We were very excited to get our hands on a pair of Nike's Zoom Tempo Next%. Billed as a less aggressive version of their Vaporfly, but a more race-day ready shoe than the Pegasus, it's packed full of go faster tech. We put it through its paces on several runs, which included tempos, 5ks, brick runs, and a dog. Here's what we thought.
The good
- Extremely fast
- Hard-wearing
- Better performance the faster we went
- Brilliant looks
The bad
- Expensive
- Slightly spongy ride
- Quick T2 entry takes practice
- Unstable on loose trail or cross country
What we like
This shoe is fast. SERIOUSLY fast. It's quite a high shoe thanks to the Zoom and React foam midsole, but once you start running in them, the toe-off phase seems to scream "Go faster!" at you. And you will.
This shoe is built for PBs, thanks to its use of Nike's Zoom and react energy return foams, Air Zoom Pods in the forefoot (this feature seemed to interest our dog), and a carbon plate to put real spring in every step. Nike claims something in the region of 80% energy return. They're quite a spongy ride, but if you can get past that, it's a staggeringly fast shoe. We tried it on three 10k brick runs, and straight off the bike, we were feeling fast and zippy. We felt super confident at holding our pace over the distance, and felt like the shoe got better the faster we went.
What we don't like
This is an expensive shoe. UK triathletes will have to pay almost £170 at the time of writing. That's a lot of cabbage on one pair of shoes, and that cost isn't necessarily OK for everyone.
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| The midsole is great on tarmac but feels unsteady on loose trail |
We also found that although they were very fast in a straight line and extremely good on the tarmac and hard trail, they were not very well suited to cross-country and downright terrifying on loose surfaces. Because your foot tends to feel like it's ON the shoe, rather than IN it, cornering on earth, gravel or loose trail made our foot feel like it would burst out of the side of the shoe. If the run section of your triathlons is on gravel or cross country, we'd recommend a more stable shoe.
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| Upper class: the shoe looks great, but is tricky to put on in transition |
The upper of the shoe is an interesting thing; a one-piece design that completely removes the separate tongue. For triathletes, the net effect of this is that there's not much to grab when putting the shoe on in transition. It's possible, and with elastic laces, it's a great fit once it's on, but we did find we needed a few practices to get our transitions as quick as we would like.
Verdict 4/5
Built to propel you towards new personal bests, this is a seriously fast shoe IF you choose it for the right races. It's expensive, but those people who want to buy this shoe will probably see that as an investment in their performance. The tongueless system makes quick entry a challenge during transitions, but it's not originally meant as a triathlon shoe. Additionally, trail-loving triathletes will probably want to look elsewhere.
However, there is no getting around the overall feel that this shoe is made for speed. The Zoom Tempo Next% is an absolute powerhouse of a running shoe that WILL make you faster. Just keep the dog away from those Zoom pods.
We conducted this review after running over 50 miles in the Nike Zoom Tempo Next%. We thank the nice people at Nike for their quick service and lovely friendly staff.
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