BY This is Under Armour’s (UA) bold statement of intent for the performance running shoe market, and it’s a neutral runner called the Flow Velociti Wind. In a first for the American performance sportswear company, the shoe features an innovative singular-foam compound midsole that’s designed and engineered to do-it-all with less weight, more speed, and enjoyable kilometres.
Central to this, is a complete redesign of what a traditional shoe ought to have. By eliminating the need for a rubber outsole, having a single midsole layer that doubles up as an outsole has allowed UA to shave off unnecessary excess weight, and a standard US 9 pair of the UA Flow Velociti Wind weighs in at just 241g – the kind of numbers that high performance racing shoes are pegged at.
First Impressions
Stepping into the UA Flow Velociti Wind, the shoe fits snug, with a thick 4mm sock liner giving it a plush feel. The eyecatching engineered mesh WARP upper is light, airy, yet cradles the foot in a supportive manner - stretching and easing along with each football. Living up to its billing, neither pinch points nor hot spots were encountered during our test runs.
Despite an 8mm drop, the UA Flow Velociti Wind looks and feels like a lower profile racer. It could be the way it’s designed, but it’s noticeably light, with a right amount of firmness and responsiveness that sees the shoe fade out of mind as you run, much as if you were running barefoot.
On The Run
Comfortably snug, firm yet well cushioned, and quick, the UA Flow Velociti Wind feels just right underfoot, even when worn as a daily runner.
Interestingly, it seems to have a knack of telepathically psyching you to go faster. It is just like that accomplished training buddy who always seems to nudge you into putting in that little bit of extra effort to work harder, and perform better than intended.
This impression could be because the shoe’s single-piece mid- and outsole rides better at a quicker pace. But having tested the shoe over 100km of running in the span of the month, we’d attribute it to this combination of factors.
The Flow midsole’s responsiveness helps greatly in building up, and maintaining, a brisk pace. Simultaneously, the level of grip from its latticed base and high level of ground feedback fosters confidence. The result is being able to hit that flow state where the body and mind feels in sync. A natural rhythm begins to form and you get to revel in the experience of running far and fast.
With this said, we enjoyed the UA Flow Velociti Wind best on shorter runs of between 5 – 7km, where we could really pick up the pace, go fast and push hard.
The Last Word
The UA Flow Velociti Wind certainly lives up to the hype and quickly became a favourite.
That single-layer Flow midsole doesn’t just support well, but its lattice structured base which doubles up as an outsole grips just as well as any dedicated rubber outsole – both in moving forward, and laterally.
It’s light, sharp around corners and versatile enough for all manner of active pursuits. Runners keen on further improvement will be happy to know that the UA Flow Velociti Wind also connects to UA’s Map My Run app which tracks each effort with personalised tips to further improve performance.
Most impressive of all is how durable that single midsole/outsole Flow foam is. Despite having clocked 100km of running mixed in with various sessions of indoor gym work, our test shoe is showing little signs of excessive wear and continues to exceed expectations.
We approached this with an open mind, and we’re writing this review mightily impressed.
The UA Flow Velociti Wind is priced at $229 and available at Under Armour boutiques or online at www.underarmour.sg, but it’s well worth the money for a shoe that’ll be an everyday go-to favourite.
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