A commenter on my earlier post today on the new Nike Free 4.0 v2 and 3.0 v4 shoes alerted me to another new shoe coming this summer from Nike called the Flyknit Racer (thanks Henry!). Apparently the shoe was just announced at a show in New York just a few hours ago, and it is a racing flat with an ultralight, form fitting, knit upper.
Here are the details provided by High Snobiety:
“Nike Flyknit revolutionizes running by rethinking shoe construction from the ground up Informed by athlete insights and employing a new proprietary technology. Yarns and fabric variations are precisely engineered only where they are needed for a featherweight, formfitting and virtually seamless upper. With all the structure and support knitted in, the Nike Flyknit Racer’s upper and tongue weigh just 34 grams (1.2 ounces). The whole shoe weighs a mere 160g (5.6 ounces) for a size 9, 19% lighter than the Nike Zoom Streak 3, a shoe worn by first, second and third place athletes in the men’s marathon at the 2011 World Championships.
Nike Flyknit upper is also engineered for precision fit, creating a feeling of a second skin. NIKE has created an everyday running shoe, the Nike Flyknit Trainer+, which at 220 grams or 7.7 ounces, will bring the weight and fit benefits of Nike Flyknit to runners of all levels.”
The 17th man reports that the Flyknit “is the marathon shoe that the world’s best runners from all over the world, including those from Kenya, Great Britain, Russia and the US will wear in this spring’s marathons and in London this summer”
Sadly, I’m guessing this shoe, like most Nike flats, will be too narrow for my foot, but it is an interesting concept…
Flyknits are now available at Running Warehouse.
In addition to the announcement, Nike also posted a YouTube video ad for the shoe – as always, very impressive visuals from Nike:
About Peter Larson
As always, Nike marketing at its best…making it sound like every new product they produce is revolutionary (5.9oz, seamless upper) BUT they do make good-looking shoes and they are quite innovative when it comes down to it…especially for other sports.
Should be interesting to see the heel drop on these but you’re right, it doesn’t look like it has a wide forefoot.
Even more importantly, they are trend setters, and have immense market reach. Just look at the Nike Free Run+…
The best part of the video was the barefoot running. Gives a new definition to “Nike Free”.
they could have stopped the video after about 20 seconds. if you can run the way the first 20 seconds portrays, why would you stuff all that foam and rubber under your foot? i’ll happily continue in my MT10’s and the new road version thereof as soon as it appears, thank you very much. i need shoes for protection and for a bit of warmth (some of the year). it helps if i can actually get my foot into the shoe without squishing, which hasn’t been possible for a long time with nike.
Like all new, ultralight shoes, this one inspires lust in my heart. It looks beautiful!
But the cold rational part of me is wondering: is this “ultralight” shoe actually HEAVIER than the Saucony Hattori?
According to your earlier review of the Hattori–
link to runblogger.com…
–the Saucony Hattori in a size 10 is 4.5 oz. The press release you quote above states that a slightly SMALLER pair of Nike Flyknit Racer (size 9) actually weighs 20% more.
So it seems to me that the Nike Flyknit Racer might be ultralight…but is nevertheless significantly heavier than the Saucony Hattori. Or did I interpret these numbers wrong?
It is heavier than the Hattori, and heavier than many other shoes out there, so it’s certainly not revolutionary in that sense. What might be cool is how the fit of the upper feels in terms of molding to the foot rather than constricting it?
I’ll wait for the drop numbers… and being able to try them on. I’ll admit that my first minimal trainer/racer was the Waffle Racer, which I ignorantly thought was the best thing… Now I can’t even put them on, they’re so narrow.
very interesting, just when I thought nike could not win me back.. maybe just maybe next year when the shoe its proven and tested…
If only Nike would make a shoe with a drop of 4mm or less with a wide toebox.
This is exactly what I’m thinking. I wish more racing shoes/flats would come with widths.
Choosing the right shoes for your feet especially when you are running is a must. Those shoes that are purposely made for running have special features. You should choose them correctly.
Look at the change in the runner’s footstrike on the promotional video. Barefoot — mid/forefoot strike. In the Nike Flyknit, almost a full heel strike. Hmmm.
Sorry, but I do not see that!
Starting about 37secs, seems to be almost a full foot landing, but definitely not a heel strike. I replayed the video upwards of 20 times. Do not see a heel strike. Dr. Larson or anybody else see differently?!
I agree, I saw no heel strike in the video.
Just a month or so ago Nike introduced their adaptive fit as the next big thing in fitting technology, now they`re introducing more than a few new shoes with flyknit. So it goes, I guess.
Sorry if I missed it, but what is the heel drop? (It seems like Nike is not forthgiving with the height of their heels…)
I checked their site, Nike does not say.
On the video, the magnitude of lower leg flexion about the ankle fulcrum is quite something to see! I would not be surprised if the shoe is <=2mm drop! How else can one load the A.Tendon to that degree, I do wonder!
The Zoom Streak XC is 3mm, not sure what this one is.
Nike customer service reports a 10mm drop on the Racer (11mm on the Trainer).
Have you thought about reviewing the blade-foot run by kswiss… zero drop shoe that weighs about 9oz.
No plans as yet – no contact with Kswiss yet.
GOT 5 PAIRS IF ANYONE WANTS 1 GIVE ME A SHOUT! US8,9,10,11,12 in GREY/VOLT and BLACK/WHITE from second release. esaa@me.com
Finally! Someone else that finds the Nike shoes too narrow. They kill me!
anybody know where to buy the nike flyknit racer volt in Canada?