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Ok that headline is a big claim. My testing, plus a ton of feedback I’ve gotten from other runners tells me that this super trainer could be the ideal marathon race day shoe for a number of folks. Let’s get to our Nike Zoom Fly 6 review.
If you liked the Zoomfly 5 we’re sorry to say this upgrade may not be your cup of tea. But we think it’s an upgrade that now makes this shoe far more enjoyable for more miles at more paces.
The most enjoyable thing? Always finding you’re running slightly faster than planned without working harder. Possibly because the shoe is 10% lighter??
Who Is It Good For?
Who is Nike Zoomfly 6 a good fit for? Let’s break it down with some common categories:
- Wide Feet: Not ideal for wider feet.
- Heavier Runners: TPU foam means it’s going to hold up longer
- Long Runs: Absolutely designed to take you through marathon mileage.
- Front of the Pack: This is a great speed trainer for tempo work, but not the top tier carbon plated race day shoe.
Nike Zoom Fly 6 Overview
The Nike Zoom Fly 6 is a great long run to speed work option for runners around the 4 hour marathon mark. It’s going to provide that little bit of a boost to make race pace feel better (assuming you’ve done the training).
It’s firmer than many of the other super trainers we’ve tested, but again not being the softest shoe on the road isn’t a bad thing.
In my very first run, I was intentionally trying to keep the pace really easy to start the run. Then I’d look at my watch and find I was easily running 10-20 seconds faster than expected without putting in any effort.
So I’d tell myself to slow down and then rinse, wash repeat this process! Something about the geometry, lightweight and foam was just naturally increasing my pace and who doesn’t want that in a race shoe? (I’ve heard this same thing from others in the mid-pack running pace range.)
If it’s not quite a Vaporfly or Alphafly, what’s the point?
Well that’s the whole new super trainer category that’s appearing to go alongside those race day shoes. Most of us should not be doing a lot of runs in those bouncy, max stack, carbon plated shoes which require a good amount of ankle mobility and stability. They also aren’t designed for your stride at a 10 minute mile, they’re designed for that sub 7 minute mile stride.
Zoomfly is using their ZoomX foam which is a PEBA foam, meaning that it’s lighter and has more energy return. Traditionally PEBAX is not as durable, meaning less mileage before a shoe wears out, but they’re sandwiching the carbon fiber plate between ZoomX and an EVA foam called SR-02.
That combo is going to give the shoes more life than a traditional super shoe, hence a super trainer.
While we’ve heard some say it’s ideal for that 6-8 minute range, we might disagree. Absolutely you could use them for that and hit some great half marathon times, but we think it probably shines for the 8-9:30 minute miler on longer runs.
We haven’t heard a ton of buzz around this shoe, but it’s got some pretty great beta testing pedigree.
“This is the shoe runners should choose for their workouts all week long, instead of the ‘super shoes’ some are using for their long runs and fartleks,” Eliud says. “The redesigned Zoom Fly performs at a high level and is very responsive, with wonderful cushioning from impact and great movement from heel to forefoot.”
Zoom Fly 6 Specifications
It’s probably not the shoe I’d turn to just to log my daily training easy miles, but I would pull it out for long runs with marathon goal pace miles or tempo runs.
Based on that is where I come to the idea that this could be a winning marathon shoe for a lot of runners in that 4:00-4:30 range.
- Heel toe drop: 8mm
- Weight: 7.6 oz women’s, 8.6 oz men’s
- Stack: 40 mm (42mm men’s)
- Usage: Super trainer
- Available in six colors
- Not available in Wide
- Available at Nike.com and RunningWarehouse.com $170
I don’t have any exceptional comments about the outsole. But it’s 100% going to have more grip than the super shoes, which make me nervous on rainy days. You’ll notice the cut out in the sole is going to remove some rubber for ground contact, but also reduce weight to keep this shoe light and fast.
Nike Zoomfly 6 Fit
In terms of shoe width, this feels pretty standard Nike to me. It’s not narrow, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a wide foot. Also wouldn’t recommend if you’ve come to enjoy a roomy toebox, as that’s not what you’ll find here.
That’s a very important note if you will be using this for the marathon distance! Going long means feet swell, so you definitely want to test them on long runs to make sure you don’t have any bruised toenail issues. If you’ve run in a lot of Nike’s then this shouldn’t be an issue, it’s not that different from most shoes.
The tongue is the newer style of having just the lightest amount of padding and attached along the sides so it won’t slide around. I had no issues with it, but am a little torn on the heel.
The heel has a very light amount of padding, but significantly more than you find in the Alphafly. It’s fairly firm, which could bother some folks. It didn’t bother me in anyway, but something to note if you know you prefer a good padded heel.
Laces are just long enough for a heel lock and I would recommend it for these.
Nike Zoomfly 6 Feel
While I enjoyed my first run in the shoe, I wasn’t blown away. But I think that’s because it’s easy to get jadded by super shoes with big bounce, so of course I took them out again and again.
The more I used them, the more I liked them.
It’s a slightly firmer super trainer than some other brands and I actually think that might be what’s lending to the quick turn over and resulting faster paces.
As the tallest Nike stack height at 42mm, it’s surprisingly light and I didn’t feel unstable in the shoe. Which is interesting because it doesn’t have the wide midsole flare we see in a lot of other max stack shoes, so that could come back to it being a firmer option.
Similar Shoes to Nike Zoomfly 6
What’s currently out there to rival this super trainer? We’ve tested a few that feel similar, but different based on the brand fit:
While this might not be the shoe that I reach to for a ton of runs, I really do see how it’s a winner for a lot of people. I think you just need to know what kind of cushion you like underfoot and what paces you’ll be running!
All right, we hope this Nike Zoom Fly 6 review gave you some helpful insights about this super trainer.
Go check it out at Nike.com and RunningWarehouse.com $170
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