Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite 2017

Yeah if they do like a special NikeLab colorway of an existing shoe now, they usually just throw it in a regular box... Almost like they decided last minute
 
I'm gonna break down my initial thoughts zoom fly sp nikelab in 4 categories: aesthetics, comfort, sizing, personal opinion over all ( I'm leaving the tech spec *zoom x cushion etc. out of this review because I feel like everyone on this post should already know the basic tech specs of this shoe anyway.)

Aesthetics: The overall aesthetics of the nikelab sp is easily the nicest color way out so far imo. The clear synthetic upper is a nice touch to match with the white and bright orange color blocking of the shoe. The shoes look streamline and futuristic definitely would like to wear them aside from running. 

Comfort: Comfort wise it was hard to put my finger on it because they might be comfortable on feet while try on they might not be while running (for me). Even then, it is still a bit hard to describe the comfortability of this shoe and here's why. On the initial try on, the lunar foam is really apparent, I could really feel the light and the softness that the lunar foam possess, but at the same time the shoe is stiff and doesn't really have a wide range of motion unlike the Nike frees. They do feel soft on feet, but due to the arch that the carbon infused plate sandwich within the shoe I don't think they could be worn casually and comfortably for an extend period of time.

Sizing: Sizing on shoes have been really confusing lately, with adidas's shoes that generally fits bigger, and nike being the more true to size of the two brands, I figured that I would go true to size on these as well, and boy was I wrong. I wear a size 9 in most shoes brands, nike included, but for some reason when it comes to Nike's running shoes I would always go up 1/2 a size. Nike freerun, nike flyknit racer, nike lunar glide, and now the zoom fly. I'm the type of person who like the shoes to fit more snug as well length wise, where the tip of the shoe lines up with the tip of my toe with maybe just a cm of room for socks, but when putting these on without socks, my feet is already pretty crammed up in the shoes. I don't know if its due to the clear synthetic upper that is less stretchable or the shoes just fits smaller in length. Because of this issue, I would recommend going to sure to try on to make sure whats the most comfortable for you before buying.

So my final verdict, with the shoe fitting a bit small for me, I don't even think I can take it out for a run with out it beating up my toes the first day. I do love the overall aesthetic so I do wish that I can break them in to wear them casually. The clear upper is a nice touch, and the orange line across the midsole and the orange insole makes the shoe pop. I guess by wearing them will hopefully break them in nicely so they wouldn't hurt my feet when I do take them out for more serious runs, or I might try to find a size swap for a size 9.5 so my toes wouldn't be so crammed. I will try to update my thoughts and review after wearing them for longer period of time.
 
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Zoom Fly Review: http://www.roadtrailrun.com/2017/06/nike-zoom-fly-first-run-impressions.html



Nike Zoom Fly First Run Impressions Review: Good Form Required! Light, Well Cushioned, Great Upper and Stiff

Nike Zoom Fly
Weight: 8.35 oz/237 g for our sample size 9.
Stack: 33 mm heel/23 mm forefoot
Price: $150. Available now

The Zoom Fly is a light very cushioned performance trainer racer with an embedded curving plate for propulsion and stability. The plate is roughly in the location of the black line on the midsole, dipping down steeply at the ball of the foot then curving up towards the toe. The shoe is completely stiff. I was not able to hand bend it at all.

The Zoom Fly is part of Nike's Breaking2 project line. It differs from the upcoming July release Zoom Vaporfly 4% ($250) ( see our try on preview at the Boston Marathon here) in the following ways:

-substitutes a carbon injected nylon inner plate for a pure carbon one,
-uses Lunarlon foam instead of the 4%'s Zoom X Pebax foam which is claimed to have 13% better energy return than standard EVA and weighs 2/3 less,
-has 2-3mm more front and heel midsole stack,
-has a similar upper but one with Flywire instead of the more conventional lace up of the 4% and with a substantial heel counter where the 4% has none but does have a medial overlay (see below),
-weighs significantly more but a still svelte 8.35 oz vs the 4% at an amazing 6.5 oz

Bottom line these are very similar shoes in terms of overall design but... with lighter and higher performance materials in the 4%. I only jogged around for a minute or two in the 4%, and this in a hotel lobby, and have now run 5 miles in the Zoom Fly. The Vaporfly 4% was a distinctly lighter shoe with a smoother feeling also silky and yet more dynamic cushion and most interestingly more of a sense of very dynamic forward tilt/drop forward to toe off than the Zoom Fly. I wonder if the plate geometries are different as the black line indicating the carbon plate looks like it dips lower in the Vaporfly or maybe as the VaporFly has 2mm less stack that the plate sits closer to the outsole or am I feeling the combination of carbon plate and Pebax vs carbon injected plate and more standard Lunarlon?


Upper and Fit

Both the Zoom Fly and Vaporfly 4% were in the same size 9 , a half size up from my normal 8.5. Vaporfly 4% was clearly less supportive for me and I am sure I would go true to size in it maybe even a half size down, while in the Zoom Fly my half size up pair with cushion socks fits correctly. Those who wear very thin socks and like a snugger fit could go true to size in the Zoom Fly. There is no toe bumper upfront beyond a small rubber wrap up at the tip.

The toe box is of an interesting design and shape. It is relatively narrow but with very accommodating engineered mesh. The very front almost seems to widen instead of go to the usual point. There is no toe box stiffener and only a small bumper. I had no foot slippage or toe jamming during my first run,

My foot was well and very comfortably held. Credit I think going to the excellent implementation of the Flywire cords through the laces and the soft, relatively thin and foot conforming engineered up upper. Not an easy task to have a well held stable foot on such a high stack shoe. The upper looks highly breathable.

The tongue is un padded, a mesh with some knit height structure and overlays. Lace up was comfortable with the laces flat and thin.

The heel counter and heel collar is very high and substantial, likely to keep mere mortal heel strikers stable over the narrow rear of shoe midsole/outsole. It seems to work effectively for me.


Midsole and Outsole

The midsole is Nike's Lunarlon foam with of course that embedded full length carbon infused nylon plate. The cushioning is outstanding, particularly in the forefoot where they truly feel have "maximalist" cushioning comfort feeling like they sit somewhere between a Hoka Clayton and Hoka Clifton but with less mush and more stability than the Clifton from the full coverage outsole rubber up front and a touch softer than the Clayton. We really like full coverage forefoot rubber and the Zoom Fly's is for sure full and looks durable.

The heel has a narrow pointed footprint on the ground at the very rear from of course that now famous "aerodynamic" pointed shape which I reckon is really more about reducing weight...

It's not a particularly narrow heel over all, certainly wider than the Zoom Streak 6, but it tapers at the far rear. While the cushioning is fantastic at the heel, as a heel striker I wish for some more width back there, a more rounded less pointy far back of the outsole for landing stability. Elites and mid foot strikers will have less of an issue but for me the stack is high and the landing ends up narrow and a touch unstable.


First Runs Impressions

Understanding these are very early first impressions but this is not my first run shoe rodeo either...
I think Zoom Fly is a shoe designed for "strong" fast runners with good form. At speed if you are heel striker with poor knee lift, like me, you will wish for some more heel width and then struggle somewhat to get to final toe off to get past the very front of the shoe plate stiffness. Interestingly the Nike All Out Flyknit was one of my favorite shoes of 2016. It to was very stiff but.. had a single hard to flex but very snappy flex point.

The cushioning, stability and fee, particularly upfront is outstanding, At 23mm stack in the forefoot in a shoe designed for speed it has to be. Unlike a similar geometry light shoe such as the Hoka Clayton (24mm upfront) I think the Zoom Fly requires better overall form and some knee drive forward to go fast, whereas the not as stiff Clayton requires less but is not as responsive, cushioned, or polished in overall upper execution and comfort.

The heel cushioning is also superb but the pointed far rear geometry favors those who do not land far back on the heels. As my pace picked up the heel improved in feel: firm yet cushioned at the same time with very low shock/vibration transmitted The forefoot really didn't change in feel run slow or fast and remained stable and cushioned.

Overall the Zoom Fly reminded me of the Streak 6 without all the harsh shock so Zoom Fly is, yes for sure, a stiff shoe with firm cushioning that at the same time dampens shock.


The upper is a marvel. Perfectly supportive on such a high stack, no mid foot tightness with a roomier toe box with some give yet impeccable front of the foot hold for me.

The dip in the plate clearly feels great at mid foot and is effective but I missed some flex at the very front of the shoe to get off the ground at faster paces. Even in my short 5 mile run at moderate tempo 8:40 pace I had a touch of numbness in one foot.

My second run was a 6.7 mile progression averaging 8:15 miles with the last 2 miles just under 8 minute miles. They are stiff and one needs to adapt to them that's for sure! They felt very good for me in pretty narrow window of pace: between 7:55 and 8:30 or so a rolling along feel, somewhat faster than marathon pace and slower than half pace of 7:28-7:42. Slower and I was to much back on the heels and they felt sort of unstable, faster than 8 minute pace or so I was working hard to drive up and forward and struggling to increase cadence to get moving faster yet. I was rolling along just fine and happy in that narrow window of pace. The next day I had less of the leg sore
ness I would expect from such an effort so the cushioning while firm is clearly effective and thus I could well see how over a marathon distance legs might stay fresher. This said I did have slight achilles soreness so I was working my legs differently than usual.
There is no question that faster runners (sub 1:37 half marathon my guess at this point) seeking a highly cushioned, light Nike should consider the Zoom Fly as a daily tempo trainer and long race shoe if your form is good and you are strong.

Back to the Vaporfly 4%...

I did not actually run beyond a few dozen yards in the higher end Vaporfly 4%. The sense of "falling forward" seemed more distinct than in the Zoom Fly. I wonder is the plate geometry is more extreme in some way or the carbon more reactive. If this is so, I think it might in fact be a better choice for me if the upper is supportive enough particularly in the heel. Recall while the Zoom Fly has a full high and substantial heel counter, the Vaporfly 4% has none relying on overlays for support. Road Trail Run will be testing the Vaporfly 4% when it is expected to release in mid July.
Click to expand...
 
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SenorRoboto2k5 said:
Yeah if they do like a special NikeLab colorway of an existing shoe now, they usually just throw it in a regular box... Almost like they decided last minute
Click to expand...

Nikelab flyknit sock racer came ina fancy pullout box. I guess that is why they were $10 more :lol
 
zoom fly's came in and it seems like i got this one wrong with sizing

I can wear a 10 or 10.5 in certain Nike shoes, specifically anything flyknit I'm a 10.5 so made my decision on that and the shoes seem pretty loose. A little upset b/c I wanted the Blue Fox's but heading over to my local Nike running store to see if they have a 10 in the ice blue's for comparison

granted, I am wearing thin socks (Cole haan's on today) but my dri fit socks are just as thick as what I have on, may be a little thicker.

let me know if anyone in here is a 10.5, got two pairs that might be going back to NDC & RW
 
Sizing is everywhere with these.

.5 up
.5 down lol

I'm anxious as hell to get my pairs in.


My SP was cancelled, kinda blows.
 
running shoes are one of those things that are just hard to size especially if you plan to run in them, other prefer them to be snug while other prefer some room for their feet to expand

it probably doesn't help that the SP might fit differently from the regular Zoom Flys


and I am not sure if it's just me but when I take a hiatus from a pair of shoes and come back to it a month or two later, at times it feels too small or too big and that is just when I just change my socks from thin to thick or vice versa
 
AdrenalineRush said:
Sizing is everywhere with these.

.5 up
.5 down lol

I'm anxious as hell to get my pairs in.


My SP was cancelled, kinda blows.
Click to expand...

My SP was cancelled too. Was really disappointed

That was before I got in my other pair. Upon receiving them, I can see why people said they can't pull them off casually. They aren't made for style. Pictures make them look better. Also the heel feels very unstable to me. Like everyone has said, great for midstrikers, not so much for heel strikers. I can't wait to run in them and see how they are. Otherwise they are going back to Nike. I was hoping to wear these running and causally like the FK Racers

As far as sizing goes, like someone else above me just said, everyone likes their shoes to fit differently. Plus depends on the socks you wear. I ordered my TTS to be safe and I'm glad I did. I like a little bit of wiggle room but not too much and these are perfect. I could have also gone .5 size up and been completely fine as well. Whatever you wear in FK Ravers, order the same size and the majority will say it firs great. I cannot speak for everyone though
 
Ferrari6888 said:
My SP was cancelled too. Was really disappointed

That was before I got in my other pair. Upon receiving them, I can see why people said they can't pull them off casually. They aren't made for style. Pictures make them look better. Also the heel feels very unstable to me. Like everyone has said, great for midstrikers, not so much for heel strikers. I can't wait to run in them and see how they are. Otherwise they are going back to Nike. I was hoping to wear these running and causally like the FK Racers

As far as sizing goes, like someone else above me just said, everyone likes their shoes to fit differently. Plus depends on the socks you wear. I ordered my TTS to be safe and I'm glad I did. I like a little bit of wiggle room but not too much and these are perfect. I could have also gone .5 size up and been completely fine as well. Whatever you wear in FK Ravers, order the same size and the majority will say it firs great. I cannot speak for everyone though
Click to expand...

Mailman just dropped these off.

They are definitely TTS.
I like the tiny bit of wiggle room to let my toes spread
So far everyones reviews hit the nail on the head.

Only complaint is I wish the ice blue had a 3M swoosh.

Can't wait to test them out.
 
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Just got my Nikelabs from UNFTD. nice looking shoe but i feel like the thin upper will tear easily if you run a lot.
 
I like the 1st CW but I can't do $250. And I don't understand how the can get away with charging so much for a mesh upper.
 
Ferrari6888 said:
My SP was cancelled too. Was really disappointed

That was before I got in my other pair. Upon receiving them, I can see why people said they can't pull them off casually. They aren't made for style. Pictures make them look better. Also the heel feels very unstable to me. Like everyone has said, great for midstrikers, not so much for heel strikers. I can't wait to run in them and see how they are. Otherwise they are going back to Nike. I was hoping to wear these running and causally like the FK Racers

As far as sizing goes, like someone else above me just said, everyone likes their shoes to fit differently. Plus depends on the socks you wear. I ordered my TTS to be safe and I'm glad I did. I like a little bit of wiggle room but not too much and these are perfect. I could have also gone .5 size up and been completely fine as well. Whatever you wear in FK Ravers, order the same size and the majority will say it firs great. I cannot speak for everyone though
Click to expand...

Which retailer cancelled your order?
 
Saw them in person today but couldn't pull the trigger, and tbh I'm not ready for this shoe right now but I'll be in a couple months.
 
Following up on my sizing dilemma from yesterday and like I said too thin of a sock I had on. The 10.5 was spot on. I went to my local Nike running store and tried on a 10 in ice blue and my toes were just hitting the wall.

Now, onto my review. Not sure if this happened with any runners in here yet but this was the result of wearing no shows with these.
View media item 2465745View media item 2465746
Clocked in a 5 mi run and I want to say a little past halfway was when the upper rear portion of the shoe started digging into my back heel. I own some elite socks so this can quickly get resolved but just something I wanted to share.

As far as how the ZF's performed, it was definitely different from my LE experience. I remember a few comments in here mentioned how the shoe propels you forward and couldn't believe how true this was, as I noticed it automatically.

Regarding comfort, I personally feel my LE's take the W here, as these were not as soft or responsive like my LE's have been to me. Throughout my run, I did notice some slight discomfort in my knees and the impact feeling slightly like the Peg 34s I ran in a few weeks back, where it didn't help with cushioning the landing.

I went ahead and looked for a previous to run to attempt to make a comparison and there definitely was a noticeable difference.
View media item 2465779View media item 2465780
Dates have been posted on the screen shots, the latter being my run from yesterday. Avg pace went down by 30 secs and I was able to shorten my time frame for each additional mile.

I'm aiming to make the same comparison against a run I did on Friday with these ZF's today. I want to give them another shot before I officially decide what I want to do.
 
peterjc001 said:
Sizing: Sizing on shoes have been really confusing lately, with adidas's shoes that generally fits bigger, and nike being the more true to size of the two brands, I figured that I would go true to size on these as well, and boy was I wrong. I wear a size 9 in most shoes brands, nike included, but for some reason when it comes to Nike's running shoes I would always go up 1/2 a size. Nike freerun, nike flyknit racer, nike lunar glide, and now the zoom fly. I'm the type of person who like the shoes to fit more snug as well length wise, where the tip of the shoe lines up with the tip of my toe with maybe just a cm of room for socks, but when putting these on without socks, my feet is already pretty crammed up in the shoes. I don't know if its due to the clear synthetic upper that is less stretchable or the shoes just fits smaller in length. Because of this issue, I would recommend going to sure to try on to make sure whats the most comfortable for you before buying.
Click to expand...
Would you recommend going half up TTS (i.e. your flyknit racer size) in these?

I prefer a snug fit like yourself.
 
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