On Cloudmonster Hyper Running Shoe Review

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Sportitude shoe expert Josh Willoughby reviews the On Cloudmonster Hyper running shoe that fills the gap in the On shoe family as their go-to super trainer.

This highly anticipated On Running shoe stays honest to the ingenuity of the Swiss brand while offering a joy-inspiring ride that's fun and exciting to run in.

Designed for an effortless feel with a smooth, forward-rolling ride, the On Cloudmonster Hyper provides max cushioning to support your daily training. Compared to the On Cloudmonster 2, it provides protection in a slightly lighter and snappier package.

Up top, it wraps your feet in an engineered woven upper made with 85% recycled polyester to treat your feet to premium comfort while lifting the burden of plastic waste off the environment. A secure yet voluminous fit allows your toes to splay naturally as you clock up the kilometres.

Complete with On Running's signature CloudTec pods and springy Helion super foam, the comfort remains consistent as we work our way down towards the full ground contact outsole. Tested for performance in hot conditions and roads slick with rain, the outsole provides trustworthy traction for your running adventures.

From easy-going jogs to tempo training, the On Cloudmonster Hyper is a running shoe that lets you flow over the pavement with energised comfort.

Check out the review with full transcript below.

Hey everyone, in my hand I have the On Cloudmonster Hyper, a very exciting shoe, a shoe we've been waiting on for months.

We've been really amped about what this running shoe is going to bring to you the running community. It is the shoe that On Running have needed for a long time now. It's the one piece in their whole shoe catalogue that they were missing, that super trainer model.

This running shoe features full-length Helion foam with a PEBA forefoot. It's extremely exciting, very light and very versatile.

On Running have their whole catalogue covered from the On Cloudeclipse which is their high stack offering, right through to the On Cloudflow and every shoe in between. Now, the super trainer category is covered with the On Cloudmonster Hyper.

I want to give you all the inside goss on this running shoe, tell you the statistics that you need to know and share a bit of my feedback on how it has performed for me.

It's very exciting when we get a running shoe that has a lot of hype and pun intended there with the On Cloudmonster Hyper. We got our hands on this running shoe about 10 months ago and were able to do some prototype testing for On.

Their Zurich office or their head office over in Europe sent us a pair and wanted us to give some of our initial thoughts on this shoe.

Unfortunately, the running shoe that came through was a 10.5, not my size 9, so the feedback came from a couple of our employees at Sportitude. Nathan Pope and Josh Nielson were able to put a few kilometres inside the original prototype of that shoe.

Since then, On Running hasn't gone back to the drawing board. They were happy with that design and that model. What we have in front of us today is the exact replica of that prototype.

Midsole

First things first, the On Cloudmonster Hyper running shoe has quite a change in the midsole. We still have the On CloudTec technology on play.

You can still see those very recognisable CloudTec pods that call-out on the midsole of this shoe. Helion foam from the heel runs right through to the forefoot, but we have a PEBA foam which has been injected through the front half of this shoe.

You can see that called out by the different colours, with the white foam through the front half being PEBA foam and the Helion foam through the back half which is highlighted in green, making up around 75% to 80% of the midsole.

Helion is a very resilient foam – we know Helion and we know it works quite well. It's been injected into a lot of On shoe midsoles over the last three to four years, but the exciting part of this running shoe is obviously that PEBA change through the forefoot.

What's that going to do for a runner? It's going to provide a little more pop through the forefoot and allow On Running to take a bit of weight out of this running shoe. It is a bit lighter than what we have found with the On Cloudmonster 2. By reducing the weight and getting a slightly snappier shoe on your foot provides a more fun or a slightly more exciting experience with everything that's going on underneath the body.

The foam is still attached to that Speedboard which runs from the heel right through to the forefoot, so you still have that element of stiffness which you want in a running shoe like this. You don't want it to be too flexible because then you won't get that propulsive feel through the forefoot when you’re toeing off out of your gait cycle.

The midsole is on a 38mm stack, with 38mm in the heel and 32mm through the front half for that 6mm offset. It’s keeping pretty consistent with most On Running shoes, being around that 5mm to 6mm heel-to-toe drop.

With that Helion foam on the medial side, like all On Running shoes they don't really inject any guidance support or any focus on that overpronation element of running. With the Speedboard and how the CloudTec pods have been engineered, it's all about getting through that gait cycle on that Z-axis, without being focused on the X and Y-axis.

Everyone is going to have some form of pronation, be it overpronation or under pronation, so they're all about getting you through the midsole as efficiently and as comfortably as you possibly can.

By using the Helion foam and that PEBA forefoot, you're going to get the compression in the areas you need it. Through the back half, you're going to be able to lean into this Helion foam of the CloudTec technology if you're a heel striker or a midfoot striker. If you are a forefoot striker you can get the compression out of that PEBA foam which is great.

This running shoe is very comfortable and very effortless when jogging. You could take it out the door and go for easy runs if you wish. However, when I picked the pace up and got to my threshold paces, I got along better with this running shoe than I did when jogging.

Jogging was still exceptionally comfortable but when you can put a bit of force through that PEBA foam, you get a little bit more out of that midsole which was a lot of fun and really exciting through toe-off.

Upper

There’s a couple of other features we need to address. The upper is a very light, very breathable engineered mesh and you expect this with On shoes. I've been a big advocate of On Running shoes for a number of years now, but the uppers are always exceptional.

Rarely do you find an upper that has been executed with absolute precision. Of course, there's some changes and variability with volume within a lot of shoes in all brands and On Running is no different.

The On Cloudmonster Hyper has a little bit more volume through the forefoot. From a sizing perspective I'd say it's pretty close to true to size.

I fluctuate between a size 9.5 and a 9 with most On shoes. I could have gone to a size 9.5 but I decided to go for a 9 in this shoe. It’s probably due to the fact of having to drop down half a size or a size for some runners in the On Cloudmonster 2, so I went for a size 9 in the On Cloudmonster Hyper.

I'm wearing my Feetures socks and I find it to be absolutely fine, so it’s pretty consistent with sizing.

On the inside of the heel collar you have a really nice amount of memory foam. It’s not overly catered. What I mean by that is some brands do whack in a lot of foam to make the running shoe really comfortable on first step in. You don't want that, it over complicates the whole fit.

The internal heel counter at the back provides enough support. It's not overly structured, there's a little bit of give at the back but that's a good thing. It's a slightly lighter shoe, so you don't want it to be too restrictive. The memory foam on the inside plus the material which has been used is very soft to touch and extremely comfortable.

The other thing I will call out is that you do have the extra eyelet. I've gone back to the last eyelet probably because there isn't a traditional heel counter, so I want a little more support. That gave me a better lockdown with the overall fit.

It has a gusseted tongue which is slightly wider than what I have found with the On Cloudstratus or even the On Cloudmonster 2. Having a little bit more width on the tongue allows for a bit more of a conformed fit over the top of your arch.

The gusseted construction gives you that lockdown and customised fit which is really important with dialling in the upper and comfort of a running shoe.

Outsole

Coming to the outsole you can see underneath we don't have that vertical decoupled line. On Running are removing that visible gauge where you can see the Speedboard.

They're hiding that so therefore you won't be picking up those little rocks and sticks and sometimes gumnuts here in Australia which we happen to catch in the bottom of our On shoes. They seem to be phasing that type of technology out which I think is a really good thing.

The On Cloudmonster Hyper features full ground contact. The rubber has been placed in those hard-wearing areas, at the back of the heel for heel strikers. Through the front half it has great coverage and there is a little bit of exposed Helion foam through the forefoot which is that green foam.

This outsole is going to protect the midsole, being the asset of this running shoe, and I personally have found this shoe to be really comfortable on slightly wetter days.

I took it out for run this morning and it rained last night here in Adelaide and it's absolutely fine on those damper surfaces. We had a bit of a heat wave about a week or so ago and I took my On Cloudmonster Hyper out at around 35°C (95°F). In terms of the heat coming from the road, it was absolutely fine. I didn't get that uncomfortable friction that can sometimes occur with a new shoe on a hot surface when running.

I've given it a bit of a test in a couple of different climates, heat and the rain and it's performed absolutely fine from my perspective.

Widths

Being a new shoe, you would expect On Running to only make it in the one width so that's a standard D width in men's model and a B width in the women’s model.

It is marginally broader than a traditional D width. For example, if you’re coming from New Balance shoes or Asics shoes, you may be a standard D width in that.

You'll probably find the On Cloudmonster Hyper to be a little bit more roomy through the forefoot. I’m not going to say it’s a 2E by any stretch, but it's somewhere between a D and a 2E in my opinion.

I like that because when I'm picking up the pace in a running shoe like this I can actually lean through the forefoot and splay my toes through the front half. This allows me to really push down and engage that PEBA foam to get exactly what I want out of the front half of this shoe. It’s incredibly comfortable and I love what this shoe is all about.

Similar Running Shoes To The On Cloudmonster Hyper

The On Cloudmonster Hyper running shoe lands in the first week of April 2024. We've already seen some reviews released early in the northern hemisphere.

This running shoe is going to be very exciting. It's going up against the Asics SuperBlast, New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainers (New Balance SuperComp Trainer v2 above) and that super trainer category which is growing year on year at the moment in the last couple of seasons.

This running shoe is going to sit straight in the mix of those running shoes which is great. There's a lot of exciting shoes coming out and if you happen to be someone that wants to grab an everyday mileage shoe and want a little bit more out of the midsole, the On Cloudmonster Hyper is going to do exactly that for you.

You may be someone that wants to add this into your shoe rotation and you already have your daily trainer or your workhorse covered. However, you want that running shoe that's going to offer a little bit of protection, that’s relatively light but going to give you plenty of pop through the forefoot. In this case, the On Cloudmonster Hyper is a shoe that I would certainly recommend.

It is going to stay in my shoe rotation. I can’t wait to put more kilometres into this running shoe and I’m pretty excited to hear the feedback from you the running community.

The Wrap Up

If you have any questions about the On Cloudmonster Hyper or the On Cloudmonster 2 and where the crossover is please contact our Sportitude shoe experts.

They are different shoes and I'm not going to lie, while they talk to that same neutral runner, someone that's looking to spend plenty of time out on the road, you're going to get different experiences from one to the next.

Please subscribe to the Sportitude YouTube channel if you haven’t already done so and we'll keep pushing out shoe reviews like this for you the fantastic running community all over the world.

Thanks for tuning in and until next time, stay safe, be kind to one another and happy running. We'll see you out on the road, take care.

FEATURES

On Cloudmonster Hyper

Support: Neutral
Upper: Mesh
Midsole: On Cloudtec, Helion
Heel Height: 38mm
Forefoot Height: 32mm
Offset / Drop: 6mm

Men

Weight: 270g / 9.5oz (US 9)
Width: D (standard)

Women

Weight: 218g / 7.7oz (US 8.5)
Width: B (standard)

For a more in-depth shoe fitting experience, you can book a free 15 minute video chat in a Live Fit session or make an appointment to discover your RunDNA at Sportitude Running at Hindmarsh or Sportitude at Fullarton.

Book your RunDNA assessment today!

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