In essence, the Free Hyperfeel is a compromise between Nike’s proclivities to pad and runners’ desires for a more direct sole-on-surface contact. It’s an attempt to strip away everything superfluous about the running shoe. (Of course, there is an increasingly large contingent of runners who think that a running shoe is superfluous to begin with.)
But while you might think it would concern Nike air max 1 to be whittling away their shoes to nothing–you could see the Hyperfeel as a gateway drug to total barefoot running–these and the other Flyknit kicks represent a design coup for the company in a few different ways. They’re better for athletes, because they’re lighter. They’re better for the nike air max environment, because they are, on average, roughly 80 percent less wasteful than other running shoes. And they’re profitable, because their computer-assisted design makes for a supremely efficient use of materials.
Flyknit is probably the future of Nike. We’ll see it on all different types of shoes (c.f. the gorgeous nike air max 90. But the Free Hyperfeel, which will be available in early September, respond to a unique, more specific challenge: how to give runners the benefits of a running shoe with as little shoe as possible.
