Any update on the Nike Hyperfly/Streakfly?

Zante wrote:

Heard they were releasing it this fall but have also heard it's being pushed back.

Anyone know?

What I heard: Nike gets a kick out of the frequent threads on this shoe involving the 15 consumers in the U.S. (I'm obviously one of them) who gives a sh** about them. When the number of new threads per day about it gets to a certain number (I've heard it's 5), they'll release the shoes exactly 5 years after that.

Unless they change their mind.

I'd like something too. I heard summer, then July, then 2022, then fall 2021 for release dates. So far nothing official with the only evidence of their existence being social media pics of them on elite runners feet and a few blurbs about said runners using them.

I really want a streak lt 5 though - the upper of the lt 4 with the sole of the lt2 (it was pretty much the same for the xc 2, xc3, lt, and lt 2) would be ideal for me. I keep checking ebay for old model lts and I've still got one pair of lt 4's nib and one pair in use.

NikeFun wrote:

Zante wrote:

Heard they were releasing it this fall but have also heard it's being pushed back.

Anyone know?

What I heard: Nike gets a kick out of the frequent threads on this shoe involving the 15 consumers in the U.S. (I'm obviously one of them) who gives a sh** about them. When the number of new threads per day about it gets to a certain number (I've heard it's 5), they'll release the shoes exactly 5 years after that.

Unless they change their mind.

Nah, the LT was a popular shoe. It was nice to have something light you could use on the track or trail for sub-$100, and lots of kids wore it.

Hopefully this replacement isn't some 8 oz. $200 "flat", though.

Ho Hum wrote:

NikeFun wrote:

What I heard: Nike gets a kick out of the frequent threads on this shoe involving the 15 consumers in the U.S. (I'm obviously one of them) who gives a sh** about them. When the number of new threads per day about it gets to a certain number (I've heard it's 5), they'll release the shoes exactly 5 years after that.

Unless they change their mind.

Nah, the LT was a popular shoe. It was nice to have something light you could use on the track or trail for sub-$100, and lots of kids wore it.

Hopefully this replacement isn't some 8 oz. $200 "flat", though.

Popular is obviously relative (I've had lots of pairs of them). "15 consumers" was a nod to the "I know the shoe market, you guys don't" smarty pants who remind us that a company like Nike doesn't make much (or anything?) on racing shoes (or at least the ones that don't cost $250).

Of course, this then begs the question, "Then why do they make them at all?"

Pre-Streak/Streak LT cancellation, you'd say that it's either they DO make a little money on them, or they have other reasons to do so.

Post-cancellation, with no replacement, it's easier to believe, "They don't make much/any money on them." Or, they're dumb (....and given Phil Knight's bank account, this theory has its problems).

If there is a profit margin on them, it would be interesting to know how much they've lost in the last few years by not simply continuing to make the Streak/LT and/or making a Zoom X thin flat?

The streak lt and streak lines can be profitable and still be cancelled. Obviously the market for racing flats is limited and the profit margin could be small - but that small profit could be chump change to nike. It would be easy for them to pull the plug and do an experiment to see if they'll up the sale of 250$ shoes after cancelling streaks. The real question is why no other company jumps into that market.

For myself who trains almost exclusively in the streak lt - haven't found any other shoes that feel good to run in since the brooks t racer line and the adizero rocket, I'm praying to god this new shoe works for me or that I can keep my stock pile up for a couple years. I've bought and tried so many other flats, even buying them from japanese and european sites in the hopes of having a backup option or something to replace the lt when it was discontinued. All these shoes have been noticeably worse and range from I could jog in these to I could run a sucky race in them.

As mentioned in other strings, Reebok did. And maybe nobody else.

But it's Nike. A company founded on competitive running, and still very closely tied to it. It is an interesting question why they'd handle their road racing shoes this way? And to the extent that IS simply to see if they can get everyone to only buy $250 shoes (that are also fundamentally different than the shoe/s in question), they really do deserve a hit in customer loyalty. ......which yes, they will shrug off without a worry, because.....there's ~15 of us, and they're Nike.

People that claim that there is no profit in the racing shoe market are oversimplifying the equation. The shoes themselves cost VERY little to manufacture the mark-up is substantial. Yes, overall sales are low, but Nike still sells tens of thousands of pairs a year. Most of those sales go to young people which are then likely to buy more pairs and pairs of corresponding brand trainers. This is literally how brand loyalty comes about. Every year, Nike makes a handful of models of zoom Rival budget spikes. If you were to look at the sales numbers for any of those models, you wouldn't be impressed, but yet that line is many decades old. The LT series is a huge fan favorite and Nike doesn't make another model that is a direct replacement. How many versions of distance spikes does Nike make? Six?

I specialize in dumb comments. wrote:

People that claim that there is no profit in the racing shoe market are oversimplifying the equation. The shoes themselves cost VERY little to manufacture the mark-up is substantial. Yes, overall sales are low, but Nike still sells tens of thousands of pairs a year. Most of those sales go to young people which are then likely to buy more pairs and pairs of corresponding brand trainers. This is literally how brand loyalty comes about. Every year, Nike makes a handful of models of zoom Rival budget spikes. If you were to look at the sales numbers for any of those models, you wouldn't be impressed, but yet that line is many decades old. The LT series is a huge fan favorite and Nike doesn't make another model that is a direct replacement. How many versions of distance spikes does Nike make? Six?

Very good point. I can't think of any reason the lt is not still on shelves besides some nike execs are maybe a bit slow in the head. If this streak fly is going to replace it, it should have come to market at the same time the lt was discontinued.