On Cloudsurfer Max Review | The On Cloudeclipse Replacement is a Bust

The sun has officially set on the highly-regarded On Cloudeclipse. Rising up in its place is the all-new On Cloudsurfer Max, bringing with it promises of a smooth ride akin to effortlessly skirting across the top of a wave cresting just offshore of a sandy beach.

The On Cloudsurfer Max is the Swiss brand’s newest high stack daily trainer, featuring a dual-layer of CloudTec Phase cushion, a recycled polyester mesh upper, and a gusseted tongue.

Fine we maybe oversold it with “bust”. Both Tim and Amanda agree it feels great underfoot, but we need to see some changes to the fit for it to go back to the high praise we had for the On Cloudeclipse.

On Cloudsurfer Max Overview

This marks the first On shoe in which I’ve actually put rubber to the road. The first ever On shoe I tried was so harsh and uncomfortable I almost considered bringing  assault charges on the salesperson at my local running shop. In 2023 I nearly bought the Cloudsurfer Next and last year I was on the fence about the Cloudeclipse. For a first official introduction to the brand, the On Cloudsurfer Max represented the brand quite nicely.

Coach Amanda: I used to have the same feelings as Tim until about 3 years ago with the introduction of the Cloudmonster (still a go to daily trainer we recommend), then the Cloudeclipse, the Cloudboom strike…well you can see where this going, I started to like nearly everything. I was nervous to see a complete switch to a new model from the Cloudeclipse and it is new.

I’m on record saying I prefer firmer midsoles to mushy, dare I say, Cloud-like midsoles. The marketing on this shoe had me expecting something resembling the softness of the Fresh Foam used in New Balance’s 1080 a couple iterations ago, but I can happily report the softness is more subtle. This provided a much better ground feel than other max-cushioned trainers.

After around 30 miles the softness was more apparent but still not approaching mushy. On has tuned their Helion foam, a blend of EVA and OBC foams, to be firmer than what is featured in the Cloudsurfer 2, the daily trainer of the bunch, and not quite as firm as the foam in the Cloudsurfer Next, the speedier of the trio. The midsole provides some mild stability and guidance with the raised medial and lateral sidewalls, and with the midsole rising up to cup the heel.

On’s CloudTec Phase, as you can see in the photos, differs from their signature cloud pods with a layout resembling a set of tumbling dominoes. The stated purpose is to allow the midsole to compress and snap back to shape sequentially as you transition through your stride to toe-off.

I found the ride to be somewhat flat at most easier efforts where I was running at the low end of my easy pace range. The responsiveness kicked in for me when I was running a bit harder than my usual easy paces, not quite at marathon pace but hard enough that I’m sniffing zone 3 by the end of a one hour run.

For the most part I would categorize the ride as smooth, with one exception; recovery runs. I felt like I was working harder and my cadence was lower than normal. There is always the possibility that I had a couple bad runs on those days or I was not getting the best heart rate readings, but I had the same experience a third time with my seldom-used chest strap.

Despite those harder efforts, with one being a 12 mile Sunday morning jaunt, On’s Helion foam was great at protecting my legs and feet. I spent the majority of last year taking a break from longer distances and don’t currently have my long distance legs under me, so I was expecting a good amount of soreness after 12 miles. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling so fresh the following morning.

On slapped a good amount of rubber all over the bottom of the Cloudsurfer Max. The outsole rubber is on the harder side and the traction was pretty good in most conditions.

As I’m in a dry California summer I didn’t have the opportunity to run in the rain but I did run through as many wet sidewalks as I could to simulate running in wet weather, and traction still felt fairly sure. There is a small amount of uncovered foam but most of it is recessed into the decoupling groove.

The midsole foam still looks to be in great shape after running almost exclusively in the Cloudsurfer Max the last couple weeks, and the rubber is still pristine enough that you can still see the small etched cloud on the rear lateral strip of rubber.

The aforementioned recessed decoupling groove has the look of what I like to call “souvenir collectors”, or parts of a shoe that will collect rocks and other debris from the road. This one did not bring home any unwanted passengers in the two weeks I spent running in the shoe, but if you ever hear a clicking sound with every other stride you’ll know why.

On Cloudsurfer Max Fit and Feel

The Cloudsurfer Max runs just the slightest bit longer than I’m used to in my men’s size 11. I had more than the customary thumb’s width between my big toe and the toe bumper, but it did give me a little extra space up front for toe splay and potential foot swelling on longer efforts.

Coach Amanda: On the women’s side I’d say length was similar to all of my other On shoes.

The midfoot is roomy enough to accommodate the sidewalls and still not leave you feeling cramped, while the heel fits just right with the padded strips to hold your heel in place. Once you’ve locked in the lacing, the fit is close to exceptional. The gusseted tongue is stretchy and snug, with 2 strips of padding running parallel to each other to keep the laces from biting into the top of your foot.

There are some drawbacks to the fit and upper, however. The material of the heel collar and pull tab did a number on my achilles area on my longer runs, forcing me to make sure I wore socks with heel tabs pulled up.

The upper, while certainly looking like it would breathe well, did not allow as much air to flow through as I was expecting.

Lastly, the lacing system had me channeling my inner Axl Rose and using more than “just a little patience”. The lace loops don’t seem to hold the laces after you’ve tightened one row and move up to the next.

In order to get a good lockdown you have to hold onto the lace while tightening the lace higher up the chain, which if you’re not careful can leave your foot feeling like it is in a chokehold. Also, the location of the bottom row of lace loops could cause some discomfort if you have bunions or a wider forefoot.

Coach Amanda: I agree that the heel lack of padding is bothersome. I was super excited about this shoe and in that first run afraid that I’d never run in it again. It did get more comfortable, but my nerves about it remained high.

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