Nike Free RN 2018 GPX 'Atmosphere Frey'
Colorway: Sequoia/White/White · Style code: AT9976-301 · Release date: February 7, 2019 · Price: $125 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Women's Nike Free RN 2018 (942837-100) · Women's Nike Free RN 2018 (942837-001) · Nike Free RN 2018 'Gunsmoke' (942836-011) · Nike Free RN 2018 'Bordeaux' (942836-601) · Nike Wmns Free RN 2018 (AQ7509-106)
Nike Free came out of watching sponsored track athletes train barefoot, an observation that turned into a long project to build a shoe that would flex the way a foot does. The first models arrived in 2005 and were sold on a numbered scale, with 0 representing barefoot and 10 a conventional running shoe, so a Free 3.0 sat closer to nothing underfoot than a Free 7.0 did.
The mechanism was always the midsole. Instead of a solid slab, the foam is cut through with deep grooves in both directions, so it folds and splays under the foot rather than resisting it. Nike dropped the numbers in 2016 in favour of the RN naming, then brought them back in 2019.
The RN 2018 is the everyday version of that idea: a knit stretch-mesh upper with an internal fit system, and a rounded heel edge so the foot rolls into the stride rather than landing on a flat shelf. GPX make-ups added a camouflage graphic on top. This one runs sequoia green over white, the pattern reading as texture from any distance.