Salomon Aero Glide 3 vs Salomon Aero Glide 4:
Which to Choose

These two shoes are far more alike than different — same neutral platform, no plate in either, and both landing on 10K, half, and marathon as their range, with the long run as the clear sweet spot. Dimensionally they're near-twins: the Aero Glide 3 sits on roughly a 42mm heel / 32mm forefoot stack at about 248g (men's US 9), while the Aero Glide 4 runs a hair taller and heavier at 43mm / 32mm and 255g, with the drop nudging from 10mm to 11mm. The meaningful upgrade is underfoot feel. The Aero Glide 3's Energy Foam delivers a soft, forgiving, gently cushioned bounce that stays smooth at easy effort but flattens into a merely pleasant roll when you push turnover. The Aero Glide 4's new optiFOAM² supercritical eTPU is both softer and noticeably livelier, with a genuinely springy toe-off and roughly 72–73% energy return — strong for a trainer and closer to superfoam territory than the v3 ever got, which is why it rates higher on both cushioning (maximum) and responsiveness. The catch is stability: the taller, softer v4 over a fairly narrow platform can feel slightly tippy at very slow, plodding paces, where the v3 feels the more planted, settled ride of the two. Fit shifts too — the v3 pairs a snug toebox with a roomy midfoot, while the v4 opens the toebox slightly but tightens into a narrower, more secure midfoot, so neither is ideal for genuinely wide feet.