Nike designers say ZoomX is so good because of the amount of energy it returns to the runner. Much of the shoe’s performance benefit comes from Nike’s ZoomX foam.

The NEXT% has an improved fit and aggressive look, but it’s the shoe’s speed that makes headlines.Įlite runners already proved NEXT% can fly: Kipchoge won the 2019 London Marathon in a time of 2:02:37-the second fastest official marathon time in history behind his own 2:01:39 at the 2018 Berlin Marathon-and the next two runners across the finish were also wearing the NEXT%. Nike included two boxes to let you record the date and location of your milestone marathon or your 5K PR. “My heel was cradled comfortably, the forefoot was extra roomy and the cushion was top-notch,” she says.Īnother small feature we love is hidden under the shoe's tongue. One of our testers ran an abbreviated track workout in the NEXT% at Nike HQ. The light and soft wrap dials in the fit and keeps your heel from slipping. Designers nailed the heel fit by adding a small cushion inside the shoe that wraps around the Achilles. Nike moved the laces toward the outside of the shoe to mitigate extra pressure and friction on the top of the foot when runners cinch the laces down. We really felt the extra width, which made the shoe more comfortable. Runners told designers they wanted more room in the forefoot, so Nike added width. All that input from so many runners led to a few other noticeable changes from the Vaporfly 4%: In addition to soliciting feedback from their elite athletes, Nike tested the shoe on a much larger number of runners than the previous model. We didn’t have a chance to test it on long runs or in a race, but we got a good feel for how it fit, how it performs and how it’s different from the original. Nike let us test out the shoe on the iconic track at their Portland headquarters where we put it through workouts to feel the difference between the old and new. By using the lighter upper material, Nike was able to add more of its bouncy ZoomX foam without changing the shoe’s overall weight.Īnd picking up where its predecessor left off, the Vaporfly NEXT% tallied its first major victory by Kipchoge at the 2019 London Marathon. Nike again used an articulated carbon fiber plate in the midsole to make the shoe stiffer and give it lasting shape, and engineers created an entirely new fabric to make the upper lighter and less absorbent. We think it’s even better than the first. So when Nike started designing the new Vaporfly NEXT%, they knew it had to live up to the reputation of the original Vaporfly 4%. Then Brigid Kosgei wore the shoe when she crushed the longstanding women's world record marathon time at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. The first version dominated the world marathon circuit after it was released in 2017, and it propelled elite runner Eliud Kipchoge to both the official and unofficial world record marathon times. Nike’s ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT% is the second installment in the speedy Vaporfly line. The fastest running shoe on the planet has a swoosh on it.

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