Nikes Best Sprint Spikes? Air Zoom Max Fly Review
This is the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly sprint spike.
In this blog post, I'm going to be reviewing them, telling you my experience running in them so far and if they’re worth buying.
Are spikes good for sprinting?
The short answer is yes. If you run in events up to 400m – including hurdles – you’re going to need a pair of sprint spikes. Sprint spikes are designed to keep you on the front of the foot so that you can maximise force output into the ground that’ll propel you down the track faster.
What do you get with the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly?
The Nike Air Zoom Max Fly sprint spike isn’t cheap, it’s £160. But what do you actually get for your money?
In the heel, you have a super light compound and a good amount of protection
In the forefoot, you have an air zoom unit, and a full-length carbon fiber plate, which is also known "Nikes Fly Plate"
A key performance indicator of faster sprinters is ankle stiffness. The stiffer the ankle the better transfer of force through the "stretch reflex. A stiffer ankle helps you to get off the ground quicker too and make your next step. Nikes carbon fibre plate amplifies sprinters ankle stiffness. As you make contact with the ground the carbon fibre plate feels very springy. The carbon fibre plate stores and releases energy, similar to the achilles tendon. So if you combine a stiff ankle with these shoes, you're going to be running FASTER!
Nikes shockwave design plate has 7 spike pins. These work together for maximum grip on the track when you’re running
The upper part of this spike is made out of Nike fly weave technology. This maximizes the foot’s natural motion and acts as a second skin
Before I had the Nike air max flys, I wore Adidas Adizero. During my last 400m competition, at the 200m point my laces came undone... less than ideal!
With Nikes air max flys we don't have to worry about this happening anymore. The Nike’s air max fly has notched laces. The notches laces keep the laces tied and secure at all times.
One last thing to mention is that the spikes are very light. The weigh in at 187 grams, which makes them ideal for sprinting.
How do they fit?
When I first took these out of the box and tried to get my foot into them, I said to myself -
"I'm never going to get my foot these Nike Air Max Flys"
However, once you loosen off the laces I would say they fit true to size. One minor annoyance with the laces is because of the notches, they're a real pain to undo!...
Which brings me onto 5 annoying things about the Nike Air Zoom Max Flys.
5 annoying things about the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly’s
They look great in white, but as soon as you start running on a track in them, they don’t stay white for long. I’ve worn mine 3 times now and you can already see the colour of the track on them
When I wear these, I feel like when I’m trying to slow down, I’m heel striking a lot more. This increases the force on your lower body and can increase your risk of injury
It takes a while to get used to running in these. It feels more difficult to run a bend because of the energy return from the carbon fibre plate and air zoom unit. And this can make it feel like its forcing you to the edge of your lane, which is a recipe for a DQ!
The shoe bag is weirdly separated in the middle. It’s difficult to get the spikes in and out of the bag and you almost feel like you’re going to rip the bag
Other runners have said the air zoom unit has burst and this does make you hyper-aware of the same thing happening to you
Now that we've got the annoying things out the way, let’s move on to 5 cool things about the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly’s.
5 cool things about the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly’s
The design of these is super distinctive. If you’re looking to be the centre of attention at the track, these spikes will most definitely do that! Unless of course everyone’s gone out and bought them. If everybody does have these spikes you can still make them your own. Nike allows you to customise them by putting text on them.
The air zoom unit makes it feel like you’re running on clouds. When you’re sprinting you can’t feel the ground, which at first made me feel disconnected from the track because I wasn’t used to it. However now that I'm used to them it feels like a lot less pressure on my joints
The grip on these shoes is so good. When I’m pushing off from a start and transitioning into my upright running it feels very smooth and FAST!
The full length lightweight foam compound, the air zoom unit and Nikes fly plate give you a super comfortable sprint spike. Not only that but you’ve got a stiffer spike which gives you a springy responsive feel when you’re sprinting on the track
This is the best thing - that I know most of you will care about... the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly help you run faster. I'm roughly 1/10th of a second quicker in these.
When I first did this review I hadn't done an electronically timed race, but now I have!
I've PB'd in the 60m and 150m race, while wearing the Nike Air Zoom Max fly's. My current 60m time is 7.37 seconds and my 150m time is 17.40 seconds.
I can't give all of the credit to these spikes for my PB's. What your training, diet, sleep etc... look like will be bigger determinants of becoming a faster sprinter. Think of the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly's as the icing on the cake to a solid training and diet programme.
Verdict
So what do I think to the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly spikes? Should you avoid them, consider them or just go right ahead and buy them?…
Well, I would just go right ahead and buy them.
If you’re a serious sprinter and you don’t have these right now, I think you’re at a huge disadvantage. When it comes to competing in sprinting, every tenth of a second counts.
If there is anything that can give you a 1% advantage (legally), then from my point of view it's worth the investment. These really do feel like the spikes that are going to help you run your fastest times.
You can buy the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly spikes by clicking here.
Only time will tell if these shoes will suffer the same fate as the Nike Zoom Air Viperfly, so get your best times in now! However... now they've released different colour ways of the Nike Air Zoom Max Fly, it looks like they're going to be sticking around!
We find a lot of track athletes do really well in their track training, but are unsure of what they should be doing in the gym to help them run faster.
