The Nike Epic React Flyknit 2: An epic shoe for Runners

Lifespice digs up all the dope on the tech that makes Nike Epic React Flyknit 2 the perfect shoe for runners.

If you’re looking for a great new running shoe, then your search ends here. The Nike Epic React Flyknit 2 has reached our shores and it’s now available in vibrant debut colourways – 8-bit and Pixel. Inspired by the ’90s tech world, these new shoes have white-to-lime gradient midsole, an outsole in hyper pink-to-white and a sapphire heel clip. But don’t let the colours alone woo you, for these shoes feature an epic sole for runners, powered by the Nike React Technology.

The Nike React line of shoes was created as a response to runners’ four specific and non-negotiable requirements: the shoes must have good cushioning, offer better energy return, be lightweight, and last long as well. While the demands seem simple enough to the common man, they required the Nike team to push the envelope and create an entirely new technology. For soft cushioning absorbs energy but to meet the second requirement of good energy return, the sole needed to be hard, not soft. Nike innovators, chemists, engineers and designers put their heads together to figure out a solution and the result was an entirely new type of foam – Nike React.

The foam was first launched in June 2017 in basketball, and it was loved by players for being soft and springy yet stable at the same time. This unique balance was achieved after over 400 chemical permutations and combinations and 2000-hours of testing on basketball players. While the shoes offered stability and durability for basketball players, the Nike team has been able to showcase the complete potential of the new sole in running shoes. The foam allows for 13% greater energy return than even the latest generation of Nike’s own brilliant Lunarlon foam. This translates into a fantastic sole, which reacts to every step and immediately bounces back to its original shape and allows for a consistent underfoot feel mile after mile.

Then came the task of designing the shoes that would be equipped with this revolutionary foam. The Nike team turned to athlete data for insights on how they move, the direction and force applied and visualised it all through pressure maps that displayed precisely where athletes require extra support. This data was fed into a proprietary algorithm, which generated a unique surface geometry to further amplify running performance. Thus, the data-backed Nike React shoes were born with optimised cushioning and traction, and were then tested by elite and everyday runners, which involved running over 27,300 kilometers!

The Nike team was rewarded for its diligent product development when a wear-tester shared his feedback on running in the Nike Epic React, “It felt fun — it makes you want to run.” But don’t take ours or Nike’s word for it! Give the Nike Epic React Flyknit a go and decide for yourself if these shoes are really as epic as they seem! Men can buy them by clicking here and women’s shoes are available for purchase from this link.