Last April, elite runners from around the globe gathered anxiously at the start of the 129th Boston Marathon. Sitting at my desk to watch the race, I scanned the lead pack and — as is my patriotic duty — took note of the Canadians peppered throughout the elite field. But after an initial glance, my gaze soon shifted to the array of carbon-plated supershoes toeing the line.
Typically, major marathons such as Boston not only act as a showcase of the supershoes offered to the public but, moreover, a glimpse into unreleased innovations. Most of the shoes were models I had either raced in or against months prior, with a few exclusive colourways jumping out. But as my eyes met the feet of four-time World Champion and On athlete Helen Obiri, I saw a shoe heralding an ambitious new chapter of running.
Wearing a laceless, then-nameless model, Obiri cruised to victory in Boston, garnering even more attention for shoes that — at the time — could only be described as “alien.” Speculation soon spread that they were an early Cloudboom Strike prototype — On’s much-anticipated new supershoe — constructed entirely by a 3D printer. Yet despite the speculation, On held any public information close to its chest, until now.
As of this month, the Swiss brand has launched the Cloudboom Strike as its top-of-the-line race shoe, retailing for $360. Featuring a tailored one-piece, semi-transparent mesh to maximize breathability and reduce weight, the shoe is an ambitious leap forward, even in an increasingly saturated market of supershoes.
Over the past few years, the running world’s fascination with carbon-plated technology has reached a fever pitch. Shoes once reserved for World Champions are mainstays at local races. What was once mind-blowingly innovative became a fairly simple recipe for brands: embed a curved carbon fibre plate between a thick stack of responsive foam, top it with a minimal upper, and you likely have a competitive supershoe. But the On Cloudboom Strike has rewritten the rulebook, altogether.
I’ve raced extensively in On’s Cloudboom Echo 3, which, up until this summer, was the pinnacle of the brand’s performance shoes. After months of testing, I found it stacked up with the sport’s more well-established brands (Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc.). Yet, by all accounts, the Cloudboom Strike wasn’t constructed to be comparable. Rather, this Swiss innovation was made to signal a distinct technological shift in shoe design.
This week, On unveiled its LightSpray technology, which was the basis for Obiri’s edition of the Cloudboom Strike. Developed internally at the On Labs, LightSpray is a new high-performance upper built by a revolutionary single-step manufacturing process. This means that its uppers are sprayed, not built, in a fast one-step process (approximately three minutes per shoe), automated by a robotic arm at the On Labs in Zurich. The process reduces CO2 emissions and, from a performance standpoint, completely reimagines just how light and minimalist a shoe can be.
Obiri’s Cloudboom Strike LS is the first On shoe made with LightSpray technology. It features an ultra-thin LightSpray upper, is precision-made for support, adaptable to the foot, seamless, and lace-free, resulting in an exceptionally lightweight shoe weighing just 170g. But, for now, that particular technology is reserved for the Olympic stage (and rightfully so). While the Cloudboom Strike is currently available to the public, Obiri’s now-iconic LightSpray version won’t be on sale widely until the fall, around the time of the New York City Marathon.
Still, if the buzz surrounding the current iteration of the Cloudboom Strike is any indication, I’d wager the robots in Zurich will be working tirelessly to supply LightSpray technology for your annual 10km Turkey Trot. But for now, they’ll have to settle for gliding 42.2km towards Olympic gold this summer in Paris.
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