Shoe-In

Nike Epic React Flyknit $200 Women’s: 195 g (6.8 oz.) Men’s: 239 g (8.4 oz.) Drop ratio: 10 mm

Hot on the heels of the Vaporfly 4%, last year’s big technology bombshell, Nike drops this surprising second midsole technology: React. The first shoe fitted with this incredibly soft, you guessed it, reactive foam is aptly called the Epic React Flyknit, because its upper is similar in style and fit to Nike’s other knit, sock-like casual running shoes.

The React is clearly a response to an industry trend triggered by Adidas’ Boost midsole (and other brands, such as Under Armour with its new HOVR tech, have also rushed to respond to the demand). Like the Adidas UltraBoost, the Epic React Flyknit features a large single piece of foam as the basis for the shoe. But our testers found that the React foam is actually a better platform for daily running, as it’s slightly firmer, while actually providing the as-advertised “bounce” factor upon rebounding through the stride. It does indeed seem to live up to the claim that React provides 13 per cent more energy return than Nike’s decade-old midsole foam, Lunarlon (which will be phased out).

Of course, the shoe looks gorgeous and is a legit everyday running shoe, particularly for easy runs. Interestingly, this is the first time that Nike has leveraged computational design, meaning that each size is custom tuned to fit and perform perfectly. During our interview with one of Nike’s design leads for the shoe, there was a sense that this approach to building running shoes will become the norm for the brand. Perhaps one day we will each get an individually designed shoe for that fairytale fit. In the meantime, the Epic React Flyknit is a really nice looking and feeling training shoe.— MD