Can anyone explain why Nike supershoes have a tailfin?

I think there's some bs about it being more "aerodynamic." But thats stupid because aerodynamics don't really have too much effect on distance running, if they did everyone would be bald, everyone would have shaved legs, and everyone would wear speed suits, but they don't because aerodynamics dont matter. It's also stupid because if there were actually any reason to change the aerodynamics, the laces would be the first to go.

I think it's just an aesthetic choice they made even tho it looks kinda dumb, and they tried to justify it by saying aerodynamics

The nominal functional reason was aerodynamic. As the shoe moves forward during footswing, the fin helps keep airflow smooth and reduces drag.

In practice, this effect is so small that it has zero measurable effect on performance. It’s just one of the things the original Vaporfly designers played around with during the design process. They decided to keep it because it looked so distinctive and they wanted a shoe that looked dramatically different than the usual stuff at the time, to visually mark that it was a dramatically different kind of shoe (a claim that, for better or worse, turned out to be true).

What’s interesting is that other carbon-played shoes seem to have emulated the look.

It’s definitely aerodynamics. They put athletic wind tunnels and the fins were shown to save 1.27 seconds per mile. Next year we’ll see Nike athletes with shaved heads or if someone doesn’t want to shave their head, a cap similar to what is worn for swimming. Nike has already put athletes in wind tunnels showing the effects of wearing a cap on their heads.

Yeah. Any Aerodynamic advantages (which seems unlikely) would be offset by the weight of that extra chunk of material I'd think. Yet it makes no sense to exist on a shoe intended for optimization of speed unless it contributes to that purpose. If it has no functionality why not just lop it off?

Because it looks kinda weird and cool and that sells more shoes?

Looks like Nike designers copied the design used for bicyclist racing helmets.

Its almost as if you have never even seen a picture of Eliud Kipchoge.

Yes someone can. You can check the sub 2 doc to find out why

MY HEAD IS LIKE A SHARK'S FIN!!!!!!!!!!

That was dumb. Even by rap standards.

The child factory workers just thought it was cool, so it stuck

It’s there for you to ask questions.

Look at what Rupp wore at the 2016 Marathon Trials, or what The Chosen Few wore at the Games that year. No need for the fin, it's just to set it apart from the lesser shoes.

BS aerodynamics for marketing reasons.

So unbelievably stupid that it's awesome. I'll use any excuse to scream out "MY HEAD IS LIKE A SHARK FIN".