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File:Nike Vaporfly 4%-inside.jpg|Nike Vaporfly 4% inside
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This review was made possible by readers like you buying products via my links. Sadly, I don't have a link to the Vaporfly as it's so hard to find. However, I don't only review products that I have affiliate links for, and I buy all my gear at the same retail outlets you do to avoid even subconscious bias. I'd like to thank the many readers who buy products through the links on the left-hand navigation bar. Your funding for this site helps enormously.
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=Characteristics=
* {{H:cushioning}}. The cushioning of the Vaporfly is impressive, but the numbers on my comparison chart below don't really convey the level of shock absorption and bounce. One way of conveying this is that the Vaporfly is to a Hoka what a Hoka is to a racing flat. This sense of bounce is immediately obvious when you first put the Vaporfly on. You can tell the difference just standing in them, and the difference when walking can be a little disconcerting. I've found the bounce is helpful to me even at the end of a marathon length run, when normally fatigue makes any shoe seem less cushioned than at the start. This cushioning is not without its issues however, and the Vaporfly feels quite unstable. It's like your foot is balancing on a ball rather than a block of foam. The height of the sole exacerbates this instability, and taking fast, tight corners requires some care. The instability also creates extra stress on my ankles, and I've found some discomfort around the Achilles, as well as tender calves. <br/>[[File:Vaporfly Hoka.jpg|center|thumb|300px| Comparing the Vaporfly with the [[Hoka Clayton]].]]
* {{H:lacing}}. The laces work well and remained tied.
* {{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 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.
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File:Vaporfly 100miles (1).jpg
File:Vaporfly 100miles (2).jpg
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=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
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