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* The rear of the shoe feels quite unstable, rather like I'm on a balance foam mat rather than a shoe. It's like the shoe is only supporting me heel directly under the ball, which is rather disconcerting.
* The forefoot of the shoe is even worse, with the area under the ball of the foot lower and softer than the rest of the forefoot. This means that the shoe forces your foot to pronate more than it naturally would. I measured the area under the ball of the foot as 1-2mm lower than the rest of the forefoot under load. I suspect that the carbon fiber plate does not extend under the ball of the foot for some reason, though it's hard to prove. If I try bending the forefoot of the shoe with my hand the area under the ball of the foot doesn't seem to be as stiff.
* I found that I had a tendon pain in my ankle as my calf muscle subconsciously attempted to limit my foot rotation. I had to consciously relax and allow my foot to rotate in, which is rather disconcerting to say the least. Normally I only get this with worn out shoes. After an adaptation period of sore ankles, I found my legs adapted fine to the additional stress, though I've always been aware of the instability. * The Initially, the outsole has had surprisingly little grip, feeling slick and unsure on anything that isn't a firm surface. After I'd put some miles on them, the grip seemed to improve and was remarkably good, except on gritty asphalt where the grit acts like marbles.
* I found the toe box was not as bad as I expected, though running 20 miles without cutting open the toe box resulted in a minor blister.
Overall, I feel like I'm faster in the Vaporfly than other shoes by a noticeable amount, which is quite astonishing. This is hard to confirm, but my Heart Rate and perceived exertion seem noticeably lower for a given pace and [[Stryd| Stryd Power Estimate]]. On the other hand, I feel like the Vaporfly will increase my injury rate dramatically, putting more stress on my ankles and thus my knees.
* {{H:structure}}. The structure of the Vaporfly comes from its carbon fiber plate. There doesn't appear to be any attempt to reduce pronation, and the carbon fiber plate actually seems to actively increase pronation. I have not dissected my pair, but it feels very much like the carbon fiber plate doesn't extend under the ball of the foot. Instead, it seems like the plate runs the full length of the shoe, but only under the four outside metatarsal bones. Towards the end of a marathon length training run the edge of the plate can become quite uncomfortable, and I've had some soreness from it. Under load, the ball of the foot is lower than the other four metatarsal heads, something I normally find when a shoe is worn out due to the midsole foam collapsing.<br/>[[File:Vaporfly (2).jpg|center|thumb|300px|This is the edge of the carbon fiber plate, which seems to be about the same on either side.]]<br/> [[File:Vaporfly (3).jpg|center|thumb|300px|From the side, the profile of the carbon fiber plate follows the purple line I've drawn, not the black line that you might expect.]]
* {{H:flexibility}}. The Vaporfly's carbon fiber plate obviously reduces its flexibility. It's far from the least flexible shoe I've tested, but the carbon fiber plate makes it more of a spring, where most maximally cushioned shoes tend to be rigid. As noted above, I'm surprised how little I noticed the toe off spring. I've tested the [[VKTRY insole]], which is an aftermarket carbon fiber plate that you can put in existing shoes. I found the benefits of VKTRY were hard to notice, but it's hard to detect things that can make a significant difference to your running performance. After all, 1% difference in running economy can be the difference between success and failure in a race, but I doubt you'd ever be able to perceive the change. The carbon fiber plate in the Vaporfly is fairly deep in the midsole, so there are no issues with it feeling hard under foot, which is a major downside to the VKTRY insole.
* {{H:outsole}}. You can see the hard rubber outsole as the black areas on the sole of the Vaporfly. The outsole seems to be fairly hardwearing, but doesnand after some miles it's fairly grippy. It't offer s not as much grip good on gritty asphalt as the plastic nubs you get on Japanese racing shoes, but it's better than I'd likeexpected. The outsole is placed so that most of the contact areas are protected, but there's still a lot of exposed midsole that's softer.
* {{H:shape}}. The Vaporfly shape doesn't match the human foot, so the toe box compresses the toes. I found the Vaporfly is not as bad as most running shoes, but it did give me toe blisters until I [[Shoe Dissection| cut open the toe box]]. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}.<br/>[[File:Vaporfly Toe Box.jpg|center|thumb|300px|The toe box cut open.]]
* {{H:upper}}. The upper is nicely breathable and light weight. There's no padding in the upper except for around the ankle opening, though the upper material doubles over to support the laces. I've found the upper quite comfortable up to marathon distance (I've not run further than that in them so far.) <br/>[[File:Vaporfly (5).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The doubling over of the upper to form the eye holes for the laces.]]<br/>[[File:Vaporfly Upper.jpg|center|thumb|300px|The upper backlit to show the breathability.]]
* {{H:heelcounter}}. The Vaporfly has no heel counter, just the stiffness of the upper to keep it's shape.
=Update After 100 Miles=
Normally, I would give an update on a pair of running shoes once I'd put rather miles on them. However, the vapor fly as something of a reputation for fragility, so I wanted to track its progress carefully. Even after this short distance, there is some evidence of the foam midsole braking down. If you look at the profile picture below, you can see some increases in the midsole appearing, and there is a noticeable indent under the ball of my foot. On the underside of the shoe, there is only a small amount of abrasion on the exposed foam. The hard rubber outsole (the black areas) are completely unchanged, suggesting that they are surprisingly hard wearing. The grip has improved over the course of the 100 miles. The main abrasion area on the exposed foam midsole is on the outside rear edge, where I occasionally catch my heel on steep descents. It should be noted that my running biomechanics are fairly efficient, and I'm typically quite gentle on my shoes. The upper is doing fine, even where I've cut open the toe box.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Vaporfly 100miles (1).jpg
File:Vaporfly 100miles (2).jpg
</gallery>
=Update After 200 Miles=
Over the last hundred miles I've come to really enjoy running in the Vaporfly. I've found my calf muscles have adapted reasonably well, and I've not had the ankle issues that I was fearing. My plantar fascia has been a little irritated, but nothing excessive. The foam midsole has continued to collapse, which is made the lack of support under the first metatarsal rather noticeable, and I can feel where the carbon fiber plate ends a little more distinctly. As you can see from the photos below, there's been remarkably little wear on the rubber outsole, and the exposed midsole is holding up pretty well. The Vaporfly is an awesome shoe for faster runs, but it does surprisingly well for Long Slow Distance. So, my initial thoughts of "awesome but awful" remain, and I'd still urge an abundance of caution as I think there is a significant injury risk to the vapor fly, but if you can handle the stress, and you can find a way to obtain a pair, I highly recommend it.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Vaporfly 200 Miles (1).jpg
File:Nike Vaporfly 200 Miles (2).jpg
File:Nike Vaporfly 200 Miles (3).jpg
File:Nike Vaporfly 200 Miles (4).jpg
</gallery>
=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
{{:Shoes-include}}