Puma has a new set of running shoes for serious pavement pounders launching on 28 October. The Fast-RB Nitro Elite 2 is due to drop globally from the sportswear brand, but unless you’re comfortable paying around R7,000 for a pair, you’re probably not serious enough.
That price estimate is based on the price drop locally for Puma’s Fast-R Nitro Elite 2. The internationally confirmed €350 (R6,500) price for the Fast-RB is also highly suggestive that we’ve guessed correctly. But why pay seven grand for a pair of running shoes?
Hit the Nitro Elite
It’s certainly not going to be to race in them, as Puma says they’re not race-legal. They still constitute “the next frontier of running,” according to the brand. Just not the frontier that ends with a medal around your neck. They’ll almost certainly provide you with a new personal best, but it’ll hinge more on the shoes’ geometry than your own training efforts.
Puma’s NitroFoam Elite cushioning is in place (that’s what gives it part of its title), but it’s the ‘Pwrplate’ carbon-fibre layers that’ll really propel you along. These create “springboard architecture engineered for dynamic propulsion,” while also providing that strange design you can see above. Sure, it’ll look a bit like you’re wearing a high-tech pair of geta, but it’s not like you’ll be moving slow enough for anyone to take a closer look at them.
Puma says the shoes themselves weigh in at 250 grams (for the UK 8), with an 8mm drop. They’re rated for 320km. Given how fast you’re supposed to be going, that will probably last an intense month or two.
Puma’s Romain Girard said, “We’ve created a shoe that delivers the highest energy return we’ve ever recorded in our testing, within an incredibly lightweight package.” They’re almost certainly worth trying out. At least once.
