Hi. Any vintage shoe experts on this forum who know about the Nike Vengence racing shoes of the 1980's? These are the super lightweight ones with the gray uppers, bright red overlays, and black trim. They were, I believe, amongst the earliest Nike racing shoes to incorporate an air sole. They also were part of the acclaimed Nike "V-series." What were the years the Vengences were produced? Thanks in advance for any insights.
They weren't even racing shoes. More of a combo shoe. The midsole was polyurethane and the shoes were far from light. Produced between 85-86 I think. They also had the unique feature of smelling like cat piss when wet. There is a picture of them on the vintage shoe thread from a few days ago. You didn't miss much.
As noted above, Nike's original Vengeance was marketed as a trainer, not a racing shoe. I think these came out in 1985 because I ran in them as a college senior which was fall 1986 and they weren't brand new when I got a pair. They were around for a couple years at least because I bought 1 more pair after college. If I had to guess the weight based on other shoes I wore back then I'd bet they were 10-10.5oz (size 8), so not "super lightweight" but a lot lighter than most. They did have a full air unit in the midsole, but I think Nike had other lightweight shoes back then with a full air unti (Mariah?). One thing about these was they had a severely curved profile. The sole under your arch couldn't have been more than 2" wide.
The poster above is spot on regarding the smell. I always thought it was just me because I usually didn't use socks and I didn't bother to dry them out before tomorrow's run.
I loved the feel of these shoes. Ran my first marathon in a pair. I'd put them in my all-time top 5.
Thanks for your posting. Your description brought back a lot of fond memories of all things classic, vintage Nike running.
I actually didn't really mind the shoe but those midsoles tended to feel frozen solid in mid-winter up here. That coupled with the smell made them feel impractical. The fit and shape were good. They just felt too clunky compared to the appearance the shoe had.