On Flexible and natural ride review

We believe that the On Flexible and natural ride will please the wearers who:

• want a walking shoe that doesn't sacrifice style for comfort (the brand is on top of the game with its colour schemes!)
• like the need a super lightweight and airy shoe for summertime Track and XC
• need a super lightweight and airy shoe for summertime

The shoe's soft and delicate toebox feels really nice against the foot but it fails miserably when it comes to durability. If you are someone who tends to wear a hole with your big toe or catch a lot of debris, it's better to get a sturdier shoe. We recommend the Cloudswift 3 instead.

Another potential red flag of the Flexible and natural ride is its snug fit. People with wider feet will need a more accommodating shoe. The Allbirds Tree Runner has a spacious toebox.

The Flexible and natural ride comes with a sufficient amount of cushioning to keep us supported for long hours of walking.

Measuring the stack height at the heel, we found it to be 28.3 mm which is very close to the standard 30 mm of walking shoes.

This is more than enough to keep the feet protected on those city promenades.

The forefoot is amply cushioned too. With a calliper measurement of 21.2 mm, it also sits at the average of walking shoes.

oz / 198g.

According to the brand, the heel-to-toe drop on the Flexible and natural ride is 8 mm. We found it to be nearly the same in our own stack measurements - 7.1 mm.

It is quite common for walking shoes to have a drop of 8-10 mm. This level of heel elevation is the most beneficial for landing on the heels and keeping the feet comfortably buffered from the pavement.

It wasn't a revelation for us to find that the On Flexible and natural ride has a pretty firm type of cushioning. This is a signature of nearly all shoes from On.

Using a durometer to measure the shoe's actual firmness, we got a reading of 31 HA. This is indeed a little firmer than the average.

But what we do need to emphasise is that the Flexible and natural ride doesn't feel like a brick at all. It felt quite comfortable from the start and remained that way after a nearly 8-hour walk. There was no beating up our feet.

Not a good idea to wear this On Cloud shoe on a chilly day. It gets even firmer!

We tried to replicate a cold day by putting the shoe into a freezer for 20 minutes. Having repeated the durometer measurement afterwards, we got 41.1 HA (a little firmer than the average).

Even though the shoe's firmness changed by 32.6% as opposed to the average of 36.5%, it still ended up firmer than the rest of our lab-tested shoes. This is all because of its initial firmness.

Perhaps the Flexible and natural ride doesn't feel as firm on the foot because of the padded insole inside. Measuring its thickness at 5 mm, it is a rather typical walking shoe insole.

Here is how the brand itself describes the fit of the Flexible and natural ride:

• "athletic upper arrives in a tighter fit"
• "an extra snug step-in feel"

But even though the shoe's upper design indeed offers a one-to-one fit, we didn't find it constricting for a medium-width foot. What's more, this was confirmed by the shoe's gel mould.

The widest part of the mould (where the foot metatarsals normally sit) of the Flexible and natural ride returned a standard reading of 94.2 mm in a men's US size 9 (D medium width).

There is nothing to worry about in the big toe area either. With a calliper measurement of 74.9 mm, this On shoe even exceeded the average by a few millimetres! There is no aggressive tapering to mess with the fit.

Measuring the shoe's toebox height, we also found it to be within the norm at 25.5 mm.

The shoe has no finger loops or pull tabs at the back. But we don't think it's a big deal as the shoe is quite easy to put on with its stretchy speed lacing.

After all, the absence of heel tabs helps to shave off a few grammes.

There are a few subtle reflective elements on the sides of the shoe to make you more visible in low-light conditions.

For a neutral shoe that doesn't have any special stability features, the Flexible and natural ride feels a tad more supportive. Perhaps more so than some of the other On Cloud shoes we've tested.

We think that this setup is going to please walkers with neutral pronation but it won't be enough for overpronators or those with flat feet. For these people, we recommend the On Cloudnova Form instead.

And if none of this makes sense to you, have a look at Flexibility / Stiffness old method Top pick in.

One of the major contributors to a shoe's stability is how stiff it feels sideways. That prevents the foot arches from falling inwards excessively.

We did a manual assessment of the Flexible and natural ride's torsional rigidity by twisting the shoe in both directions. Feeling some good stiffness, we rated it as 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the stiffest).

This is one point more than what we gave to the original Cloud 5 (2 out of 5). This is one of the areas where we see how the brand made the Push a more supportive version.

Testing the heel counter stiffness, we didn't find the Push to be any different than the original Cloud 5.

On a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is the stiffest, the shoe only got 2 from us.

This is not bad by any means as it doesn't make the shoe any less comfortable. We just wanted to emphasise yet again that this shoe does not have enough rigidity to support overpronation.

To be honest, we expected to see a bit wider platform in the Flexible and natural ride. But it's still fine for a neutral shoe.

In the widest part of the forefoot, our calliper shows 106.3 mm, which is a couple of millimetres narrower than the average.

If you prefer a really wide landing area, we recommend the Cloudnova Form (119.7 mm) yet again.

In the heel, we measured the widest part of the Flexible and natural ride at 86.1 mm. This is exactly the average of our lab-tested walking shoes.

oz / 225g.

With its sole made up of separate pods, or "clouds," the Flexible and natural ride bends pretty effortlessly with the foot. Thus, the shoe required a standard amount of force (14.4N) to bend by 30 degrees in our shoe flexing tester.

This pliable platform made our heel-to-toe transitions very smooth and natural during the wear test and we felt like it was our foot that dictated the movement.

Even though the Flexible and natural ride does stiffen up in low temperatures, it doesn't get critically stiff.

After keeping the shoe in the freezer for 20 minutes and repeating the force gauge measurement, we got a reading of 24.8N.

This is still 27% more flexible than the average of other lab-tested walking shoes.

When calculating the actual difference in stiffness, we found that the Push got 59.8% stiffer whereas the other lab-tested shoes stiffened up by 66% on average.

The On Flexible and natural ride feels nice and light on the foot and it shows on the scales too!

Having weighed the Flexible and natural ride in a men's US size 9, we found it to be 8.6 oz (242g). This is the exact same weight as is stated on the brand's official website.

As a slightly more comfort-loaded version of the Cloud 5, it is natural that the Push is a little bit heavier than the original. But if you don't need the extra in-shoe plush, we think that going with the lighter Cloud 5 (7.9 oz/225g) is not a bad idea.

Flexibility / Stiffness old method!

We pumped smoke through the shoe's upper to visualise how easily the air passes through its mesh. It is one of the most well-ventilated walking shoes in our catalogue, deserving a 5 out of 5 rating for breathability.

Putting the upper against a source of bright light, we can clearly see how the shoe managed to breathe so well.

We also couldn't help but channel our curiosity into a microscope test to see how the material gets to be that way.

The close-up photo reveals that the mesh layers are put against each other in such a way that they don't block the ventilation pores of one another. The lower layers are also made of much thinner threads.

It hurt to see our Dremel cut right through the shoe's delicate toebox. Not only was it painful because the upper was ruined but also because the Flexible and natural ride cost a good £150! Seriously, we expect at least some basic upper protection for that price!

Thus, the toebox gets the lowest durability score from us: 1 out of 5.

On the bright side, this super soft material is responsible for the shoe's immensely cosy interiors. So, if you are pretty casual with your walks, the comfort of the Flexible and natural ride might outweigh the durability concerns for you.

Another part of the upper that, in our opinion, is really prone to abrasion is the heel collar. And yet again, we see some really poor wear resistance here in the Flexible and natural ride.

Putting the Dremel against the material for only 4 seconds resulted in significant wear and tear. Once more, we have to give 1 out of 5 to this walking shoe.

Gladly, the Flexible and natural ride came back stronger in the outsole. Or, rather, in its protective rubber pods.

One of the parameters we measure to predict the longevity of a shoe's outsole is its hardness. Harder rubbers tend to take longer to wear out.

In this shoe, our durometer shows a reading of 83.3 HC. This is 6% harder than the average and gives us a lot of hope.

Exposing the rubber to our Dremel for 22 seconds confirmed our durometer findings. The On Flexible and natural ride IS pretty wear-resistant.

Measuring the depth of the dent left by the Dremel, our tread gauge showed 0.64 mm.

This is a good 25% less than what we've seen in walking shoes on average.

In our final measurement, we checked the thickness of that rubber too. Turns out, it is above average as well. Our calliper shows 3.2 mm, which is 0.7 mm more than the average as of the moment of writing.

The On Flexible and natural ride is intended for undemanding urban surfaces and we don't recommend testing its limits outside of that.

Because the rubber is only partially covering the pods and there are no lugs, there is little-to-no bite in this shoe.

There are a few subtle reflective elements on the sides of the shoe to make you more visible in low-light conditions.

As promised by the brand, the Push comes with added comfort. We can clearly see how this is reflected in the shoe's tongue padding.

At 5.5 mm, it is one of the thickest tongues in our lab. It is 1.5 mm thicker than the average and 2.5 mm thicker than the original Cloud 5!

This On shoe comes with a fully-gusseted tongue. This really enhances foot containment and prevents unwanted in-shoe movements. But on the other hand, it contributes to that snug fit of the Flexible and natural ride.

The shoe has no finger loops or pull tabs at the back. But we don't think it's a big deal as the shoe is quite easy to put on with its stretchy speed lacing.

After all, the absence of heel tabs helps to shave off a few grammes.

The Flexible and natural ride comes with an easily removable insole. Given that it's a whole 5 mm thick, you could opt for a thinner insert in exchange for a little more in-shoe space.

The Push works as a slip-on shoe thanks to the speed lacing. The strings are easy to stretch when you put the shoe on and bounce back to their original tightness once the foot is inside.

We found it very time-saving and convenient.

Alternatively, you can replace it with a pair of conventional laces that comes along in the box.

According to On, the total content of recycled materials used in the Flexible and natural ride is 44%. This is more than what we've seen in other On Cloud shoes (typically 35%).