After more runs with my “marathon capable” Nike Lunar racer, here is the 2nd installment to my review of this fantastic pair of running shoes. I can’t deny that my following runs after my first with this pair were quite abrasively painful, particularly given my gait change to this new shoe, so I needed a longer resting time and rotating between shoes for the skin abrasions on the side of the big toe and the last toe to heal before giving the shoes another fair go.

I brought the shoes out for more short-middle distance long runs to test the cushioning, together with some track 400m speedwork to test the responsiveness and feedback.

With each passing run, I am glad to say that the shoe is more accustomed to fit my foot now and I am starting to see the potential of this pair of racers. Considering me myself being a long time Nike skeptic for their running shoes, this racer had quite a formidable task to proof itself worthy into my running arsenal mainly dominated by Asics, Mizuno and New Balance shoes for most of my active running period.

I will be breaking down my thoughts for this pair of shoes over few following areas. Though the shoe is not perfect, it’s combination of many performance factors coupled with it’s weight advantages which makes it really impressive for it’s class. Looks like we have a winner here.

Mid sole
The mid sole is shaped like an accordion, and acts like one too- returning energy after each running stride. It is also blessed with a rather broad waffle base which acts like a piston to push off the foot on each strike. Though this really made the mid sole stick out, that didn’t not bother me much at all. The shoes have a bouncy feel when you are jumping around stationary, almost too cushiony. The shoe still maintains this light bounciness on light jog, however, it turned firm and responsive when you start to pick up speed. Just like a performance car on sports mode, you can simply just feel the shoe stiffen up in response when running in them, and that really give me some good support and protection to your legs as a whole and a good stable and a responsive take-off when you are up for it. It’s amazing for a sole so minimal.

Upper
The body of the shoe is wrapped in a modified synthetic rubber compound we know as Nike Free, allowing for an anatomical fit over a gradual break in. This fit also allows the muscles in the foot to gain strength by providing less constriction, it will be advised to gradually break into the shoe rather than immediately running long distances as to prevent muscle cramps and other discomforts. This material also gives the shoe a rather waterproof amphibious feel typical in those worn by tri-athletes let be steeple chase runners themselves. Ventilation is adequate with a breathable mesh construction and my feet was relatively dry after a 10km run in plain cotton non-neoprene socks. There is quite a lack of internal padding inside the shoe- mostly made of the synthetic rubber, which do not look will expand very easily. I am wary whether this material will be able to expand over time, but my bet is, if you were to get this pair of racers, it’s wise to get 1/2 size wider than your usual sizing.

Road Performance
I can say, having ran with other lightweight racers before, this shoe is a serious competitor to other trainers in it’s class and surpasses them in terms of weight and cushioning.

Effective Cushioning
Time and again, running on urban surfaces in parks and around my park connector felt very comfortable in the racers, the Lunarlite foam material absorbed the landing of my feet rather well. I am impressed with its ability to absorb the impacts and shocks from the hard surfaces very well without sacrificing responsiveness as well. It’s so good, I can even tell the difference between park and traffic tarmac to the new or worn concrete pavements without looking at it! Moreover, Nike sports research lab studies claims that Lunarlite Foam spreads pressure loads across the whole foot, thus reducing impact on bones. I was able to verify with less leg fatigue after my runs on a fixed/known elapsed distance as verified on google earth on or my Polar RS400sd, which really makes it very tempting for me to run more than what I usually do.

However just like a all cushioning foam (like the Asics equivalent of lunarlite, Duomax, Mizuno’s Wave foam as well as the “energy returning” Adizeros) there is always is always a material threshold where the shoe will start to lose it’s cushioning effectiveness- where you have to rotate in another shoe for the other to recover it’s “springiness”. I’ve not ran a respectable distance to find out about this threshold (as a runner’s weight also plays a big role in this). But knowing that Jeanette Wang, the winner of sundown 84km used the lunar’s throughout her race, it’s safe to assume that cushioning will remain effective for most of the distances we can humanly run at a single go.

It is also a known fact the lunarlite foam can get rather unstable after being immersed in water. Though, the tough outer shell does a good job in protecting against causal puddles and splashes, it pays to keep out of running in the rain water (which you logically shouldn’t), deep puddles or mud floods during cross-country runs (particular in macritchie itself) to prolong your shoe’s active lifespan.

Outsole
The outsole is clad in the trademark lime green which is non-marking. The thing which strikes me quite a bit is the minimal yet strategic placement of carbon rubber outer sole pads only on the high wear areas of the shoe, makes you wonder of the desperate measures Nike is taking to cut weight here. The outsole seemed sturdy as post run checks yielded no noticeable wear.

How these outsole lugs are afixed dawns the question of durability, as the pads themselves, though essential are relatively thin and in no time I can see the black rubber wearing off and exposing the outsole itself, which can lead to traction problems. After clocking in about 100km with this pair of shoes so far, I am glad to report that the outsole cushion is still not fading and the footstep is just still as quiet and efficient as ever. My bet is that unless you really drag your feet, the shoes can still be able to hit and effective lifespan mileage of at least 500km, or even let be 800km. I will not recommend this shoe for wear down training or LSD as that is not a job for a racer, but rather for short runs and competitions, to even a timed casual 2.4km run for your IPPT where it will really serve you well.

Construction and Durability
I always like simple shoes and I particularly like the simple design of the racer. It is being built with as little parts and no fancy plastics “spoilers” here and there which can only come off after a while of running, painting “function over form” after all a running shoe have to perform, with the looks aside!

I took the shoe out for a speed training run, doing some speed work and timed dashes. The shoes perform really well on the track and the weight added to the and I was able to sustain my speed over a considerable longer period on my 400m rounds. Though timings are not drastically reduced, I could do more timed runs in a given window without feeling too beat up.

After repeated speed work, I can firmly say that that shoe can be said to be durable for the job but not recommended to be your primary training shoe- unless you want to put it on a premature self-destruction course. These shoes are not cheap. For wear down training, I will recommend a heavier, more structured shoe as few biomechanically efficient runners who can train in such a minimal, lightweight shoe and reap benefits from it, unless in races themselves. Though such a light shoe is very ideal on paper in most cases, I will not recommend it as a full fledged training shoe, unless if you are the few who can take on the shoes and still produce the results in your races.

Feedback
Got quite alot of feedback from many runners of the heel tab area being too high, often resulting in a heels and Achilles having been cut by the upper tongue resulting in redness, skin abrasion and blisters. Though this can be easily remedied by proper protective socks around the ankles or sticking blister pads, seems that there are too many complaints in this area to render it much of a runner’s fault but rather a possible design flaw.

I personally do not encounter this problem myself, but I think I can owe it to wearing well padded socks that protected my Achilles from the shoe.

Final thoughts
This shoe is like a gem on it’s own and will truly shine in short to medium competitive runs, whether it’s the function you are looking for this shoe is also quite a head turner as well.

There are 2 main shoes in the Lunar line at the moment, the LunarTrainer+ and LunaRacer+, from what I know, the racer is actually the softer and slightly more stable shoe, but the trainer is more substantial and will last longer (though I have not tested this claim yet). Overall, if you are looking for a pair of lightweight racers in your competitive runs or where the need for the weight advantage and cushioning will be effective, you can’t go wrong with the lunars. Nike press releases stated that the Racers will be available in 12 different colours of the Q1 season of 2009, maybe that is something to look forward too with the opening of Nike village at Orchard Wisma soon as well.

I am glad to say that Nike had definitely hit the jackpot this time. It simply just brings the “spring” back in running again and you will be rest assured that I will be hungry for more. The Luna racer gets my recommendations as a runner’s must have for this season.

Nike Lunarlite Racer+

Lowdown
A combination of technology and function makes this an excellent “marathon capable” lightweight racer suited for anyone of all ages who simply desire one of the best in responsiveness and cushioning available on the market today.

I’ve got a new pair of Nike Lunar racers and promised to write a review of it. So here goes, the first part with my first impressions.

The first thing you can do is to pick up this pair of shoes and wonder what the? It weighs too light to feel real, it feels even lighter when worn. Just like a new subject of scrutiny in front of a panel, there are many perspective one can view the Lunar racer from. A conservative may call it “bombastic”, “shouty” or “bold” while accountants and economist can may remark that Nike had taken out all the equipment and jacked up the price. Either way, you can’t deny that the shoe is simply stunning at first glance, and that is not just the full story yet.

Flywire explained
So being an engineer myself, let take alook at it from an engineering point of view. The shoe is very solid built, yet very flexible. Employing Flywire technology in the shoe’s upper, one can simply go “Mmmm this looks just like a suspension bridge”. True enough the shoes does indeed works like cables on a suspension bridge, providing precisely engineered support for the foot. Just like the bare necessity of cables strung on a bridge, the Flywire filaments, made of a strong fibre called Vectram are placed only where support is required, anchoring the sole of the shoe to the lace hoops and a secondary Flywire for the runner’s heel area. This minimalist design does what a fully padded shoe is able to do, without the extra materials, allowing a great shedding of materials, which in turn equals reduction of overall weight.

Indeed, Flywire technology gained instant notoriety on the track scene during the Osaka 2007 World Track & Field Championships, where team USA middle distance runners, both medaled with Zoom Victory Spike. Thanks to this innovation, track spikes with Flywire now easily come in the under 100g category, a weight never before achieved by Nike without compromising durability, integrity or support. This racer is no different either.

Overview of the Nike lunarlite racer+

Bare necessities- Flywire construction on the inner side

Lunarlite cushioning foam base and sole

Applying the innovation to distance running was the next natural choice, giving birth to the lunar racer. This Lunar racer weighs in at about 160g per shoe for a US size 10, nearly 4 about 100g lighter than my current racer and I can say in it’s league, one of the lightest racer footwear available on the market today. If Nike is not breaking aiding the breaking of Olympics records, it’s engineering records they are breaking here as well.

Lunarlite, we’ve got cushioning!
Lightweight and very responsive are two qualities which usually never go on the same sentence. The same however, can be said for the Lunar Racer with respect to cushioning. This is largely attributed to the Lunarlite foam ported for footwear use which has it’s roots from NASA’s space shuttles.

Lunarlite foam distributes the pressure patterns and spreads pressure loads more evenly across the foot to help protect it from pain, injury and reducing impact on bones. Moreover Lunarlite foam’s “pillow-like” softness was claimed to reduce energy in the midsole, requiring lesser energy to take successive strides and allows the conservation of energy from pounding making runner’s feel less beat up- all important for distance events.

Left sole features a Nike+ sensor pocket for Nike+ sports band

In the belly of the beast

Time for a trail run!

The Lunarlite foam is said to be the next biggest achievement Nike had made since Bill Bowerman’s invention of the original Waffle sole, also know as the revolutionary “Moon Shoe” (which in turn gave birth to the “Waffle Racer”) in 1974. Designed by Nike’s Kevin Hoffer, this new cushioning system is a successor worthy to the waffle, yet faithful to it’s roots with a rather similar planetary naming convention to it’s older sibling.

Initial run impressions
So with all the hype lets, the real test is of course taking the shoe out into the wild for a short preliminary 10km run and see whether it lives up to it’s name. Though, yes, I can hear you say that this is a racer, not a trainer, but since the racer and trainer spot the same sole piece, only with a different upper, it’s a good way to test and gauge the effective cushioning it offers for longer runs.

My initial runs were rather enjoyable. Ventilation was sufficient and my feet didn’t stink nor sweaty even after the run with cotton socks. However, past the 7km mark, I can feel increasing soreness on the sides my big toe and my small toe. There are noticeable skin abrasions and soreness on these areas on my toes upon inspection after the run. I can give it that the shoes are not burnt in yet and gait changes for the new shoe. It will take sometime before I can come to a conclusion for the small toebox size.

My feet spots a normal (medium) arch with mild to neutral pronation. The shoe itself corrects the pronation so you can ensure even landing of your feet for optimal wearing and support. If your feet is really on the wide size, I will recommend getting half a size larger than your standard foot size. For now, knowing my threshold my in this setup, my guess is that if I were to take this out for a long run, from experiences, I believe my feet will start blistering past the 25km mark. But after all, yes this is a racer, so the optimal employment for this shoe will be short to middle distances, where the shoe can really shine without the frills.

Running over a varying degree of terrain such as concrete, tarmac and gravel. The shoe do take off quite alot of the pounding of my feet. Cushioning is good and relatively good and responsive, particularly the midsole. There is no fancy mix of sole parts here, just continuous piece of lunarlite foam from tip to heel, which is simply good in term of durability and I am glad Nike is pulling in this direction- from my experience with older Nike shoes, fancy sole parts always tend to tear off prematurely which severely impacts a shoe’s lifespan.

I am impressed that I do not fatigue as early as I expected to do on this pair of shoes. I will be also be very interested to find out how much mileage the shoe can take before the cushioning effectiveness starts to drop. Though I think it won’t hold (or fair enough to compare it) to my Mizuno Wave Creation 8, the Lunar racer does provide very good cushioning for a shoe in it’s class and weight category.

I will be putting the shoes for more test runs, particularly speed work tests round a track where I think this shoe will truly shine. That to, having to break in the shoe and eliminate all the other variables before putting a firm recommendation on the shoe. Stay tuned for the second part of this review.

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