On Cloudnova Form 2 review

Do not let the Cloudnova Form 2 get away from you if you're looking for:

• An On companion to stay on your feet all-day long that features a wide base and a roomy toebox.
• A super breathable and comfortable shoe to show off when temperatures go up.
• A stable and supportive pair without any kind of specific stability features.

If you're disappointed with this second iteration because it's heavier than the previous one, then you might as well go for the Cloudnova Form (as long as you don't mind its flimsy upper). However, if you're looking for a real lightweight shoe, as this first version is still slightly heavier than average, we believe you should have a look at this part of our catalogue.

Also, if you're a big fan of reflective elements and you don't mind paying a little bit more, here you have the On models with shiny details on them. On the other hand, if you find On shoes too pricey, you might want to have some fun exploring our affordable walking options.

At 32.9 mm, the Cloudnova Form 2 has a heel stack just as high as the average in the walking shoes category.

It kept us protected and safe from the harshness of urban areas, and even though the feeling wasn't the softest we'd ever tried (we'll talk about this later on), we felt really, really comfortable all-day long!

The heel is slightly lower than average, but nothing too big for our feet to actually feel during our wear tests. In fact, if we hadn't measured this in the lab, we might've never realised!

Our calliper returned 19.8 mm, which didn't completely mute the surface, but the cushioning felt great. Overall, we're pretty happy with this shoe's midsole, as it promotes stability (the bottom is not massive) and at the same time shields us from urban surfaces comfortably and easily.

We are happy to announce that the drop we calculated after measuring both heel and forefoot stacks is almost the same as what the brand announces! At 13.1 mm (On officially says it's 14mm), the Cloudnova Form 2 has a high drop, just like most walking shoes.

But this doesn't mean our feet had to get used to this shoe or anything like that! It felt natural, and we were very comfortable during our wear tests. Even if that meant we had a whole day of walking around town ahead!

As we had already hinted at before, the Cloudnova Form 2 doesn't have the softest midsole ever. Nevertheless, at 30.3 HA according to our durometer, it felt really nice and comfortable underfoot.

The brand says this shoe uses the Zero-Gravity foam, and we can confirm it felt wonderful underfoot thanks to our wear tests around town. The shoe also includes a nylon Speedboard that offers energy return, but the feeling is no way near the one carbon-plated running shoes offer.

The Speedboard focuses on being comfortable and flexible. After all, the Cloudnova Form 2 is designed for walking!

But wait, because that's not all. This midsole is made using renewable materials, with 20% less CO2 emissions compared to standard EVA midsoles.

In order to see if this On pair could keep its composure when temperatures dropped, we put it inside of our freezer for a good 20 minutes.

Then we grabbed our durometer and checked the midsole again. At 36.0 HA, it's become stiffer than average. Nevertheless, the difference between the figures is lower than what most walking shoes score. Losing only 19% of its softness, the Cloudnova Form 2 should be comfortable enough to enjoy during winter.

Just don't forget this On pair has a really breathable upper! If you want to wear it when it's cold, we believe it's better to put on some thick fluffy socks to stop the air from making your feet a couple of ice cubes.

At 4.5 mm, this shoe's insole is slightly thinner than average. We didn't feel the difference on foot, and the best part is that this made the overall design lighter! So yeah, win-win situation.

Despite the Cloudnova Form 2's massively wide midsole, its upper fit is pretty moderate. Its toebox in particular fit exactly the same as the average walking shoe.

In addition to our own wear tests, we also used a custom gel to pour a mould of the shoe's interior shape.

Once the gel cooled off, our calliper measurement confirmed the initial impression. In the widest part of its forefoot, the shoe offers a standard 95.7 mm of width.

The taper angle is also pretty mild in the Cloudnova Form 2. Applying our calliper to the big toe area of the toebox, we got another standard reading of 71.2 mm.

We found no deviations from the average in the toebox height either. At 26.2 mm, it is exactly the same as the average.

This semi-transparent upper felt really soft, but that doesn't mean it didn't offer containment.

As you can see, it doesn't really let our ankles overextend to a dangerous position. But, at the same time, it's important to state clearly that it doesn't offer any specific stability. There are other models that include stability features to give some extra support to your foot if needed. Click here to check them out!

Sometimes we run into shoes that make our thumbs struggle so much, we oftentimes believe we might end up with a cramp! But the Cloudnova Form 2 wasn't like a brick, thankfully. This doesn't mean that it was as soft as chewing gum either. Wait, okay, let us just show you the video first and explain later.

As you can see, twisting and bending it wasn't super hard, but it didn't really give in much. Its midsole made sure our fingers didn't have it easy, so we decided to give this On pair a half-way 3/5 on our torsional rigidity test! (Where 5 is the most rigid).

Its heel counter follows the same path.

As you can see, the sides of the structure, where our ankle bones fit, are lower to give the joint plenty of mobility. However, the back focuses on keeping our Achilles safe and our feet right where they should be.

Consequently, the sides of the heel collar of this On shoe are pretty soft, yet the rear part stood its ground when we tried to push it with our thumb. And... what does that mean? That's right, support! So we have decided to give it a fair 3/5 on our stiffness test.

A wider platform to land on even if we're not running is always a pleasure. And the Cloudnova Form 2 is ready to oblige!

At a crazy 119.1 mm, this shoe's midsole width in the forefoot is far wider than average! Our feet had plenty of space to readjust themselves and move comfortably. Nevertheless, and contrary to what this might make you think, our feet were not dancing around during our wear tests.

We could always tighten the laces, and if we add that to the support the heel offers, our feet get to enjoy a comfortable, easy, and stable ride. The best part is that this On pair doesn't feature intrusive supportive elements, and it's not too rigid to need a break-in period.

It must be our lucky day, as the midsole width in the heel of the Cloudnova Form 2 follows the same logic.

At 98.0 mm, it provided us with a wide platform to land once again. What we loved the most about this is that, when you walk, the part of your foot that lands first is the heel. In other words, the order is: rearfoot, midfoot, forefoot, and repeat!

This means that our ride was always stable, even from the very first moment our feet touched the floor.

Despite being stable, the Cloudnova Form 2 wasn't too hard to flex. Our feet agreed, as it was comfortable right out of the box.

In fact, we only needed 19.4N of force to bend it all the way up to 90 degrees. This translated into an easy ride and smooth transitions during our wear tests, which is something we really appreciate. You know, after all, walking shoes are designed for walking (duh!), so they kind of need to make our feet fall in love with their features in order for us not to ditch them for a different pair.

We are happy to announce that the drop we calculated after measuring both heel and forefoot stacks is almost the same as what the brand announces! At 13.1 mm (On officially says it's 14mm), the Cloudnova Form 2 has a high drop, just like most walking shoes.

But this doesn't mean our feet had to get used to this shoe or anything like that! It felt natural, and we were very comfortable during our wear tests. Even if that meant we had a whole day of walking around town ahead!

It was time for another freezing siesta next to our ice-cream! After 20 minutes, we woke this On pair up and performed the same flex test. This time, we needed 34.1N of force to bend it to the same point.

This meant the shoe had stiffened up a whole 76.4%, which trust us, is a lot! Consequently, it might feel slightly different during winter, as the structure won't follow the feet moves as smoothly.

During our wear tests, we didn't feel this shoe was heavy at all! Our feet were pretty happy with it, and its breathable upper just made the whole experience even better.

When we took it to our lab, our scale returned 10.3 oz/292.0g, which is just slightly higher than average. A difference of only 3% between the Cloudnova Form 2 and the average was unnoticeable for our feet, and we believe you'll most likely feel the same way.

In other words, we can't say this On pair feels like a couple of feathers, but it definitely didn't make our feet more tired than they should either! Walking around town, going to work, heading to the supermarket, or just grabbing a drink all felt wonderful when we wore this shoe. Especially in the summer!

Honestly, as soon as we took this shoe out of its box we already knew its breathability was gonna be over the top. Yeah, yeah, some pairs look tricky, but after our light test, this one was clearly saying: "Please wear me in the summer!".

As you can see, the light shines through the upper material easily. This helped us spot all the ventilation holes this shoe was making use of to keep our feet fresh and happy during our wear tests.

And it didn't disappoint when we grabbed our smoke machine! This is what we call a perfect performance: a big, constant, and toebox-located column of smoke coming out of the shoe easily. On the other hand, we have the Hoka Bondi SR, which struggled a lot more on this test, earning a low 1/5.

Just by looking at the picture our microscope shows might not be enough to guess if this material is breathable or not. We can see thicker and thinner threads, but we always need a closer look to check if there are other layers hidden underneath.

The ventilation gaps are clearly visible here. Taking all this into account, we have decided to give the Cloudnova Form 2 a perfect score of 5/5 on our breathability test.

It's pretty much undeniable: shoes that get a high score on breathability usually feature flimsier uppers. There are always exceptions to the rule, that's for sure. Let's see if the Cloudnova Form 2 is one!

In order to check this, we grabbed our Dremel and started drilling this shoe's toebox with 3.2N of force and at 5K RPM. Even though we wanted to look away when we saw black threads flying around, we stayed strong and breathed deeply... it was time to see the final results!

Alright, not bad! Not bad at all, actually. Let's not forget that this On pair got a 5/5 on our breathability test. Also, as you can see, the Dremel barely caught the protective layer of the toebox, which means the upper was completely exposed!

In comparison to the On Cloudrift (on the right), the Cloudnova Form 2 shines even brighter. As you can see in the picture, the Cloudrift ended up with a real hole in its upper! It couldn't withstand the Dremel's abrasive power (totally understandable, though) and it lost its integrity completely.

Nevertheless, the Cloudnova Form 2 managed to avoid being fatally injured. To give it proper credit for that, we have decided it deserves an average 3/5 on our toebox durability test.

We can happily tell you that the heel padding followed the toebox's example.

Once again, we freaked out just a little bit at the beginning when we saw black threads fly away and pop like popcorn. Nevertheless, when we lifted the Dremel, we were pretty happy with the result!

The damages of the tool are clearly visible, and that's a fact. Nevertheless, the Cloudnova Form 2 fought with all its might, so we believe it deserves another 3/5 on durability.

Even though we usually use the comparison between 2 shoes to illustrate how terrible the performance of one of them is on one of our tests, we're doing quite the opposite right now. Wait, let us explain ourselves: in this case, the unbeatable Skechers Summits (on the right) show minimal to no damage and, the Cloudnova Form 2 (left) ended up a little bit wounded, but nothing crazy!

Following what's typical from On, the Cloudnova Form 2 features a mix of exposed foam and rubber on its outsole. We always put our durometer on the same spot, so this time we measured the hardness of one of the rubber-covered areas.

It returned 83.5 HC, which is higher than average. This means the material focuses more on durability than on traction. Well, or that's how it should be, right Dremel?

The tool took no time to respond, as it drilled this On's pair outsole non-stop for 22 seconds with 3.2N of force and at 10K RPM this time.

After what we believe must have felt like an eternity to the Cloudnova Form 2, we finally put the tool aside and saw the damage was not too big.

After measuring it with our tread gauge, it returned 1.0 mm, which is less than average. This shows the rubber part of this On's outsole is ready to resist the constant abrasion of urban surfaces!

We completely agree with On regarding the choice of this shoe's outsole thickness.

Our calliper returned 2.7 mm, which is lower than average. As the rubber of this shoe focuses on durability, using a thicker piece would just add some unneeded extra weight to the shoe. And we definitely don't want that!

Before we go down to business, let us show you a picture of what we're going to be talking about:

This shoe's outsole features a mix of rubber and exposed foam. The first one comes in brown (more like a toffee colour) and black (just on the outer side of the ball of the foot), and the second one is just plain white.

With tough rubber covering the hard-wearing areas, we found this shoe's traction pretty good. It gripped easily and non-stop on urban surfaces, so we don't have anything to complain about here!

Additionally, the massive gap between dividing the sole offered us wonderful flexibility! This new design also made the outsole stop collecting pebbles (some got stuck into the big cut, but we didn't feel that underfoot!) and make us feel uncomfortable whilst walking.

The On Cloudnova Form 2 being slightly cheaper than the Cloudnova Form was a positive surprise to us! After all, this second iteration isn't only more breathable, but also more durable. So it kind of fixes a couple of potential drawbacks even with a renewable design.

Alright, alright. Maybe its lack of reflective elements explains why the Cloudnova Form is cheaper than its predecessor!

The 2.9 mm of tongue padding this On pair has might not be enough to save your instep from some uncomfortable lace bite if you tighten your laces like crazy.

To be honest, we don't believe this shoe was created for that anyway. Like, it's a walking shoe, not a running one! Its gusseted tongue and structured heel held and supported our feet well enough for us during our wear tests. So we didn't really need to put into practice any of our top 12 shoe lacing techniques.

A fully-gusseted tongue offered us even more foot containment.

Despite adding some extra weight, we really liked this design choice. Why? Well, well, we'll try not to get too nerdy explaining it! You see, this shoe has a wide base and a soft upper. That being said, despite being soft, we can't say it's well-padded. The Cloudnova Form 2 keeps it low in order to reduce weight, yet its gusseted tongue and tough heel offer the support we need.

There's no heel tab around! But this shoe's opening is wide enough for us not to have any problem putting it on and off.

Our love for removable insoles never fades!

And the Cloudnova Form 2 will happily let you swap their insoles and go for the ones you need or want with no problems. Also, as this shoe's base is pretty wide, you shouldn't have any issues fitting them in.