Nike has launched the Vaporfly 4 carbon plate running shoe and has made some major changes to the shoe compared with the Nike Vaporfly 3; reducing the stack height and the weight.
The Nike Vaporfly 4% was the original carbon plate super-shoe and changed the face of running forever, with its lightweight, propulsive design helping elite runners to break world records and setting the template for future racing shoes from all brands.
Since then Nike has launched three more versions of the Vaporfly as well as three versions of the Alphafly, with the Nike Alphafly 3 being the latest and greatest version of that shoe, which has been used to set the men’s and women’s marathon world record.
The Nike Vaporfly and Alphafly shoes had been getting more similar in their designs, especially with the Nike Vaporfly 3 vs Nike Alphafly 3, but Nike has opted to make changes to the new Vaporfly 4 that separate the two shoes, with the Vaporfly 4 being a lighter and lower-stack option than the Alphafly 3.
Here are the key updates to look out for with the Nike Vaporfly 4.
Nike Vaporfly 4: price and availability
The Nike Vaporfly 4 will be available globally from March and costs $260, the same price as the Vaporfly 3 and $25 cheaper than the Nike Alphafly 3. So far red and white colorways of the shoe have been revealed. Nike has also just launched the Streakfly 2 short distance racer, which will also go on sale in March and costs $180.
Lower stack height
This is the change I’m most interested in, because almost all carbon plate racing shoes hit the 40mm stack height limit set by World Athletics in order to provide as much bouncy cushioning underfoot as possible.
However, the Vaporfly 4 stands only 35mm tall at the heel and 29mm at the forefoot for an 6mm drop. Past models of the Vaporfly essentially set the 40mm standard, so it’s a departure from the norm to reduce this stack height.
It makes the shoe lighter and it will have a more direct and fast feel, but the question is whether the Vaporfly 4 will still feel as bouncy as past models, and whether it will be less effective than rival racing shoes over longer events like a marathon.
Lighter than ever before
The drop in stack height plus other updates make the Vaporfly 4 10% lighter than the Vaporfly 3 and it’s also 20g lighter than the original Vaporfly 4%, making this the lightest version of the shoe ever at just 5.9oz/169 g for a US men’s size 8.5.
Weight is always a huge factor in racing shoes and this is the great benefit of the reduced stack height on the shoe, but some top racers like the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris aren’t considerably heavier while having a stack height around 40mm.
Reshaped carbon plate
To create more propulsion Nike has changed the curvature of the carbon Flyplate in the Vaporfly 4, which the brands says will help unlock greater leverage from the foot and ankle.
The plate also helps to stabilize the springy ZoomX foam in the midsole, which has been the key feature on the Vaporfly since the original shoe.
Improved outsole
The Nike Vaporfly 3 was a great racing shoe but its outsole durability was poor and the sections of rubber at the heel were particularly flaky.
This isn’t a problem I’ve had with the Nike Alphafly 3 or Nike Zoom Fly 6, and the Vaporfly 4 looks to have an outsole that’s similar to those shoes, so hopefully the durability will be improved.
Mesh upper with straight laces
Offset laces have become something of a trademark for Nike’s racing shoes, but the Vaporfly 4 looks to have given up on this design feature, with its lacing running straight down the centre of the upper.
This upper now seems to be a lightweight mesh material, rather than the Flyknit or Atomknit materials used in other Nike racers. This might help reduce the weight of the Vaporfly 4, and will be interesting to see how the fit is with the updated laces and upper.
