Nike Superfly Elite 'Pure Platinum Pink Blast'
Colorway: Pure Platinum/Black/Pink Blast · Style code: 835996-003 · Price: $289 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Superfly Elite 'Phantom' (835996-001) · Nike Superfly Elite 'Black Indigo Fog' (835996-002) · Nike Superfly Elite 'Racing Spikes' (835996-017) · Nike Zoom Superfly Elite 'Electric Green' (835996-300) · Nike Superfly Elite 'Hydrogen Blue' (835996-404)
A sprint spike solves a narrower problem than any other running shoe. Over 100 to 400 metres there is no landing to cushion and no fatigue to manage in the usual sense; the shoe has to hold the foot rigid against the plate, transmit force through the toes, and weigh as little as physics allows.
The Zoom Superfly Elite answers that with an eight-spike plate carrying 6.35mm pyramid pins, and with an upper Nike calls Flyweave, woven so that it tightens around the foot as acceleration pulls it taut: a construction the brand compared to seat-belt webbing, which does the same thing under load. There is no padding to speak of and nothing underfoot that could be called cushioning.
Spikes are also where sportswear brands are least restrained about colour, because a sprint final is watched in slow motion and the shoe is on screen for all of it. This pair runs pure platinum with pink blast, a combination built to read on camera rather than in a shop. Versions of this model were on the track through the 2016 season.