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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Nike Vaporfly 4% Review}}
The Nike Vaporfly 4% is a much-hyped shoe, which is based on the shoes Nike developed for their attempt to break the 2-hour marathon. It's an expensive shoe, retailing for $250, and even at that price it's hard to find. There are rumors that Nike are restricting supplies to drive up interest. The shoe is unusual in that it has a carbon fiber plate running through the midsole. Given all the hype, I was not expecting much from the Vaporfly 4%, but there are aspects to the shoe that have really impressed me. I'd say it's a mixture of the awesome and awful, though not in quite the ways I expected.
* The shoe has remarkable cushioning for its weight, with my measurements putting it close to the top of the table. I ran with a [[Hoka Clayton]] on one foot and the Vaporfly on the other and the Clayton felt hard and dead by comparison. The Vaporfly uses a new type of foam made of Pebax, a compound that has previously been used in harder materials like Mizuno's Wave Plate. It will be interesting to see this foam in other shoes, especially something closer to a "racing flat". There is a rumored Reebok FloatRide Floatride Racer using Pebax foam, but no details, and I've reviewed the [[Reebok Floatride Run]] which uses Pebax.
* When you wear the shoe, it has an amazing amount of bounce. It's far more than you get in TPU shoes like the [[Altra Escalante]], and feels like there's a spring under your foot. It seems like the carbon fiber plate is acting more as a spring for the rear of the shoe than for toe off. This bounce is immediately obvious, even walking around, and feels different to every other shoe I've tried. Even at the end of a marathon length run the bounce is noticeable and helped me keep up the pace. (Check out my review of the carbon fiber [[VKTRY Insoles]] for comparison.)
* I couldn't detect much difference in toe off from any other shoe, which was disappointing. The forefoot is quite stiff compared with other shoes, but given the forces involved at toe off, this doesn't seem to be enough to make much difference. Of course, a tiny difference in efficiency won't be noticeable immediately, but could make quite a difference to your finish time.
