Nike Alphafly 3 Tested and Reviewed – The Popular Race Day Shoe

Fit / Tech

As we’ve come to expect from the Alphafly, it’s packed with all the premium race day features and technology that Nike have at their disposal. And for a shoe at this price, let’s be honest, we’d expect nothing less.

ZoomX foam: The midsole features the familiar ZoomX foam cushioning. Still considered to be the best midsole foam thanks to its combination of ‘energy return’ and lightweight, here there is a little less bulk to it yet the stack height remains the same.

The flared, extended heel shape of the previous model is gone and the geometry has now retreated under the heel to encourage a more mid to forefoot strike.

Twin Air Zoom units in the forefoot: The twin Air Zoom units remain and are placed under the forefoot of the shoe. These aim to create more ‘energy return’ and being placed under the carbon plate, help to provide a softer and smoother ride.

The Full-length carbon plate is now noticeably wider. This creates much more stability in the shoe as well as the all-important ‘propulsion’ phase, giving the foot a larger area to push off against the ‘springy’ ZoomX foam.

Ultimately, it is a combination of the ZoomX foam, Air units and carbon plate that work together to give the Alphafly its unique feel and highly responsive feel.

Atomknit upper: The familiar upper is lightweight and breathable, a given for the type of shoe, but in this model, it’s a little neater fitting. The integrated tongue fits much better across the instep of the foot, with less bunching under the laces and in the toebox area.

Notched laces: A simple but important feature, I think the Nike notched laces are the best in the business, staying tied with a single knot and sitting flat against the foot. The small notches in the lace allow precision fastening and a stay-tied fit that most other brands should take note of!

Performance

Straight from the box, the shoes feel lighter and less bulky. It’s the lightest Alphafly yet and coming in at around 218g it’s also one of the lighter shoes in the carbon-plated category. It’s surprisingly light, to be honest, and looks like it should be much heavier, with the deep, 40mm stack of cushioning and the forefoot Air units it still appears a little ‘bulky’ but some of the bulk of the previous model is gone.

In the Alphafly 2, we had the extended, pointed heel. That didn’t serve any specific purpose, so here much of it is gone with the heel instead being cut away and shaped more under the foot. We’ve seen this in other brands models and it aims to promote a slightly more midfoot strike.

The heel shape does change the ride of the shoe a little and I instantly found it a little ‘easier’ to run in. I’d previously found the Alphafly 2 to be almost ‘too much shoe’ under my foot. I immediately felt this version to be less bulky, a neater fit and a little more dynamic.

The fit is true to size and the upper is an improvement. The Atomknit here is much neater. The one-piece construction still requires two hands to stretch the shoe open and wiggle your foot inside, but it’s an easier affair than before. There’s less creasing of the upper in the integrated tongue and less need to make minor adjustments in the instep to get a nice fit across the foot under the laces.

The heel area and ankle collar lining remain largely the same and there are the small, neatly engineered pads to provide a cushioned feel around the ankle and Achilles.

I know many people had issues with the fit of the shoe in the arch area and complained of rubbing and blistering here in the previous models. I never experienced this and in the new model, the fit feels similar to those versions before it. I do have a narrow/slim foot, so perhaps it was runners with a wider foot that had this issue as racing shoes have always traditionally had a slightly slimmer fit in the midfoot along with a curved last to promote a faster and smoother gait.

Another point worth mentioning with regards to fit comes from the slightly redesigned sole. In the previous versions of the Alphafly, the outsole rubber extended up over the big toe a little. For some, this could create the feeling of the shoe being a little smaller as there was less ‘give’ in the upper mesh due to the rubber. Here, the sole stops under the foot, so it’s purely the Atomknit fabric across the toe and therefore a little more forgiving.

On to the run and my first venture out was an easy three miles followed by strides. This weekly session is perfect for testing race day shoes as it includes some running at speeds from an easy jog up to full-speed efforts, albeit over just a hundred metres or so.

Most carbon-plated shoes don’t feel good at slow speed for me. They often feel too stiff and bulky, but the redesigned Alphafly was surprisingly different. I must admit I thought it would still feel a little uneasy at slower speeds but even jogging along outside 8-minute miles it felt pretty smooth and easy going. Okay, I wasn’t getting any ‘energy return’ here but I didn’t expect it at this pace.

As I pick up the pace to under 7-minute miles, the responsive nature of the ZoomX comes into play and that familiar ‘bounce’ is noticeable.

Increasing the speed again to close to 6-minute mile pace and my target marathon effort and the effect of the carbon plate, ZoomX and Air takes on full effect.

The larger carbon plate is noticeable too. The shoe feels much more stable and seems to really focus my push off into the whole of the forefoot of the shoe.

It’s at my top-end speed and that at which I’ll race in a shoe like the Alphafly 3 where I am most particular. I don’t tend to wear carbon-plated racers regularly. I’m a little old-school and stick to my regular ‘daily mileage’ shoes most of the time with a once-a-week run in maybe something like a Saucony Endorphin Speed 4. With this in mind, I want to be comfortable in my race day model as it’s when I’ll be giving my all to my performance.

The Alphafly 3 is undoubtedly the best Alphafly yet but it still lacks a little something for me and I think this is the natural responsiveness. At my race pace, I just feel like I can’t put down enough power into the shoe to get it to give me some of that much-sought-after energy return. It’s still a little like the shoe is too much shoe for me.

It’s this type of feeling and connection a runner has with a shoe that makes the vast choice of models available on the market nowadays that make the running shoe world so interesting and exciting. It’s one runner’s own experience and connection with a shoe, with the plate within the shoe and how that plate is curved and functions with an individual’s foot that makes or breaks a model for some runners.

Don’t mistake me, I really enjoyed running in the Alphafly 3, but I just don’t think for me it works better than the Vaporfly. I find the Vaporfly just a little bit more flexible when at speed.

Around a year ago I conducted a shoe count at the Manchester Marathon in the UK. In the group, I counted almost 300 runners and Nike was clearly the number one brand. Of the shoes worn, the Vaporfly and Alphafly were almost exactly a 50:50 split.

This surprised me a little, perhaps because of my own natural bias towards the Vaporfly. But it clearly shows that the Alphafly is every bit as popular. After all, it was good enough for Kelvin Kiptum and remains Eliud Kipchoge’s shoe of choice.

Comparisons

The obvious comparison is the Nike Vaporfly and as mentioned above, I think for me, the Vaporfly just has the edge, feeling a little softer and just a touch more flexible, allowing me to get the most response from it.

Of the other carbon-plated race day shoes now available, the distinction is quite clear when comparing many of them to the Alphafly. Most of the latest models such as the New Balance SC Elite V4 and the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 are following a similar theme of softer midsole with a springy feel. The Alphafly 3 is soft but its plate feels stiffer (again, at least to me it does).

I think the nearest competitor right now is the Hoka Cielo X1. With its deep stack and newly designed carbon plate, it feels much more of a shoe beneath the foot. Now, I don’t think the Cielo X1 is a perfect race day shoe as it is still rather heavy (comparatively speaking), but it does offer a high level of cushioning and a very clear feel of energy return.

As always, the choice will be a very personal one and I’m sure many will be reading this and disagreeing with every word as they find the Alphafly the best shoe they’ve ever worn!

My Verdict

Fans of the previous versions of the Nike Alphafly will love the update. It’s lighter, offers a neater, improved fit and is world record proven.

But by the time the shoe is on sale, so too will be competitors from every other brand, making your next race day shoe choice harder than ever.