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The On Cloudpulse Pro is the culmination of years of innovation. Since first striding onto the running shoe scene in 2010, Swiss footwear upstart On has been steadily picking up the pace, becoming one of the most popular road running shoe brands, while also making inroads into trail running, track and field, tennis, and lifestyle. (They also happen to make one of the best shoes for Hyrox.)
Last year, On released the Cloudpulse, its first foray into strength training. It may not have been our favorite gym trainer at the time -- an over-reliance on the brand's signature CloudTec midsole made the shoe a touch too bouncy for our taste -- but it was a promising sign of things to come.
Cue the new Cloudpulse Pro, the second and latest iteration of the Cloudpulse. Sporting a sleeker silhouette and seemingly more stable construction than its predecessor, it's exactly the kind of sequel we've come to expect from On, a brand that has forged a reputation for sweating the details. But is it a strong enough contender to go toe-to-toe with established strength-training staples like the Nike Metcon and Reebok Nano?
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While the original Cloudpulse offered very little to distinguish itself visually from the average On running shoe, the CloudPulse Pro is immediately identifiable as footwear for serious workouts. It cuts a sharp profile (the black colorway that I tested looks like something Batman would train in) and the integrated elastic that sits on top of the tongue ensures that even the sloppiest of lace-up jobs won't tarnish the shoe's sleek presentation.