Salomon RX Mocs

Reviewed on 14 August 2010

First Impressions & Appearance

The Salomon RX mocs arrived on my doorstep and I was keen to get them on - okay the "Sprout Green" colour may not be to everyone's taste (and I would argue that they certainly aren't sprout colour... much closer to the 'apple green' of Mr Bean's Mini) but you can't deny they look comfortable. I suspect other colourways are available, but I've always been one for brightly coloured running shoes, so why should these 'apres run' shoes be any different? These casual shoes are nicely boxed and were labelled with a 'recovery' tag; "Oooh, they help recovery?" I remember thinking as I read the tag. The 'Mocs have a very soft full mesh upper, and a huge wedge of foam cushioning. I have to admit, I couldn't wait to try them out, and despite my usual cynicism, I was almost convinced that they could help me recover faster!

The First try...

Onto my feet they went... Oh dear... what's happened... this isn't very good at all. Two things jumped out at me... the all mesh upper meant there was no support at all, and as a result they felt very loose on my feet. They needed to be much closer fitting to be comfortable to wear and to walk in. I decided sending them back for a smaller size would be a wise idea.

The Second Try...

New pair arrive, half a size smaller than the last... on they go... hmmm, better! The mesh upper did fit to my feet better - still not perfect though. Ideally I'd like to have gone another half size down to get the ideal width fitting, but my toes were already tentatively close to the end of the shoe and I don't think they'd have survived another half size smaller.

So that's the upper... what about this mountain of cushioning underneath? Well... to start with, very disappointing. It was firm, very firm in fact, and didn't suit the shape of my feet at all well. I'll be honest, there wasn't much motivation for me to keep using these things. They weren't very comfortable, and other than in the company of the running community, people just though they looked silly.

Still, I stuck with it, and I have to say they've improved dramatically! They now feel bedded into my foot-shape and they are very comfortable. I still think Salomon have go it a bit wrong with the sizing of the shoes - they just feel too wide for me (so perhaps ideal for those with wider feet?).

I also have to say that when wearing them without socks, on a warm when feet can get a little hot, it's not uncommon for them to start squeaking and 'farting' as pockets of air get trapped between your foot and the sole. Perhaps it's just the shape of my feet, but I'd be surprised if I was the only one.

In Summary

Overall I would give the Salomon RX moc a distinctly average, 'average' rating... I love the idea, and I actually like the style (albeit I think they'd look better with about half the amount of cushioning). The downfalls of this shoe though are that they just don't seem as if they were designed to fit a persons' foot - as if they designed the shoe without actually trying it on!