Anyone train fast in Nike Gravity’s?

I ran a speed workout of 2 minutes hard, 1 minute off *10 in them. 8.50 miles of work at an average of 6:28 mile pace. They were absolutely terrible. Here's a breakdown of the shoe.

Cushion:

"The lifted height along the midsole makes room for more cushioning inside. Dual-density foam with a soft core in a firm carrier delivers a comfortable, stable ride." This is from the Nike website. Usually, Nike is acknowledge what tech is in the shoe. They say foam. If there's anything good in the shoe like EVA, Phylon, or Cushlon, they'll list it. The foam in the shoe is like a pool noodle.

They do have a Zoom unit in there. "Responsive Zoom Air unit in the forefoot gives you that propulsive, snappy feeling." The unit is way to responsive. The PSI in the Zoom is too high. There is probably no Strobel board, attaches midsole to upper. This causes the Zoom to be uncomfortable. The foam around the Zoom unit also compresses too much causing pain.

Traction:

Nothing to write home about. Ran on a paved trail with some debris from a storm the night before and it worked fine.

Materials:

The materials were terrible. Nike has been using cheap rip-stop and it is getting annoying. The upper does not breathe because it is plastic. Some gnats somehow got under the first layer of rip-stop. I do not know how this happened but it looked bad. The tongue is lined with the cheap felt material Nike has been using with the rip-stop. The felt rubbed against my ankle (I was wearing no-show socks) and it gave me a brush burn.

Support:

There is not heel counter and there's not much support since the upper is rip-stop. Fit was ok but the rest of the shoe wasn't good.

I recommend the Nike Zoom Fly Flyknit over this in a heartbeat. The Zoom Fly Flyknit has React (an actual cushioning system), a carbon fiber plate, and a quality Flyknit upper. Many of the colorways are on discount because the Nike Zoom Fly 3 just released. Unfortunately there is not many racing flat/lightweight Nike flats on the market. If you can getyour hands on them, they do make some nice Japanese racing flats, like the Zoom Streak 7, Zoom Streak LT 4 and Zoom Speed Racer 6.

Thanks for the insight. Doesn’t sound like it’s that decent at all; might have to donate them to Jamin.

I’ll give them a fair chance and compare my experience with your thoughts.

Thank you for your detailed response.

Nike Gravity’s what?

Thank you for the detailed review. I recently asked a Nike rep about the future of the Zoom Elite series and if they were coming up with a Zoom Elite 11. She responded that Zoom Gravity was the replacement of the Zoom Elite. Judging by your review, I feel like they took a great, lightweight trainer/racer and dumbed it down to a fashion shoe.

It's a weird shoe, at first. I use the Zoom Fly 3 Premium, and decided I wanted to save them for mostly races and longer/ harder workouts...And? Well? I certainly wouldn't have paid the full 90.00 USD for them, but even in light of the mostly poor reviews, I figured they'd make nice casuals at the least, and so bought a pair for 60.00 USD...which is easy to do now.

My take? These are the poor man's Vaporfly. In fact, if you get the green ones most people will think you're rocking the Vaporfly. But instead of a carbon plate you get a Zoom air unit where the plate would be, and instead of the Vaporweave upper mesh, which feels like a very breathable sock, you get a slightly breathable tarp-like material...but very light, still. I found the material great for winter, because it acts like a shield for cold air. When I first put them on I thought they were a joke because the top mesh had a plastic popping/ crinkle sound...kind of like if you were to scrunch up a tarp. Every time I walk I get a slight plastic pop coming from mostly my right shoe. I'm not sure if it's how I tied them, or what? Regardless, people don't seem to notice it while I'm walking, but I've developed an ear for it, since the day I took them out of the box and scrunched the shoe in my hand, so I always seem to notice it.

The Zoom unit is weird, at first. It can be felt under the insole, like a pouch, so the first long run I put on them I got a blister just in front of the ball of my forefoot and just behind where the toes start. Because there's evidently not a lot of material backing the Zoom unit on the insole of the shoes, most of the bounce effect seems to be there, instead of directed toward the outsole, so you end up with mostly an air pillow under the arch of your toes...its really weird. The rubber was also stiff, at first. I don't know if it's Zoom rubber, or React. I highly doubt it's React since both my Pegasus 35 Turbo use it and are softer. These shoes were clearly designed for high speed response and not cushion though. You can tell when you open up into a 5 minute mile or faster pace, where they propel more as advertised...but not quite like a carbon plate. Since they are not carbon plate I would have like if Nike had had located the Zoom unit a little further down the line, nearer to the rocker of the shoe, instead of at the toes.

Because my feet felt more beat up after my first couple runs in them, one of which was a 8.5 mile run, I retired them to casual shoe duty. At first the Zoom unit was also hurting my feet while even walking around in them at work, so I stopped using them for standing around in all day, too. I started taking them out for my dog walks and for going to the store etc. And now they have softened up enough to where I can run lower mileage in them again and they have a little more of a cushioning bounce. I don't know if my feet adapted, or they finally broke in, or both(?), but I like to now use them for my 100m strides, as they do have decent response for that and are super light for sprinting. I still wouldn't wear them for 10+ mile runs though.

Just a followup. After posting the above comment, I got curious about the insoles, and? There virtually isn't one! Which explains the beat up feeling and harshness, painting the illusion that the rubber is what is too firm. I took the insoles out of my Pegasus 35 (non Turbo) and this shoe is night and day better! In terms of reducing the effects of the Zoom unit lump, and impact.

When you put the insoles inside did it not make the shoe tighter?

I just got a pair of these for Christmas and although they feel light they also feel very cheap. Not sure how many ounces they are but the plastic upper although light, looks like it wouldn't do too well on hot summer days in terms of breathability. I'm on the fence here, can't really take them for a test run and return them with winter slush and road grime all over the shoes. Anyone else have a take?