Will my old-ish (~100 miles) 4% VFs give me any benefit on dirt roads? I would like to PR in an upcoming 8k TT/race and am not sure if I should bother wearing those or just go with my workout flats.
Will my old-ish (~100 miles) 4% VFs give me any benefit on dirt roads? I would like to PR in an upcoming 8k TT/race and am not sure if I should bother wearing those or just go with my workout flats.
you will destroy the heel foam
100 miles ain't much for that shoe
On dirt I found the flyknit upper not very secure, your heel goes off center if there is any cambered terrain.
GBohannon wrote:
Will my old-ish (~100 miles) 4% VFs give me any benefit on dirt roads? I would like to PR in an upcoming 8k TT/race and am not sure if I should bother wearing those or just go with my workout flats.
I use my old 4% flyknit with over 400 miles on them for long runs now and occasionally end up on dirt roads. I would say yes they still provide a benefit but the traction can be so bad that it may end up negating most of it. You may want to test them out first before committing to wearing them.
They will give you the benefit of protecting your feet from small rocks and debris that you might step on.
Traction is not their forte. Plus the main benefit I find with them is the cushioning - which I need less of on dirt trails. I wear my retired ones (after two races) for some of my longer runs but they are mostly on asphalt.
Nutsack McGee wrote:
They will give you the benefit of protecting your feet from small rocks and debris that you might step on.
or you will twist an ankle. pick your poison
Living in flagstaff just the thought of vaporflys on gravel sounds horrible, but our dirt paths and roads may be particularly rough. The stiff carbon plate and the high stack height is a good way to sprain an ankle on rocky dirt. Also traction is horrible. I’ve done a couple strides on a gravel path in vaporflys and that confirmed to me that whatever benefit you’d get is negated by lack of traction and injury risk. Might work on super smooth hard packed dirt though.