Nike Vaporfly 4 Review: Flying Faster Than Ever

Introduction to the Nike Vaporfly 4

ROBBE: Walk around Brooklyn or London or anywhere, really, and you’ll start to notice that analog cigarettes are making a comeback. Recently resigned to workplace loading docks, restaurant dumpster areas, or dive bars in Tokyo, the shameful sneaking of cigarettes had been replaced by the go-anywhere USB lollipops of vape pens. Vaping had its moment, especially during the pandemic, but the young kids are returning to the past in picking up the nic sticks of their grandfathers’ generation. Maybe it’s a reaction against safetyism and the stale state of an increasingly online world. Maybe it’s self-destruction. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

Runners, though, we can’t give up vaping. Because the Nike Vaporfly was the original shoe that changed it all, the authentic steed on which us cowboys rode into the sunset of Swoosh country, the one that first got us buzzed like no other shoe had. When the Vaporfly 4% came out way back in 2017, it was the shoe to have, the one that all other shoes would soon seek to imitate. With a high-stacked midsole of PEBA ZoomX foam and a full-length carbon fiber plate in a lightweight package, it made us feel things we never felt before. Mostly, alive.

Soon enough came the Alphafly, its more engineered younger brother, which Eliud Kipchoge would wear in his second and ultimately successful attempt at breaking two hours in the marathon.

Then came everything else, as everyone from Altra to Xtep came out with their own version of the carbon-plated racer. Nevertheless, the Vaporfly always stood tall amongst the crowd. Go to any race and you’ll see that it still reigns supreme, right alongside the Alphafly.

Naturally, we were excited to test out the fourth version of this legend. It’s been two years since the last version and a lot has changed since then. So has this shoe.

The most important thing about the Vaporfly 4 is that it has somehow lost a ton of weight. It was already a light race day shoe, but now it’s officially one of the lightest out there, coming in at an incredibly light 6.4 ounces (184 grams) for a US M10.5. For a sample size 9, we’re talking high five-ounce range, which is rare to see in any shoe, let alone a marathon racer.

A stack height reduction in the midsole cuts even more weight, while the bulges on the sides of the heel seek to provide an initial cushion sacrificed by the underfoot geometry. Instead of the Flyknit from the last version, we get an engineered mesh upper that is ultralight but still breathable. Standard lacing comes back in this version, as opposed to the offset lacing found in v3. The shoe retains the carbon fiber Flyplate and ZoomX foam in the midsole. Lastly, the outsole leapfrogs backwards to the Vaporfly 2 design, with more of a full coverage rubber in the forefoot area.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s pull out the vape and get to pullin’ and puffin’.

MEAGHAN: As an Alphafly girlie, the Nike Vaporfly has typically felt like a second-tier race day shoe for me. It’s got some of the same magic ingredients, like a ZoomX midsole and a carbon fiber plate, but lacks the tantalizing Zoom Air unit in the forefoot.

At first glance, version 4 of the Vaporfly doesn’t look dramatically different, but the subtle tweaks actually make a big difference. The most questionable change, at least on paper, is the reduced stack height. It’s a surprising move from the shoe that practically forced the 40 mm race-day limit, yet here we are with 4 mm shaved off the heel. The upper also got a refresh, and the whole package somehow dropped even more weight. My US W7.5 came in at just under 5 oz. — basically featherlight. But enough specs, let’s get into how it actually runs.

THOMAS: Cigarettes? Cowboys? Altra? I’m still digesting Robbe’s introduction — it’s a lot to take in. If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know Meg is loyal to the Alphafly. To her, nothing else is gonna podium.

But for me, it’s always been the Vaporfly. That shoe changed the game. It didn’t just introduce a new standard — it forced every brand to rethink what a racing shoe could be. The carbon plate. The bouncy foam. The unfair advantage, some claimed. Athletes like Kara Goucher said it wasn’t fair. That only made it more desirable. If the pros say it’s too good, wouldn’t you want a pair?

And people did. The Vaporfly sold like cigarettes in a high school parking lot. You didn’t buy it — you hunted it. Watched the Nike app like a hawk. Refreshed, waited, missed. Gone in seconds.

Today, the frenzy has cooled. You can buy a Vaporfly now without setting an alarm or knowing a guy. But the question remains: Is it still king? The competition has caught up. Maybe we’re no longer under a monarchy but entering a democracy of shoes.

As a person who has been running long enough to remember marathons before super shoes, all I can say to Nike is thank you for creating a new category of footwear.

What we like about the Nike Vaporfly 4

ROBBE: I should start out by telling you that I absolutely loved the Vaporfly 3. I ran races in it, I did long runs in it (my first one was a memorable 20-miler through pouring rain). I felt like it had the perfect upper fit from midfoot on forward, even if the heel did seem to slip a little bit at times. It wasn’t super aggressive for a race day shoe, but it had pep when you needed it. It also looked absolutely incredible.

So obviously, I was pretty excited for the Vaporfly 4. When I say this shoe is light, I mean you won’t notice it on your foot. It’s kind of absurd how much weight was cut from an already light shoe, but Nike somehow managed to do it without sacrificing performance or comfort. At any pace, in any state, this shoe feels like it’s not there.

ZoomX is ZoomX and if you’ve experienced the good version of it (not the junk recycled stuff that they tried to pawn off on us while we were sedated by the fog of COVID), then you know it’s bouncy, light, and responsive, getting better the faster you go. Especially combined with the Flyplate, both working tandem to take you up to speed and keep you there. It’s not the most aggressive feel, but it’s just enough, and a bit more than the last version. It’s fairly smooth through the stride, a good antidote to the more mechanical feel of the Alphafly.

I felt like Nike did a good job of trimming all the fat without sacrificing too much. Yes, this shoe is unstable, but what high-performing race day shoe isn’t? It’s part of the package, so I’m not going to complain about it. Because of all that trimming, it feels like Nike is positioning this shoe in a different space than the marathon, leaving all the heavy work to the Alphafly. I can agree, this shoe will probably fit better in the half marathon and under range, before handing the baton over to the Streakfly 2 (which I absolutely love, by the way).

The upper is indeed very lightweight and very breathable, which is exactly what you want in a race day shoe.

Lastly, the price point on the Vaporfly has only gone up $10 in the past eight years. Not saying that $260 still isn’t a lot of cheese, but hey, small victories these days.

MEAGHAN: The first thing I noticed about the Vaporfly 4 was the improved comfort upon step-in. Despite having similar padding in the heel and tongue, the shoe felt much softer. The tongue feels just slightly more padded, which makes cinching down the laces a much nicer experience. The fit is true to size, and I didn’t experience any rubbing or hot spots, though heel slippage is a different story (we’ll get to that later).

I always forget how much I love a fresh slab of ZoomX until I lace up a new pair of Nikes — and the Vaporfly 4 was no exception. It showed up mid-marathon training, and even though I only had an easy five miles on the schedule, I couldn’t resist taking it out for a spin.

Without even trying to pick up the pace, my splits came in a full minute faster per mile. That’s the magic of ZoomX paired with a carbon plate — it’s almost impossible not to run fast. The shoe feels incredibly light, nimble, and just plain fun to run in. I ended up logging a few workouts in my pair, and it felt great throughout. While you don’t get that spring-loaded, mechanical bounce like you do in the Alphafly, there’s still a strong, propulsive sensation that kicks in, especially the faster you go.

THOMAS: The last two versions of the Vaporfly were fine, but not memorable. I started to wonder if Nike was losing ground. Then came the Vaporfly 4, and I couldn’t stop smiling. It brought back the bounce, the fun, and the spark the others lacked. The stack height is lower, yet the ride feels livelier.

Weight is the new arms race. Every brand is chasing grams, but I didn’t expect Nike to cut this much. The Vaporfly 4 weighs just under 7 ounces in my US M10.5 — only an ounce heavier than the featherweight Pro Evo 1. That’s absurd.

I took the shoe out for a 20-mile training run before the London Marathon and started slow, warming up in the 9-minute range before finishing in the mid-8s. The shoe handled the transition with ease. After three hours on my feet, my legs felt fresh, and I wasn’t dying to take my shoes off. That’s the mark of a good shoe. Maybe even a great one. For this reason, the Vaporfly can accommodate midpack runners and elites alike.

What we don’t like about the Nike Vaporfly 4

ROBBE: There is something about Nike race day shoes that doesn’t work with a certain foot type. For some (including myself), the Nike Alphafly has a high medial arch support that renders it unusable for longer runs. For others, the Vaporfly elicits a heel lift like no other.

Now, it’s not uncommon for a carbon-plated shoe to give a little heel lift. It’s a stiffening agent (that’s what she said) in a soft bed of foam, so a high degree of rigidity is to be expected. But for whatever reason, I could not get a decent lockdown in this shoe no matter how hard I tried. I laced and re-laced and heel lock laced and wore thicker socks and did everything I could to batten down the hatches on this thing, and yet, each time it felt like my foot was coming out of the shoe from the tongue on back to the heel collar. It’s obvious that Nike knew this was a potential problem, judging from the size of the heel pads inside the shoe, which look like a guerrilla marketing ad for Lagoon pillows, sponsor of The Drop podcast hosted by yours truly.

So while the fit from the midfoot to the front of the shoe felt fine, it was absolutely all over the place for me for the back half of my foot. Which I don’t understand, because I have a very Nike foot (translation: narrow). Trust me, I wanted to fix this. I tried to fix this, over and over. I messed with the laces before the run and during the run. I ran more miles and workouts in this shoe than I needed for the review, because I wanted this shoe to be so good for me. I told you — I love vaping. But I couldn’t do it. And as any runner knows, if you can’t get a good fit in an uptempo or race day shoe, it’s just an unenjoyable experience to go fast in it.

I felt like if I could just get that upper fit, then it would all be well and good (which apparently Thomas and Meaghan and Ryan and like every other person were able to do). It never happened, and for that reason, I will not be running anymore in the Vaporfly 4. As much as others love it, I can only assume that’s a ‘me’ problem, so maybe this is where you throw out the subjective nature of reviewing. But I had to say it.

Lastly, I personally don’t love the design of the shoe. Nike has a history of pushing the envelope and somehow turning an “I’m not sure about this” kind of shoe into a style icon. This one is just pedestrian and does nothing for me either way. I’d rather hate a design and be wrong than think it’s just okay and be right.

MEAGHAN: This colorway is not for me. I get that race day shoes should be bold and fun, but I just really don’t like them.

Outside of aesthetics, the main issue I had was some heel slippage. Despite tightening up the laces, I never felt like I had the perfect fit. It wasn’t so bad that I wouldn’t run in them, but it would definitely take away from some of that race-day confidence.

THOMAS: The styling of the Vaporfly is a miss for me this time around. Something about the shoe’s diminishing heel looks off-putting. The more serious issue is the heel lift. However, the more I ran in the shoe, the less heel slip I had. One warning to people with loose ankles: this shoe is not built for people who need stability. The heel is narrow and squishy.

Final thoughts on the Nike Vaporfly 4

ROBBE: For 90% of our reviews at Believe in the Run, we’re all on the same page. It’s rare when we disagree on a shoe altogether. But I’m going to be the black sheep here and say this is my least favorite race day shoe right now — and it’s all because of the upper fit. That said, fit is very subjective, so if it works for you, then I imagine you will enjoy this shoe quite a bit, especially for faster workouts and shorter races, and maybe even for longer ones. It’s unfortunate, because I’m really a Nike guy at heart, rooting for them to rebound, cheering for Elliott Hill, hoping for them to sharpen that cutting edge that’s synonymous with the swoosh. And my dumb foot had to ruin it all.

I want to stay addicted to vaping, but for now, I think I’ll say “adios” to the habit. I’m sure I’ll pick it up again in a year or two.

MEAGHAN: The Nike Vaporfly 4 turned out to be exactly what I expected. It’s an incredibly lightweight, fast, and agile race-day shoe that I’ll save for half marathons and shorter distances. Fans of the previous version should appreciate the subtle upgrades, and if you were worried about the reduced stack height (guilty), don’t stress — it doesn’t feel like a dramatic change underfoot.

THOMAS: If Robbe’s the black sheep, does that make Meg and me the white ones? Or is this more of a Black Sheep situation from the ’90s —“You can get with this, or you can get with that”? Either way, I know where I’m landing: on the Vaporfly 4.

Looks aside — it’s not winning any fashion shows — this might be the best underfoot feel yet. I didn’t love the colorway, but when a shoe looks meh and still wins me over, that’s saying something.

Bottom line: there’s no longer one shoe to rule them all. The path to the throne is crowded now. But Nike still has two heavy hitters in the running kingdom. Between the Alphafly and the Vaporfly, it’s still royalty.

You can pick up the Nike Vaporfly 4 for $260 from Nike by using the buttons below.