Salomon Sense Pro 3 Review

Just got a new pair of Salomon Sense Pro 3s in the mail today. I've been a big fan of the Sense Pro 1 and 2 so here are my thoughts on the new design. 

Sense 3 Left, Sense 2 Center, Sense 1 Right

First, they are very stripped down compared to the 1 and 2. There is a lot less padding, especially in the heel area. Salomon got rid of the ridiculous extension that hung off the heel sole in the 2. I don't know what the point of it was but it was dead weight IMO. Speaking of weight, the Sense 3 is a tad lighter.
Sense 1: 317g
Sense 2: 327g
Sense 3: 305g
The design of the 3 is a lot closer to the SLAB Sense with the 4mm drop and scaled back upper. It feels like the SLAB too. I just hope it's as durable as its predecessors. The SLAB is famously short-lived.

My pair of Sense 1s held up through at least half-a-dozen races varying from 3 to 12 miles and either running or hiking on Longs (2X), Elbert, Yale, Belford/Oxford, and various other smaller mountains in the Southeast.  The Sense 2s seemed less robust to me, and the toe box was narrower (and less comfortable), but they did hold up on Longs, Grays/Torreys, a few races and a lot of snow running. The speed lace mechanism broke near the summit of Pikes Peak. I was trying to get them off to massage some feeling back into my frozen toes and the closure broke. The Salomon rep told me they don't hold up well in the cold. Fortunately the upper had sufficient structure to allow a descent without the lace. That aside, the 3s have a lot to live up to in terms of durability.

I'm most excited about the soles. The 1s really let me down last week on the 2nd flatiron. Part of it was probably age of the rubber, and the destruction wrought by so much granite, but they had almost no grip. The additional rubber and the stickiness of it look promising.

One additional note: the speed lace system on the Sense 3 appears to be much improved.

Now if there was just some silver woven into the material...