With the Nike shoes, it's not even the carbon plates that are sold out - I can't even get any of the Nike Zoom shoes at all in my size - they only have really small or really small sizes left and the rest are also sold out.

I know the Air pegasus has a small amount Zoom padding in the forefoot, but I'm not aware of any stats or studies showing that this is equivalent to the Alphafly type Zoom all the way.

Clearly there was a forecasting error where you are shopping. I can imagine many of the brands are in the same spot right now. They placed their orders for this season at the very height of the pandemic. It would have been a very brave and bullish brand/retailer to place an order expecting large growth in a shoe or a number of shoes.


That said there is a new Zoom Air Pegasus Turbo rolling out soon.

Nike has internal studies done on the various forefoot units they use. You are not going to see them. The basic is you put on the Nike Zoom Pegasus and then the NB Fuel Cell Prism and the feel in the forefoot is better in the Nike. I’m not here to tell you it is or isn’t. You have to feel for yourself. The Air Unit of the Alpha simply wouldn’t fit in the Pegasus so it’s a mute point.

Look at it this way. Nike put Zoom Air in the Alpha Fly because they see some performance benefit for sure but also because it’s the one piece they own outright. They don’t own Carbon Fiber and they don’t own Zoom X foam. So they can say without a doubt they have something the other brands don’’t have.
Then they really want this conversation happening. They want runners running only in Zoom Air because if you believe in Zoom Air then that’s one more advantage Nike has in keeping you in Nike.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

Doesn't Nike own Zoom x foam? If not, who else does?

Zoom X is Pbax - Reebok was the first company to put Pbax in a running shoe 1 year before the Vapor Fly 4% arrived. The Saucony Endorphin Pro has Pbax. Nike put their own name on the foam which they can but they don’t own the chemistry a company in France does.

They researched, developed and manufacture the Zoom Air in Beaverton.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

I wish I could lament why the vapor/alpha fly line would matter in the sneaker world but when I visited a Nike store last year and saw two employees there just doing their normal job wearing the 4%, I realized that for some reason, non-runners like these shoes as well... I still have a hard time thinking the alphafly is something that any sneakerhead would just wear around... I guess I just like to be surprised.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

1) I think I saw somewhere that the VF 4% was found to benefit heel strikers more than mid/fore foot, maybe that's different with alpha given the air pod placement

2) Hey! I bought my Felt IA when I had an FTP of 183! It still made me faster than my road bike with clip-ons.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

I think it is more the drop rather than pod placement. The 4% has a 10mm drop and really pitches you forward. The Next% has 8mm drop and not so much. The Alphafly has 4mm drop I have never run in so I can't comment but my pro mate says it doesn't promote the same turnover as the Next% for him.

I have a neighbor that runs 2 miles 2x week....in the alphafly. He walks his dog in the endorphin pro. \_O_/

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta