Review: Nike Flyknit Lunar 2

Less than a week back, I received the Nike Flyknit Lunar 2 for review. Needless to say, the first thing that strikes you about this shoe is its looks. I fell in love as soon as I opened the box. The color combination of the shoe is stunning – bright, bold and pleasing.  This shoe will be available in select stores across India effective 5th Feb 2014.

Last year saw the release of the Flyknit Lunar 1 and this has been my favorite training shoe until now. Version 1.0 had bought to us runners, a lightweight shoe  which combined the responsive cushioning of the Lunarlon sole and the newly introduced Flyknit upper. The Flyknit technology gave us a practically seamless upper, knitted together in one cohesive piece. The Flyknit design diminishes possible points of irritation to the foot and reduces weight. In addition to Flyknit, the Nike Lunar 1+ running shoe also sported Dyamic Flywire technology. Flywire uses carefully positioned nylon fibers to lend adaptive support to the foot that loosens and tightens with the natural motion of the foot, providing a glove like fit to the upper.

For those that are not aware, the lunarlon cushioning was developed by researchers at Nike by observing astronauts bounding on the moon. This was coupled with researching key impact points on the foot in-stride. So, after research, they came up with a cushioning system which was 30% lighter than the standard Phylon foam and which distributed the impact evenly across the foot while providing ample cushioning and improving stability and comfort.

For those of us who like a cushioned training shoe, Version 2.0 has gone a length further to fine tune this shoe and provide what I feel is the best training shoe so far. This shoe is for a runner with a neutral stride. The slightly upturned towards the toe and extremely flexible sole promotes a mid-foot strike and helps the runner adopt a more natural stride. When you look at the outsole, you can  actually see the pressure map the foot follows in running stride. This research has been applied to the outsole and midsole, to provide a more fluid, and stable running experience which evenly distributing the impact across the foot. Lunar 1 had extreme cushioning in the heel, Lunar 2 has done us runners a favor by reducing that cushion which leads to a more natural ride. In comparison to the Lunar 1, this sole provides a firmer and more comfortable experience to the runner while providing mid-level cushioning.

Staying true to the flyknit technology, the upper provides the runner with an extremely breathable and well ventilated ride. In comparison to the Lunar 1, the Lunar 2.0 has more stretch which provides the runner with a more snug and comfortable fit. The mesh is denser in parts of the foot which requires greater support and which take on higher impact during a run while more breathable in areas of lower impact. So, a tighter and denser weave at the perimeter stabilizes the forefoot and the heel while a stretchable top enables enhanced breathability.  The tongue which had a tendency to slide to the side in the Lunar 1, has now been attached and to the shoe to keep it in place during the run. The dynamic flywire provides additional support to the foot while in stride to promote natural movement  of the foot and provide a more stable ride.

This shoe is available at Rs.12,995 for women and Rs. 13,995 for men. What this price includes is performance, technology, durability, comfort and off course funky looks. This is a shoe which aims at  promoting in the runner a stable and natural stride. This shoe can be used for all of the training runs, be it the shorter intervals, mid-distance tempo or the longer endurance runs. It gives the runner a fluid ride while reducing impact on the fragile bones of the foot. This is am extremely lightweight neutral shoe built for runners from beginner to elite. Overall, another superb product, an excellent shoe and a successful delivery from Nike yet again.

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