TRIED & TESTED: The Salomon DRX Bliss Serves Up Stability, Comfort and More

Salomon is a name synonymous with hard-wearing, terrain-conquering trail shoes; but their running credentials aren’t just limited to the wild. The company has taken a big stride into the world of urban laps with the release of their first stable street runner (the Salomon DRX Bliss) and—spoiler alert—we’re seriously impressed.

The DRX Bliss is punted as a versatile, lightweight running shoe with omnidirectional support for precise strikes from your first step until that final push. It also packs plenty of cushioning to keep your tarmac capers feeling smooth and comfortable. Sounds like exactly what I want from a daily trainer with the capacity for longer runs when I’m craving additional mileage.

I laced up to test drive these urban-ready kicks—here’s how they fared…

Endless Energy

The shoe’s midsole is constructed from Salomon’s EnergyFoam, a denser material that provides adequate cushioning at the cost of (some) energy return. As a result, these feel firmer underfoot—which I prefer—with enough bounce to string together strides smoothly. While stability shoes do have a reputation for feeling heavy, that inherent clunkiness wasn’t evident at all during my test runs.

In terms of fit, the Salomon DRX Bliss was snug and secure with minimal to no slippage. The plush collar zone is doing most of the heavy lifting here but I could feel the engineered mesh upper doing its part to keep my feet in place. This upper also proved to be incredibly breathable with enough airflow to keep me cool even when the temps, pace, mileage (or all of the above) picked up.

Overall, the fit was snug without feeling suffocating, showing that Salomon was able to strike a delicate balance with their first foray into the world of stability street shoes. 

Stable Relationship

So, what makes this a stability shoe? Look no further than the exterior where the Salomon DRX Bliss wears its technological innovations proudly. The Bliss, like some of Salomon’s trail champions, is reinforced with the company’s Active Chassis—you can see glimpses of this addition from the outside. 

The system runs down both sides of the shoe, starting from the heel and snaking down towards the midsole and back up into the toe box. Essentially, the Chassis will help guide your steps making the Bliss an ideal shoe for runners who tend to overpronate—or for those final kilometres of a long slog where form tends to give into fatigue.

The addition of the Chassis has definitely resulted in superior stability, but some might struggle to adjust to the somewhat specific running style demanded by this guidance system. I, however, appreciated the on-rails experience, especially across longer distances where the Chassis in combination with the shock-absorbing cushioning kept me comfortable and prevented my form from slipping. Ultimately, it checks all the boxes for a dependable daily trainer giving me exactly what I’m looking for: comfy, distraction-free cardio across pretty much any distance.

Gaining Traction

Salomon has decades of experience designing shoes that’ll keep you glued to almost any surface, from rocky outcrops to gravelly descents. So it should come as no surprise then that the Bliss will give you major traction just about anywhere in the urban jungle. 

The Contagrip outsole features a geometric design and flex grooves to keep you grounded without feeling sticky. During my test runs, I could feel it adapt to each new surface—whether I was hopping onto the pavement to dodge a taxi or going out of bounds at the park to sidestep a particularly vicious-looking dog. 

Even after plenty of test mileage, there were no obvious signs of wear on the thick outsole, so you’ll likely get a long lifespan out of the Bliss before swapping out for a new pair. 

Final Verdict

**MH Partnership