HOW REACT CAME INTO BEING
NIKE’S React foam had its origins at the basketball court. It was launched in June 2017 in basketball — a sport that requires players to shift direction and speed in seamless motion — in the Nike React Hyperdunk 2017 Flyknit and Jordan Super.Fly 2017.
The foam provides a sensation that is as soft and springy as it is squishy and stable. After more than 400 combinations of chemistry and processing, and using scientific methods to dial in on materials with certain amenable attributes, they landed the unique composition of Nike React foam.
It was then put through more than 2,000 hours of testing on the feet of basketball players, where it proved to be the most durable foam and to deliver greater energy return. Because runners want similar sensations, engineers uncaged Nike React technology to unleash its full potential for the road.
The foam alone delivers 13 per cent greater energy return than Nike’s latest generation of Nike Lunarlon foam.
“I want to emphasise this because we’re not comparing Nike React technology to some no-name foam that fell off the back of a truck somewhere; we’re comparing it to our latest Lunarlon and, even with the bar set that high, Nike React technology delivers that much more energy return with each and every stride,” says Nike Running director of advanced footwear Ernest Kim.
Last year, the React foam was even incorporated in Nike’s golf footwear.