Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Pure Platinum'
Colorway: Platinum Tint/Pure Platinum · Style code: AQ1316-002 · Price: $2832 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Volt' (AQ1316-003) · Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Triple Black' (AQ1316-006) · Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Black True Berry' (AQ1316-007) · Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Black Metallic Gold' (AQ1316-008) · Nike Wmns Free RN 5.0 'Black Vivid Purple' (AQ1316-009)
The Nike Free came out of watching Stanford athletes train barefoot on grass, and the number attached to each version places it on a scale where zero is bare feet and ten is a conventional running shoe. Five sits in the middle. The 2019 redesign pushed the line back toward that original idea after years of drift: the heel-to-toe drop was cut by two millimetres against the previous model, and the last was reshaped anatomically so the toes can splay rather than being funnelled to a point. The sole is the part that defines the shoe: deep siping cut through the foam in a grid so the platform folds and spreads with the foot instead of resisting it. In pale platinum those cuts are the main visual feature, since there is almost nothing else on the shoe to look at. Reviewers were consistent about what it is and is not: a useful tool for short runs, gym work and lifting, and a poor choice for daily mileage.