Le
shoes are a bit like people: those with character have traits that set them apart and make them special. It is those peculiarities that one cannot fail to notice. There are those that are very fast but do not concede much to comfort. Those very comfortable but unresponsive ones. Those beautiful but very heavy ones. The ones that would be perfect but — but aren’t, because of some more or less important detail.
It is rare to run in shoes that feature an almost perfect balance between the different sides of their character. And the
PUMA Velocity Nitro
fall squarely into this category.
What we are talking about
First of all: this is an entirely new model, designed from the ground up and with technologies brand new to PUMA including NITRO, the ultra-light and very responsive midsole compound named after the process of transforming EVA infused with nitrogen gas-that is, nitrogen-that makes it very light and responsive.
A special mention for PUMAGRIP, i.e., the material from which the tread is made: counted among the most overlooked details of a running shoe (who really cares what a tread is made of except when it wears out too quickly or has no grip?), PUMAGRIP allows them to have really safe cornering behavior. This aspect of a running shoe’s safety is often overlooked, as if it were secondary or irrelevant: instead, it is not only about ensuring, precisely, the best grip but also about giving the wearer of running shoes the real feeling of protection and control on slippery or cornering surfaces.
Not only materials
I could talk more about technologies and technical solutions, but I love shoes that, once you put them on, make you forget what they are made of and simply disappear from how comfortable and balanced they are.
You may indeed have the best technologies, but a world championship in soccer you do not win it with 10 strikers: you win it only when the players in the team are in balance and when individual roles work well within the group, not alone. What can the best striker in the world do without anyone to serve him a good ball? (okay, I promise to stop here with the football metaphors, also because I don’t know anything about it).
In short: you can wear and run with PUMA Velocity Nitro after reading how and what they are made of and then forget about it. Because they know how to make you forget: they just work great.
If I had to describe them in another way, I would say that the Velocity Nitro have the particular (and welcome) peculiarity of the best shoes: they are light, they are comfortable, they are responsive, and above all they manage to express these three characteristics in a perfect balance.
They are neither too comfortable but slow, nor too responsive but dry and brutal, nor too cushioned but heavy. They are all these things in a harmonious and balanced configuration. Do you know how you understand that? From the fact that as soon as you start running, you don’t think about anything anymore and just enjoy the run.
On the road
It is not only a matter of materials but also of geometry and relationships between parts. The sole profile of the PUMA Velocity Nitro gives you stability and confidence right away. The midsole sinks and immediately returns energy. The running sensation is one of protection and propulsion, while always sensing the road. The balance of the parts and the harmony of the whole make them training shoes devoted to long distances and to many types of runners: not only those who are more trained and fast, but also those accustomed to shorter runs and with physiques that are not perfectly in shape weight.
How do they behave? You proceed at a normal pace and they gallop, you speed up and they follow and push you. There is never any delay in their response to the change of pace but only a quick and prompt reaction.
They are so smooth and progressive that they almost make you angry, and then you go looking for some flaws in them. And I finally found one, really very marginal one: the thin tongue that sticks out just a little bit from the neck of the shoe. This is a typical design for sportier models, where every detail is reduced to the bare minimum necessary to save materials and weight, and it is understandable; yet I still prefer shoes with more pronounced padded tabs and a somewhat higher profile. However, this is a detail that you only notice when you wear them because then the tab stays in place and, like the rest, you forget about it.
“When the shoe fits right you forget about your foot,” says the Zen proverb. And, if I may say so myself, the PUMA Velocity Nitro are definitely zen shoes.
