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Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:Nike Zoom Fly Review}} The Nike Zoom Fly is part of Nike's "breaking 2" initiative to break the 2-hour marathon. That failed attempt to run a sub-2-hour maratho..."
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Nike Zoom Fly Review}}
The Nike Zoom Fly is part of Nike's "breaking 2" initiative to break the 2-hour marathon. That failed attempt to run a sub-2-hour marathon used the Nike Vaporfly Elite, a shoe you can't buy. There is a retail version, the [[Nike Vaporfly 4%]] which uses the same ZoomX foam and a carbon fiber plate in the midsole. This shoe, the Zoom Fly looks superficially identical to the Vaporfly, and you're probably reading this review to see how it stacks up to its sibling. The short answer is that the Zoom Fly is despite the looks, it's nothing like the Vaporfly. I rate the Zoom Fly as "worth considering" as it's not a bad shoe (other than the shape and drop), but it's rather overpriced and it's certainly no cheapskate Vaporfly. {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-top.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly top
File:Nike Zoom Fly-outside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly outside
File:Nike Zoom Fly-bottom.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly bottom
File:Nike Zoom Fly-inside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly inside
</gallery>
=Characteristics=
I'm going to focus on how the Zoom Fly compares with the Vaporfly, rather than doing a standalone Zoom Fly review.
* {{H:cushioning}}. The Zoom Fly is heavier and less cushioned than the Vaporfly. It's not a bad cushioning-to-weight ratio, but after the Vaporfly it seems heavy and dead. The Vaporfly has an amazing level of bounce, where the Zoom Fly is pretty much like any other running shoe.
* {{H:drop}}. The Zoom Fly has less unloaded drop than the Vaporfly, but when worn they are both about 8mm. However, I found the drop on the Zoom Fly to be troubling, as I would expect on an 8mm drop, where I've got on fine with the Vaporfly. The Zoom Fly feels like it's 8mm drop, where I find something about the Vaporfly feels rather less.
* {{H:structure}}. While the Zoom Fly has a black line down the side, it doesn't have the carbon fiber plate of its better siblings. There's no noticeable structure of interference with your biomechanics, and there's not the instability that I find so troubling in the Vaporfly.
* {{H:flexibility}}. Even without the Vaporfly's carbon fiber plate, the Zoom Fly has similar levels of flexibility. Without the carbon fiber, the Zoom Fly doesn't have the spring of the Vaporfly. It might still improve running economy, but the expected level of improvement would be hard to detect without a laboratory.
* {{H:outsole}}. You can see the hard rubber outsole as the black areas on the sole of the Zoom Fly. Superficially, this looks very similar to the Vaporfly, but on close inspection the pattern is rather different. I'm not sure if the rubber outsole is the same material on the Zoom Fly as it appears to be harder than the Vaporfly.
* {{H:shape}}. The Zoom Fly shape doesn't match the human foot, so the toe box compresses the toes. It matches the shape of the Vaporfly, and I found the Vaporfly gave me toe blisters until I [[Shoe Dissection| cut open the toe box]]. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}.
* {{H:upper}}. The upper is another area where the Zoom Fly looks almost identical to the Vaporfly, but is radically different. The Vaporfly has small holes that are held together with a remarkably strong and fine mesh, where the Zoom Fly has two layers of upper with holes just in the outermost layer. The Zoom Fly is not a bad upper, but it's nowhere near as open and breathable as the Vaporfly. The eye holes for the laces are also different, with the Vaporfly using a double layer of upper material to form the holes and the Zoom Fly using cords. Things are not all in the Vaporfly's favor, and the Zoom Fly has thicker cushioning around the ankle opening.
* {{H:tongue}}. Both the Zoom Fly and Vaporfly use a traditional style, without connections to the upper except at the base. Both shoes have thin and unpadded tongues, but the Vaporfly is more breathable.
* {{H:lacing}}. The laces work well and remained tied. This is the one part of the shoe that appears identical between the Zoom Fly and the Vaporfly.
* {{H:heelcounter}}. While the Vaporfly has no heel counter, the Zoom Fly has a small, stiff heel counter.
=Visual Comparison with Vaporfly 4%=
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-top.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly top
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-top.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% top
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-outside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly outside
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-outside.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% outside
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-bottom.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly bottom
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-bottom.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% bottom
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-inside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly inside
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-inside.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% inside
</gallery>
=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
{{:Shoes-include}}
The Nike Zoom Fly is part of Nike's "breaking 2" initiative to break the 2-hour marathon. That failed attempt to run a sub-2-hour marathon used the Nike Vaporfly Elite, a shoe you can't buy. There is a retail version, the [[Nike Vaporfly 4%]] which uses the same ZoomX foam and a carbon fiber plate in the midsole. This shoe, the Zoom Fly looks superficially identical to the Vaporfly, and you're probably reading this review to see how it stacks up to its sibling. The short answer is that the Zoom Fly is despite the looks, it's nothing like the Vaporfly. I rate the Zoom Fly as "worth considering" as it's not a bad shoe (other than the shape and drop), but it's rather overpriced and it's certainly no cheapskate Vaporfly. {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-top.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly top
File:Nike Zoom Fly-outside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly outside
File:Nike Zoom Fly-bottom.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly bottom
File:Nike Zoom Fly-inside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly inside
</gallery>
=Characteristics=
I'm going to focus on how the Zoom Fly compares with the Vaporfly, rather than doing a standalone Zoom Fly review.
* {{H:cushioning}}. The Zoom Fly is heavier and less cushioned than the Vaporfly. It's not a bad cushioning-to-weight ratio, but after the Vaporfly it seems heavy and dead. The Vaporfly has an amazing level of bounce, where the Zoom Fly is pretty much like any other running shoe.
* {{H:drop}}. The Zoom Fly has less unloaded drop than the Vaporfly, but when worn they are both about 8mm. However, I found the drop on the Zoom Fly to be troubling, as I would expect on an 8mm drop, where I've got on fine with the Vaporfly. The Zoom Fly feels like it's 8mm drop, where I find something about the Vaporfly feels rather less.
* {{H:structure}}. While the Zoom Fly has a black line down the side, it doesn't have the carbon fiber plate of its better siblings. There's no noticeable structure of interference with your biomechanics, and there's not the instability that I find so troubling in the Vaporfly.
* {{H:flexibility}}. Even without the Vaporfly's carbon fiber plate, the Zoom Fly has similar levels of flexibility. Without the carbon fiber, the Zoom Fly doesn't have the spring of the Vaporfly. It might still improve running economy, but the expected level of improvement would be hard to detect without a laboratory.
* {{H:outsole}}. You can see the hard rubber outsole as the black areas on the sole of the Zoom Fly. Superficially, this looks very similar to the Vaporfly, but on close inspection the pattern is rather different. I'm not sure if the rubber outsole is the same material on the Zoom Fly as it appears to be harder than the Vaporfly.
* {{H:shape}}. The Zoom Fly shape doesn't match the human foot, so the toe box compresses the toes. It matches the shape of the Vaporfly, and I found the Vaporfly gave me toe blisters until I [[Shoe Dissection| cut open the toe box]]. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}.
* {{H:upper}}. The upper is another area where the Zoom Fly looks almost identical to the Vaporfly, but is radically different. The Vaporfly has small holes that are held together with a remarkably strong and fine mesh, where the Zoom Fly has two layers of upper with holes just in the outermost layer. The Zoom Fly is not a bad upper, but it's nowhere near as open and breathable as the Vaporfly. The eye holes for the laces are also different, with the Vaporfly using a double layer of upper material to form the holes and the Zoom Fly using cords. Things are not all in the Vaporfly's favor, and the Zoom Fly has thicker cushioning around the ankle opening.
* {{H:tongue}}. Both the Zoom Fly and Vaporfly use a traditional style, without connections to the upper except at the base. Both shoes have thin and unpadded tongues, but the Vaporfly is more breathable.
* {{H:lacing}}. The laces work well and remained tied. This is the one part of the shoe that appears identical between the Zoom Fly and the Vaporfly.
* {{H:heelcounter}}. While the Vaporfly has no heel counter, the Zoom Fly has a small, stiff heel counter.
=Visual Comparison with Vaporfly 4%=
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-top.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly top
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-top.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% top
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-outside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly outside
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-outside.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% outside
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-bottom.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly bottom
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-bottom.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% bottom
</gallery>
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Nike Zoom Fly-inside.jpg|Nike Zoom Fly inside
File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-inside.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% inside
</gallery>
=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
{{:Shoes-include}}