved with the Cloudsurfer Trail then now this is interesting because Helen has been testing out the women's version of this shoe and everyone's going to find different things that they like or dislike about a shoe but she has found that she doesn't really like the stability on the shoes, not sure why that is it could be where her footfall is when she's running is just different to mine, but she finds underneath her heel it's a bit too plush and it feels rocky like there could be some lateral roll that she said she didn't really want to have on technical terrain and I can totally understand that if that's happening to her she shouldn't be running on technical trails with that shoe because that could certainly cause an accident! But me on the other hand I've actually been quite enjoying the stack height and the cushioning in the Cloudsurfer's midsole this could be because I'm running trails on my midfoot to forefoot so I'm not feeling that kind of compression under the heel which is where a lot of that stack height is and where a lot of the cushioning is as well so that could be why that's happening but yeah like I said that could be a downside for many people that there could be too much roll but you know what I don't think this shoe is designed for technical trails it just it doesn't handle it as well as some other shoes maybe like the HOKA Speedgoat 5 for example for a few reasons one being that high stack height and the slight lack of stability and the other point being the outsole and the lugs, they're just not deep enough and that really is my second point is the lugs could be deeper, it will give me more traction in muddy, kind of sloppy mud surfaces like I've been running in today. Unfortunately it doesn't have that but like I said I don't think it's designed for that, it's designed for very light trails if you're running in parks maybe you're running in forests but not thick mud or anything too technical I just don't think they're designed for that. That pretty much sums up the On Cloudsurfer Trail for me then, I do really like these shoes and I am going to hang on to them for these nice easy buffed light hard pack trails because they're super easy to run, they're really enjoyable to run in, I love the cushioning and they feel really lightweight on the climbs as well so for any easy trails if I just want to give my feet a break I'm going to be picking up these shoes they're going to be my recovery trail run shoes from now on. Are they worth the money then? Are they worth $160? Well I think yes if you're a runner who wants some trail running shoes for light trails you want some comfortable cushy shoes for getting in long miles in pure comfort then these shoes are definitely going to be for you and I recommend you give them a try I love what On has done with these shoes I love the Cloudsurfer and I love the Cloudsurfer Trail. Well thanks for watching this On Cloudsurfer Trail review. If you did enjoy it give it a like and subscribe to our channel for more running shoe reviews just like this. Thanks again and I'll catch you on the trails!