Cycling spent the last decade carving itself into smaller and smaller niches: road, then mountain, then the gravel craze that talked everyone into riding drop bars down a fire road. Now that obsession has hopped off the bike entirely. Salomon and Pas Normal Studios just teamed up on the GRVL Concept, a carbon-plated running shoe built for a discipline most people probably didn’t even know was a discipline. We’re talking about gravel running.
Built Like a Race-Day Super Shoe
Strip away all of the styling and the GRVL Concept is a no-joke super shoe. Underfoot sit two full-length carbon EnergyBlade plates buried in a PEBA-based supercritical foam midsole. It’s the exact same plate-and-foam recipe that’s been setting marathon records for years now.
The stack is tall, 43mm at the heel and 37mm at the forefoot for a 6mm drop, which is full max-cushion territory. Now, instead of chunky trail lugs, the outsole copies the shallow tread of a gravel bike tire, with tiny 1.5mm nubs meant to bite into loose ground without slowing you down on tarmac.
A knit mini gaiter blocks the grit, Salomon’s updated Quicklace Neo system handles the fit, and despite all that cushion, each shoe weighs just 262 grams. For a stack this tall, that’s absurdly light, clocking in lighter than plenty of basic daily trainers.
The Pas Normal Treatment
The Copenhagen label has spent over a decade (it launched in 2014) dragging cycling kit into the world of streetwear, and the GRVL Concept lands right inside its experimental T.K.O. sub-collection.
The colorway, officially crowned Dark Earth, Nine Iron, and Sweet Pea, feels like it inspired by desert at golden hour. It’s a mix of muddy brown ripstop, an acid-green knit collar, and soft grey-purple hits to finish it off. Branding stays minimal with just a small T.K.O. tag on the forefoot and reflective initials on the heel. Gravel is core to what PNS does on two wheels, so the collab certainly makes sense.
Spec Sheet
Brand: Salomon x Pas Normal Studios
Model: GRVL Concept (T.K.O. Collection)
Category: Hybrid road-to-gravel super shoe
Midsole: PEBA-based supercritical foam
Plate: Dual full-length carbon EnergyBlade
Stack Height: 43mm heel / 37mm forefoot
Drop: 6mm
Outsole: Gravel bike tire-inspired tread, 1.5mm lugs
Upper: Knit with integrated mini gaiter, Quicklace Neo
Weight: 262g (9.2 oz) per shoe
Sizes: 37⅓ to 49⅓
Colorway: Dark Earth / Nine Iron / Sweet Pea
Price: $300 (£230)
Pricing & Availability
The Pas Normal Studios x Salomon GRVL Concept is available now for $300 (£230) on both the Pas Normal Studios and Salomon websites, in sizes 37⅓ to 49⅓. The matching Race Skin 2 vest runs £160.
Recap
Salomon x Pas Normal Studios GRVL Concept
A carbon-plated super shoe with an outsole lifted off a gravel bike tire. Gravel running is apparently a thing now, and Salomon already owns it.
