If only there was a higher throughput factory in China that could pump out the carbon plates fast enough.

As a Nike employee, it's no easier for me to get my grubby hands on these than it is for you, and I get $0 off.

Has anyone tried these, what are people's opinions?

Besides ebay they seem super hard to get hold of

Loads of posts here and reviews elsewhere. Take your pick.

If Nike can't meet the demand, it'll be an opportunity for others to develop an ultra light carbon plated shoe & cash in on filling that gap. I know HOKA had a racer in the works that there were photos of several years ago--but they put the kabosh on its release & now it seems the photos aren't around the internet any longer. Not sure what it was called. It was prior to the Tracer being released I remember that much.

No staff discount?? That's shit!

Very few shoes get less than 30%, but this one literally gets $0 off.

More importantly, I haven't actually managed to nab a pair.

I could have bought it twice since I subscribed to the page in the euro website. It's not that hard unless you want a specific colourway and they didn't happen to release it.

Ok found that Hoka with the carbon plate like (pre Vaporfly 4%), it was called the Hoka Carbon Rocket, but didn’t get released from what I see)—got scrapped for some reason. It was due in 2016.

OTOH they have loads of too-similar-to-tell-apart models in their line and keep releasing updates that I fail to see how they answer what the customers ask for.

Oh yes, I remember that shoe. I just thought it evolved to become the Tracer but now I can see that it was a much different shoe.

I see that Adidas has a Vaporfly competitor called the Sub2. It won't work for me as Adidas is only making them up to size 11 1/2. I've been saying this for 5 years...Adidas, you need to combine the sprintframe from the Feather 2 with the boost midsole!

Boost and feather can't be in the same sentence together :)

What I find most interesting is the number of un-sponsored triathletes doing great things in the Vaporfly.

I expect it in the marathon, but it seems like long distance tri pros are picking them up as well.

Bozzone and Jesse Thomas both with notable performances this year.

Does Nike sponsor any triathletes? Seems Terenzo and Jesse have been running in the VF since it came out, as does Holly Lawrence (she also @'s nike on IG which lead me to believe she's getting something from them).

I got a pair off Runningwarehouse and got 15% off. Ran marathons in Jan and Feb that both were 6 minutes faster than my PR and 10 minutes faster than last years Boston time. Obviously it's not all the shoe, but I really like it. I also haven't felt as torn up after the marathons.

I don't know if Nike is sponsoring any triathletes. That kind of info seems to be hard to come by.


What I am most interested in is how the Zoom X foam holds up to mileage. I know a lot of the sponsored runners are basically training full time in the 4%, but I have not heard what kind of mileage they can handle.

It is my hope that the Lunarlon foam in the Fly is going to be replaced with React in the near future, and that they will do something reasonable with the tread in the heel. The carbon infused plate in the sole really adds a lot of stiffness, but the React foam is a revelation in energy return. Adding the two of them together would make a superior light weight trainer in my book.

I've only got around 100 miles in mine but they've held up well. I'm also a pretty large runner. Just put a touch of shoegoo on my usual trouble spot and haven't seen any significant wear. I think the complaints are coming from people that don't realize, while it is $250, it's a racing flat. You're not meant to get Pegasus miles out of them. I was really surprised to see the number of people I've seen in the 3:30-4 hour marathon range wearing them

At least according to Jesse's strava - he's in the zoom fly - the cheaper one - the ST review actually liked this shoe more. Hard to tell the differences even on Nike's website. Anyways - for what it's worth.

Cam Brown was also in VaporFly 4% or Zoom Fly as well...

EDIT - looks like Jesse races in Vaporfly and trains in Zoom Fly...so apologies!

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Pretty sure the shoes don’t really give any effect if you are running slower than 6:30 mile pace, so guessing a lot of that is placebo.
I just bought zoom flys, but haven’t had time to test yet. If they feel good I’ll probably pick up vaporflys for the summers racing.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I know folks keep saying that.. But i believe it is from the original research nike did.

They tested from 5 min miles up to 7 and showed a consistent 4 percent at all speeds. So the takeaway on this forum was, it drops to zero after that speed.


https://www.runnersworld.com/running-shoes/nikes-vaporfly-4-shoes-really-did-boost-the-running-economy-of-everyone-tested-says


That may or may not be the case... I don't believe there has been equivalent testing in the less that 7 minute miles, but given that much of the gain is from energy return of the foam, in not sure that it would decrease.


I also know the testing shows the effects going up to at least 6:53 min/mile not 6:30

Yeah at least in Kona and Wanaka he was wearing the VF. There’s pretty noticeable differences visually between the ZF and VF. Looks like Cam was wearing the VF. For such a difficult shoe to get, those non sponsored athletes don’t seem to have a hard time getting them.

My last marathon was just above 6:30 pace and I still think the shoe helped. Placebo? Maybe, but was worth it to me.

Review consensus seems to be at <400Km.

Maybe it is also driven by weight.

I heard Jordan Hasay say she was often wearing them for 20 miles a day. But she is sponsored AND sub 100lbs. A guy probably just drops off a duffel full of shoes every few weeks.

Mo Farrah changes his Pegasus every few weeks so I can't even imagine how that would work out with the VaporFly.

So that is where all the stock went...they keep it to themselves. It's okay, the Adidas Sub 2 shoe goes on sale March 15.

Based on the only evidence we have, wearing those shoes may result in getting sick and dropping out of your next marathon :-)