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Comparison Review: Craft Nordlite Tempo, Diadora Atomo Star & Salomon Aero Glide 3
May 14, 2025
In the video, we compare nearly identical stats 2025 plateless supercritical foam trainers with very different rides and fits: Craft Nordlite Tempo, Diadora Atomo Star & Salomon Aero Glide 3. Same 40mm heel heights and almost the same stack heights and platform widths.
Written Reviews
Aero Glide 3:
https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2024/12/salomon-aero-glide-3-review-modern.html
Atomo Star:
https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2025/04/diadora-atomo-star-review-max-cushion.html
Nordlite Tempo: coming soon!
Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's
1000’s of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com
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0:00
hello everybody today we're going to
0:01
take a look at three uh state-of-the-art
0:04
superc critical foam powered trainers
0:07
that all have similar stats in terms of
0:09
stack height first the Craft uh Nord
0:12
Light uh Tempo $160 and then also the
0:17
Aeroglide 3 from Solomon at $ 160 as
0:21
well and finally we're going to take a
0:23
look at the deluxe made in Italy
0:26
Atomosar from Diodora uh which comes in
0:30
at
0:31
$240 hi everybody Sam from Road Trail
0:34
Run it's a beautiful spring day in New
0:35
Hampshire finally so I'm back on the
0:38
porch without a coat on to do a video so
0:42
today we're going to take a look at
0:43
three
0:44
state-of-the-art daily trainers uh that
0:48
all share a lot of characteristics but
0:50
are very different in ride and feel so
0:55
um we'll the three we're going to look
0:58
at are the Diodora Ato Star uh which is
1:04
$240
1:07
the Craft Nord Light Tempo
1:12
$160 and the Solomon
1:15
Aeroglide 3 which is also
1:18
$160 so what else do they share well
1:20
they all they share a 40 mm heel all
1:24
three of them um they share a super
1:29
critical foam midsole all quite
1:31
different we'll get into the details of
1:33
that in terms of drop uh the uh uh
1:38
Aeroglide is 8 mm the others are all uh
1:42
both 6 mm so uh a lot of similarities um
1:47
and as we look at uh 2025 uh uh running
1:52
shoes and trainers we're finding uh that
1:55
really really and I'm finding that the
1:58
old EVA midsoles or EVA blends just do
2:01
not measure up to these super critical
2:03
foams so what what what are the midsoles
2:06
here we have an ETPU supercritical foam
2:10
it's an expanded beads kind of um
2:13
approach uh it's the softest and
2:16
bounciest and also least stable of the
2:19
three the
2:22
craft has a uh a blend super critical
2:26
blend with 15% pee um and uh to me it is
2:32
kind of the most reactive and responsive
2:36
if a bit firmer than the other two it's
2:39
called the tempo for good reason even
2:41
though its stats are very similar you
2:43
can see already and we'll get into the
2:45
uppers that its upper is much more kind
2:48
of streamlined almost racelike and also
2:51
in terms of fit narrower the Atomos Star
2:56
uh is the deluxe version of all three
2:59
here uh its foam is uh the soft well not
3:03
the softest but it it I think the most
3:06
uh pleasant of the three um it is uh a
3:10
little bit firmer than the Solomons but
3:13
more pulled together i find beaded foams
3:16
often kind of sneak out the side not as
3:19
stable and you can see the platform with
3:22
the carveout here we have a really
3:25
really pleasant Italian sports car this
3:28
shoe is entirely made in Italy um
3:32
explaining somewhat its price but also
3:35
um its upper is really plush and
3:38
luxurious and that adds a bit to weight
3:40
so let's talk about weight um the um the
3:44
Atomos Star in my US 8.5 sample is uh
3:49
9.35 O 265 gram US8.5
3:54
um the uh Nord Light is uh 8 8.71 ounces
4:02
uh so not quite an ounce lighter uh in
4:05
my 8.5 247 gram and the um Aeroglide is
4:11
the lightest even though you know the it
4:13
it does have a 2 mm um na uh lower 4
4:18
foot which may explain it but it it's it
4:21
comes in at 8.5 o uh I'm sorry 8.5 oz
4:25
242 g US 8.5 all three of them and I
4:31
don't think I can hold all three up at
4:32
once but I'll try have almost identical
4:36
uh platforms on the ground as well so
4:38
they all share a platform that's about
4:42
um uh 90 they all have 90 mm at the heel
4:47
uh the um the Aeroglide is 75 at midfoot
4:53
so uh a little bit narrower and then up
4:56
front uh Aeroglides 105 and the others
5:00
are all uh 110s very very similar so
5:03
these are very very similar uh shoes now
5:06
we'll talk about the upper and then I'll
5:08
get into the ride uh characteristics so
5:12
uh and I'll arrange them sort of like
5:16
uh this the AGlide has a unique kind of
5:20
construction see this little wing out
5:22
here there are absolutely no seams on
5:24
the inside this is a very soft upper uh
5:28
we do have let me uh no gusset here no
5:32
gusset and it could use one um this is
5:35
the least supportive of the uppers i
5:37
would say the most comfortable uh and
5:40
along with the midsole I think this is a
5:43
shoe that favors lighter runners with
5:45
good form there's plenty of room for a
5:47
wider uh foot in here because you can
5:49
see how pliable it is the tongue uh is
5:53
quite thin um this they've really tried
5:57
to keep the weight down uh with the
5:59
upper very comfortable upper now our
6:02
Atomos Star Deluxe
6:05
Deluxe you can see the tongue you can
6:08
see the super plush padding now that you
6:11
know may add a bit to the weight cuz it
6:13
is kind of the heaviest 9.35 oz but
6:16
still very light because we they really
6:19
as with all three of them take advantage
6:20
of the super critical foam uh midsoles
6:24
here unique uh kind of construction
6:27
can't really show you but the gusset
6:31
tongue starts right near lace up and the
6:35
material goes all the way to the front
6:37
of the shoe so it's completely lined
6:40
i've run this barefoot i haven't run a
6:42
bear a shoe barefoot in quite a while
6:44
but here I did not uh hesitate and it
6:47
and it so you could reduce the weight
6:49
the 8 to 18 grams of a sock if you want
6:53
i suspect it's going to be the warmest
6:55
of the uppers in summer but we haven't
6:56
gotten there yet um it um and then uh
7:01
you can see it has a a a kind of more
7:04
podular uh um outsole uh and this leads
7:09
it to being really quite flexible for
7:11
that 34 uh mm uh front stack the Solomon
7:17
while we're on
7:18
flexibility is even more flexible
7:21
somewhat more flexible uh but remember
7:23
it's 32 here um and our uh our uh
7:29
Nordite interestingly is sort of the
7:32
most rigid rocker approach although
7:36
there's no plate none of them have a
7:37
plate and that comes from the its uh
7:41
kind of die-cut outsole these kinds of
7:43
outsoles provide response and structure
7:46
to the shoe so while it isn't a flexible
7:50
shoe it feels like it i had to go back
7:52
and look after two runs and flex them to
7:55
see but uh very smooth running its upper
7:59
is a a thin single layer kind of uh mono
8:03
mesh engineered uh material in terms of
8:07
its fit it is quite narrow unlike prior
8:11
uh prior um craft which were very sloppy
8:15
here we have a lot of support we have a
8:17
gusset tongue the rear is really nicely
8:21
you can see really nicely padded we have
8:24
a bit of a heel counter um and this
8:26
helps uh I think this will be the most
8:28
breathable shoe come summer uh but this
8:31
is a more performanceoriented shoe of
8:34
course they call it tempo and I think
8:36
that's correct even though its stats are
8:39
really similar to all the rest it rides
8:41
more like a tempo shoe than the more
8:44
mellow
8:46
uh Atomos Star which is kind of your
8:49
allaround kind of plush daily trainer
8:52
from top to bottom beautiful
8:54
construction here you can see the made
8:56
in Italy and the flag on the rear here
9:00
we have a a more rigid heel counter
9:03
quite a bit more reinforcement here this
9:05
this leather reinforced it's actually
9:08
quite firm uh you can see that on the uh
9:12
lateral side it's different than the
9:15
medial side which is more extensive this
9:18
is the most stable of the three shoes
9:20
although our our Nord Light gets pretty
9:24
close um uh so uh in terms of ride this
9:29
guy is just a lot of fun the price is
9:32
there of course but this is just deluxe
9:35
without a weight penalty really because
9:37
you know 9.35 ounces for a 40 34 stack
9:41
and all this wonderful upper is quite
9:44
amazing i will note that its fit is a
9:47
little bit narrow up in front um it
9:50
stretched after a couple runs maybe a
9:52
little short because of its extensive
9:54
toe bumper uh but true to size for me no
9:57
question if you take the socks out or
10:00
you use thin socks you'll get a good fit
10:02
here just a delight this one is more
10:06
your kind of pick up and go at the same
10:09
stackite its foam is a little bit uh
10:12
firmer than our um than our Ato Star but
10:17
uh um with our um uh Solomon the softest
10:23
by far I mean quite a bit softer um the
10:26
the Solomon you can see this upper very
10:30
comfortable but not particularly
10:32
supportive um I also noted uh this
10:37
winter when I was running them some on
10:40
wet kind of little bit of slush that
10:44
this kind of grip here does not really
10:47
have as much grip and you can see the
10:49
coverage is quite minimal um but on wet
10:53
wet just plain wet roads it was fine uh
10:56
if you're really interested in the
10:58
Solomon and it's bouncy super fun ride
11:01
you might also look at the gravel
11:04
version there's a small weight penalty
11:07
of well there's 9.2 oz in the 8.5 so
11:11
little bit lighter than the Atomo and
11:14
the gravel version has a more reinforced
11:17
upper you can see still not the most
11:19
supportive and uh but still quite for a
11:23
road shoe really good for a trail shoe
11:25
so so and more extensive rubber coverage
11:28
not super deep so this one runs really
11:31
nicely on the road and this rubber helps
11:34
stabilize it some and its grip is more
11:37
extensive so I ran these on the snow or
11:39
ran these on the road this is really uh
11:43
a little bit less pace flexible it's
11:45
going to favor uh moving along and
11:48
getting off the heel uh even though we
11:51
have the active chassis your foot sits
11:53
down you can see the foam rising and a
11:57
lot of the Solomons in the in the rear
11:59
that helps stabilize some but this is a
12:01
super fun shoe maybe not quite as
12:04
practical uh either of the Aeroglides
12:08
especially the road as the um the other
12:11
two um sort of in the category of say
12:14
the Nova Blast 5 from um from uh AS6 as
12:19
sort of a a a good comparative uh over
12:23
here good comparative uh the Vomero from
12:26
Nike Vomero 18 this is a much much
12:29
smoother running shoe with a much more I
12:32
find if a softer kind of energetic mid
12:37
uh midsole whereas over here with our uh
12:41
Nord light you could easily compare this
12:44
even though it's heavier to something
12:46
like the Rebel uh V4 or the AS6 NUSA try
12:50
i'm I'm surprised by this one um it
12:54
don't because of the 4034 there's plenty
12:57
plenty of stack height for daily
13:00
training so if you like kind of maybe I
13:02
won't call it an old school ride um uh
13:06
because it is an EVA it definitely has
13:09
more energy return but sort of firmer
13:11
more taut kind of ride you go here if
13:15
you want super plush uh not much weight
13:19
penalty even though a little bit from
13:20
the upper you want super comfort you go
13:23
with the Diodora and if you want kind of
13:26
the fun and bouncy and you're efficient
13:28
well aligned you go with a Solomon we
13:32
have uh we'll have uh a re a written
13:35
review of the Nord Light soon uh we have
13:38
uh written reviews of the Atomos Star
13:41
and the Aeroglide over at Roadt Trail
13:43
Run thank you very much for running and
13:46
for watching have a great uh weekend and
13:51
we'll see you on the roads
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