Friday 13 September 2013

Nike Free Flyknit+

I got to try the new Nike Free Flyknits yesterday at the City Sports Run Club. Here is what I thought:

While I am typically not a big fan of Nike running shoes, after demo'ing them for a 5k, I actually really like them. The fit and feel is awesome without socks. You can really feel the connection with the ground, and I like how the shoe basically hugs your foot like a sock - even around the ankle. At the same time, there is pretty good room in the toe-box. However, the shoe does seem to run about a half size small. If using them for anything over a 5k, I could see them starting to cause some discomfort if I didn't go up a half size.

I expected them to have more of a spongy feel, which was simply not the case (a good thing); rather, they offered a good combination of ground feel and moderate cushioning. I also note that it was raining heavily during the run, and even on slick concrete, the traction was pretty good. I didn't have any slips.

In short, they were flexible and fast and would be great for short (10-15k) and fast runs or track workouts. The price tag is still pretty steep at $160, but I can see pretty good value in what Nike has created with this shoe. Again, I am not a big fan of Nikes, so this shoe really surprised me. Others that were also demo'ing them (which included a pretty diverse group of people - casual runners to college track athletes) also seemed to like the shoe, especially their potential for speed workouts.

Finally, in an awesome turn of events, Vanessa (who didn't really feel like going to the event) won a pair the new Flyknits, which she also liked a lot. So it was totally worth going.

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