Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Nike Shoes - Which one?

So there are a whole range of Nike shoes now out - but which one is the right one for you? Luckily. I've managed to go through most of the range and can advise you on the differences...

The main difference is the specific material being used in the midsole and whether there is a carbon fibre plate. With that in mind, lets look at each of the shoes that are part of the main line:-
  • Vaporfly 4% V2 - Carbon-plate, Pebax (Zoom X), Flyknit upper
  • Turbo Pegasus - No carbon-plate, Pebax / TPU (Zoom X / React), Standard upper
  • Zoom Flyknit - Carbon-plate, TPU (React), Flyknit upper
  • Epic / Odyssey / Legend - no carbon-plate, TPU (React), various uppers
  • Pegasus - No carbon-plate, EVA foam, standard upper
  • Free - No carbon-plate, EVA foam, standard upper
That's just a load of jargon though... What is the real difference?
 
Lets deal with the first one on the list...
 
The Vaporfly 4%
 
Alleged to give you a 4% improvement in running economy (no... that doesn't mean a 4% improvement in your running times).
 
The Vaporfly for me is a transformative shoe due to the combination of the Pebax foam (which is incredibly light for the level of cushioning) and the carbon plate (which adds significant stiffness). This combination allows you have a very light shoe which is still stiff with good energy return.
 
The carbon fibre plate or the Pebax foam on its own is not that effective. Plenty of shoes over the years have tried to use a carbon fibre plate and they haven't been game changers. The carbon fibre plate adds weight and when combined with heavier foam results in a shoe which doesn't have the same feel as the Vaporfly.
 
This is essentially the Zoom Fly Flyknit. It's a great shoe (more on it later) but as the React foam is both heavier and less responsive than the Zoom X (Pebax) foam, you don't get the same response from the shoe.
 
By contrast, without the carbon fibre plate, a shoe purely with the Pebax foam feels almost sloppy. The foam absorbs a huge amount of energy and your foot strike ends up feeling dull. Great cushioning but not much zip.
 
The combination leaves you with a lightweight racing shoe, with loads of cushioning, a decent size heel-toe drop and plenty of zip.
 
Now, I've had the question, particularly for shorter distances:
 
"Why wouldn't you just wear a racing flat?"
 
My answer to that is that a true racing flat (or pair of track spikes) has the same if not more rigidity and so you get a similar level of energy return. But most people cannot race in a pair of full-on racing flats for more than 5k / 10k. There are a few odd exceptions who can do a marathon in them (mostly featherweight elites) but for most people the additional protection and cushioning means that as you're entering into mile 10 of a half marathon or mile 22/23 of a marathon your legs are still in decent nick and able to push hard.
 
Rather than thinking about the Vaporfly as the evolution of the racing flat, it's the evolution of the Hoka. Maximalist but truly fast (and one of the reasons why the Hoka Carbon Rocket is going to be a very interesting shoe).
 
Why wouldn't you want to race in the Vaporfly? Well, if you are one of those featherweight runners you might be just as well off in a pair of racing flats or if you're running a track race then you may want to be in spikes but for the most part there's not a good reason. These are the main concerns:-
 
  • Performance in wet conditions isn't ideal as the structure of the midsole can feel pretty spongy almost creating a suction effect on the ground in the wet with sub-optimal grip.
  • The shoes don't corner particularly well. You're high off the ground and your fit sits on the top of the midsole so there's a degree of torque there.
  • They are very expensive (although the general inflation in the price of running shoes has been fairly obscene and you can now pay £150 for a very mediocre pair of trainers).
  • The exposed Pebax foam is relatively soft and can be worn away very quickly. You're unlikely to get hundreds of miles out of these. More like 100.
I have two final caveats - firstly, as they wear away quickly *and* are expensive, unless you're an elite, you won't be wearing a pair of these on a regular basis for training. I have an original pair which I now use solely for track workouts or races with a small off-road element and a pair of the Flyknits which are used for races.

As they have a very different feel to a pair of traditional racing flats I wouldn't jump into them immediately as you will be at risk of an injury. You need to get used to them first of all which is difficult with an expensive pair of fragile racing shoes. My strong recommendation therefore is to buy a pair in conjunction with the Zoom Flyknit and use them to prepare your legs.

There is a psychological point about the Vaporflys... As they are relatively fragile, you only wear them to race. You get the same "pick me up" that you get when you spike up for a track race. I've never had this before with road racing shoes. When you put them on - it's go time.

The second caveat is that if you are a "pure" forefoot runner (e.g. one of those featherweights I mentioned earlier) then you'll get less of the benefit as you don't "roll" through to activate the carbon fibre plate. That in itself isn't a huge issue but I've found that landing square on the forefoot (which I do when sprinting), I can feel the carbon fibre plate through the foam and that could create issues over a long race.

As my final aside ... I have particular love for the Vaporfly name as I ran my 10k, HM and M PBs in the original Nike Vaporfly. Nike developed the May Fly as a revolutionary light weight racing shoe that would only last for 100 miles (hence the name). The Vapor Fly was its big brother with slightly more cushioning for exactly the same reasons set out above. I still miss my pair which eventually fell apart after much stitching.

I've not spoken much about the upper - the initial version had a mesh upper, the newer one has moved to Flyknit. I'm pretty ambivalent. On a wet day, I probably wouldn't go with Flyknit. If you have lots of money then you can get the special 3D printed version.

I've yet to see any pair on sale. Limited drops of the product and high demand has meant until the last few months they would sell out as soon as they "dropped". The current colourways leave something to be desired. The navy and red highlight version looks nice but the rehashed Bright Crimson (for the third time) with a slight blue highlight is uninspired after some fantastic early numbers. Maybe if Bright Crimson was really crimson and not orange I might prefer it... The best at the moment is the limited edition Gyakusou (not available in the UK) in a dark purple and yellow.

You should be aware that Nike has started to do a fashion version of the Vaporfly without the carbon plate. Don't get confused!

Okay, that's it for the Vaporfly which really does sit in a class of its own. Let's move onto the Turbo Pegasus.

Turbo Pegasus

The Turbo Pegasus is misnamed in my opinion. A better name would be the Lunar Racer Mark 4 (I think that's right...). It has far more in common with the old Lunar Racer in terms of purpose, feel and design than it does with the Pegasus line. Henceforth I'll call it the Turbo in this review.

The Turbo isn't designed for racing in the same way that the Vaporfly is. Whilst the rubber on the sole doesn't extent the full length, the whole outsole is flat therefore encourages you to roll through the foot more and adopt a less aggressive foot position. Think less track reps and more rolling long runs.

The midsole is a combination of the Pebax foam we mentioned above (Zoom X) and the React foam. This wasn't made *that* clear in the initial marketing material which certainly gave the feeling that you were purchasing a Vaporfly without the carbon sole but hey, you should read the fine print.

The only real objection I have to the use of two different midsole materials is that they have been glued together so you need to take care when taking them off not to split the two layers (yes, that means undoing the laces and not just stamping on the heel).

The combination of the two leads to a ride which is light, not particularly responsive and fairly durable. These work well as everyday trainers to do all your running in. Particularly tempo runs and long runs.

They have nothing really to do with the Pegasus...

My main objection with these shoes is the price-point. At £160 I would say you're better off getting another pair of Vaporflys or a pair of the Flyknits which both represent much better value. You've not got the expensive carbon plate here and the technology isn't exceptional. The only reasoning for the high cost would be the cost of the ZoomX foam which I guess could be a licensing issue as the actual quantity of it used is a lot less than for the Vaporfly.

Basically, I see these shoes as going for more like £120-£130 RRP and on sale at £80-90. At that price point I think they're a buy.

If you're careful taking them off, then the React Foam does last a long while so maybe they're worth an investment as a non-carbon fibre plate shoe. They then run into competition from the Epic / Odyssey / Legend range though as well as the Pegasus itself.

Zoom Flyknit

This to me is the hidden gem in the whole range. I put them as a hard buy particularly when you can now get them on sale for less than £90 at certain retailers.

The Zoom Flyknit is basically what the Pegasus Turbo was marketed as. A budget and durable Vaporfly.

It wasn't always good news though. The Zoom Fly was launched at pretty much the same time as the first gen Vaporfly as the cut-price cousin. With a plasticky plate (nylon infused with carbon from memory) inserted into an EVA midsole it was clunky, heavy and had very little response. If you were being kind you could refer to it as a Pegasus plus but in reality it was probably a Pegasus minus. The Zoom Fly (and Zoom Fly SP) are both still being sold so make sure you don't buy one of these.

The second iteration is possibly one of the biggest jumps I've ever seen between version 1 and version 2 of a pair of shoes. The introduction of Flyknit, the change in the midsole to the durable and lighter React foam (not as light as Zoom X but you can't have everything) and the change in the plate from nylon to full carbon fibre revolutionised the shoe.

The shoe is now a budget Vaporfly. The React cushioning is good but (like the Pebax) can still be a bit dull without the carbon plate. With it, you now have a light(ish) weight, responsive trainer which keeps your legs in good nick.

I've found the best environment for the Zoom Fly to be long runs. It doesn’t mind a slower start but almost inexorably gets you pushing faster throughout the run. If you were going to design a shoe for “steady” runs it would be this shoe. It’s not perfect for intervals or for jogs. But steady runs all the way up to tempo it is pretty much perfect.

The most noticeable thing I’ve found since doing my long runs in it have been a) how easily I slip into a faster pace for the second half and b) how fresh my legs feel afterwards. For once I’m not hobbling after a long run but wandering around normally.

The one caveat here is that the carbon plate, if you’re a forefoot runner, can be sometimes felt through the foam but that’s rare.

The shoes have gone through several hundred miles for me so far and I’ve noticed almost no difference in feel. My friend who is very picky about his shoes, runs without socks and retires them to the pub the second he thinks they’re going (to be fair they still get a *lot* of use there) points out every morning we run in that they feel pretty much the same as when he first got them.

What’s the biggest selling point though? They unlock the Vaporfly. There’s no question it encourages a slightly unusual gait and foot strike with the carbon plate. For those of us without unlimited resources the Zoom Fly lets you do your long runs and tempos in a shoe that has the same, almost unique feel and foot position, as you get in the Vaporfly without burning through a pair each week.

Epic / Odyssey / Legend React

I’ve lumped these three in together because functionally I see them as very similar.

These shoes are what I see as the response to Adidas’ Ultra Boost series. They each have a full length React foam midsole with no carbon plate so the ride is relatively similar. There are differences in the amount of React and the uppers (some are Flyknit, some not) but on the whole these shoes are all going to fulfil a similar purpose in your arsenal.

The comments above for the Zoom Flyknit apply equally for these shoes in relation to the React foam. It’s hard working, has an almost pillowy feeling whilst still giving a decent response back. It’s probably more useful for slow long runs, easy runs and recovery runs than for faster steadies and speed work. That said, the weight and the response is such that if you wanted to race in it, particularly longer distances, you probably wouldn’t have any complaints.

One of the main reasons to wear these is if you are a forefoot striker and the carbon plate on the Zoom Fly Flyknits irritates you.

There’s nothing *wrong* with these shoes. They are just stable workhorses for pounding out the miles. Equally, there’s nothing particularly sexy about them.

Wear these if you find the cushioning on the Pegasus a bit harsh and want something a bit more relaxed and accommodating whilst still light.

The Pegasus

What can you really say about Nike’s long standing mainstay of their running collection?
The Peg is the first one of this collection that uses EVA foam in comparison to Zoom X and React. That’s not necessarily a bad thing (it’s been a mainstay of running trainers for decades) but it certainly feels a bit dated.

The Peg has a firmer ride than any of the trainers above. That’s got good and bad points. It certainly makes it versatile. The combination of a reasonable amount of cushioining and a very firm ride means that conceivably you could use it for both slow runs where you want the cushioning and for faster sessions where you want the shoe to feel a bit more snappy.

It definitely feels like hard work though. Perhaps that’s more a sign of how running shoes have evolved. 5-10 years ago the Pegasus was referred to for its pillowy cushioning. That’s definitely not the case anymore in a world of Zoom X, React and Boost.

The latest design iterations are *good* though. The pulled back heel collar (allegedly driven by Mo Farah) means that the shoe doesn’t dig into the Achilles as previous versions could be be prone to do so. The upper is relatively light-weight all in all, this is a good shoe and a decent all-rounder.
The question is, in a world of specialists, can the all-rounder still survive?

Buy it if you want a generalist trainer with a different feel to the others in your rotation and can pick it up on sale (often at quite severe discounts).

Free Run

I hesitated to include the Nike Free on this list because it’s such a different shoe to all of the others I’ve mentioned above but it’s definitely one to consider.

The Free changes an awful lot between generations. The most recent generation has just been subjected to a huge re-design and I’ve yet to try that version yet so I won’t comment on it yet.  This is about the Free Run from 2018 and earlier.

The Free uses EVA foam, same as the Pegasus. The grooves in the midsole though allow it to feel quite a bit softer as they let the shoe naturally flex.

The difference though comes in the sole and the upper. The Free has a totally flexible / free form heel cup made of cloth or mesh in comparison to the harshly structured Pegasus heel cup. Whilst the new lip on the Pegasus helps an awful lot to reduce the Achilles issues from prior versions – there are plenty of athletes who have found running in the free as one of the first trainers without a rigid heel cup has revolutionised their running.

In fact, a large part of modern shoe design and the retreat away from the rigid heel cups, can be traced back to the Free.

I’ve in the past used the Free as a general mileage shoe and it’s pretty darn good at that. One of the interesting things I’ve discovered though has been how effective the Free is for doing *pure* speedwork and drills. The additional flexibility lets you get right up on your toes when you’re sprinting. I doubt you’re going to see lots of sprinters wearing it to race anytime soon but as a shoe to practice your forefoot running the extra flexibility there and cushioning are a huge help.

I now await the launch of a Free shoe with React foam… fingers crossed.

Please comment below if you have any questions or found this helpful!

 

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Bryn Running

Training diary and musings on running in general.