Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace Spikes Review: Ain’t No Hype in this Spike

Introduction to the Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace

KALEB: Unlike the daily trainer market, which is starting to get a bit crowded with a lot of high-end, similarly-performing models, the world of track and field is a bit more clear-cut. Sure, brands are really starting to put out comparable, competitive tech, but at the end of the day, you’re either wearing something that deserves to be in the front of the pack or something that will get you thrown back to the 2010s with a classic “what are thooooose” from a passerby. As such, it’s pretty hard to really get into the track spike market and get taken seriously, particularly for distance spikes.

But that’s really not stopping Trackspikes.co from trying to get in on the action. As far as I can tell from their website, Trackspikes.co is either a distributor for, or just the American branch of, a Chinese company called Health.

Oh, I get it. Because running is healthy. Very subtle. Very confidence-inspiring. Very high-octane. Please, take my money.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how bad your company name is as long as you make quality work — heck, everyone and their dog really decided to sell their souls to a company called “On,” and it’s spelled with a Q somehow. Unfortunately, the only spike I received from Health/Trackspikes.co so far was a total disaster. So when the Hyper Pace Distance Track Spikes showed up on my porch (which I expertly deduced to be a distance track spike for those seeking to run at a faster — one might say “hyper”— pace, blazing subtlety yet again), I wasn’t exactly full of anticipation.

But the specs for the Hyper Pace (which is going to be my abbreviation from here on out) seem to stand up to a lot better scrutiny than the trainwreck that was the Infinity Carbon. Equipped with a nice stack of supercritical foam and a nylon plate, the Hyper Pace looks poised to plop itself unapologetically into the superspike category. Whether it ought to be there is — for better or worse — my job to determine.

What we like about the Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace

KALEB: Despite my critical intro, I really did do my best to look at the Hyper Pace with objectivity and give it a fair shot. The overall setup of the shoe is reminiscent of (say it with me, kids) the original Nike Dragonfly. Underfoot, the unnamed supercritical midsole foam purports to “optimize foot speed,” which I’m pretty sure is Google Translate for “make you run faster.” And you know what? It does. It does optimize my foot speed.

By no means is the Hyper Pace a dead-feeling spike; sure, it’s firm and not especially explosive, but you could absolutely put this spike on and expect to run a respectable race. The nylon spike plate has plenty of traction elements too, so there’s no worries about sliding on turns… at least not due to the outsole…

The upper, while not exactly a dialed fit, is comfortable on the foot, and my toes don’t feel crammed like they easily can in a narrow track spike.

I will also say the aesthetics of this spike are infinitely better than the Infinity Carbon. The all white with rainbow accents feels very unicorn, or maybe Rainbow Road from Mario Kart.

What we don’t like about the Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace

KALEB: Unfortunately, another thing this spike has in common with Rainbow Road is that it seems I’m always flying off the side of it. The upper lockdown is just not good. I can cinch the laces tight enough so the heel won’t slip, but the spike’s footbed is so thin that my foot inevitably hangs way off the edge of the midsole.

Also, the Hyper Pace just feels kind of heavy. And I mean, it isn’t a chonker — it tips the scale at 5.7 oz — but there’s just not much giving back to you. The foam is energetic enough, but it’s not powerful. A distance spike needs one of two things going on: a geometry that really throws you into your stride, or a foam that really rebounds well and gives you as much pop as you can get. And the Hyper Pace just doesn’t deliver. It feels like the track-spike version of a tempo shoe. Not bad, just… too tame.

I know it’s difficult to break into the track spike scene, but the way to do it isn’t to copy what’s already out there. I commented that this spike is constructed similarly to the original Dragonfly. That was an understatement: same plate setup, same geometry, similar last, even down to some straight-up copied details like identical midsole tooling and outsole elements. The problem is, it just does everything a little bit worse than the Dragonfly did. It’s heavier, less responsive, with less pop in the plate, and a worse fit.

Trackspikes.co markets the Hyper Pace as a spike for the 800m up to the 5k, and honestly, I just can’t see any good reason to choose it for any of those races. Even at the clearance price of $119, you could get any big-name superspike version one step behind the current model for less and get better performance.

Final thoughts on the Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace

KALEB: Trackspikes.co. Please. Risk something. I want to root for the little guys in the market, but you’ve got to work to get the cheering started. Go out on a limb and make something unique. It probably won’t be good for a few iterations — heck, it almost never is. But you’ll have something that’s yours and only yours. And when it finally gets out of its awkward, fledgling phase, you’ll have something on your hands that is good because no one else has quite the same thing.

Nike did it, and by golly, it took a minute, but everyone else got there eventually. But they had to get there on their own route, even if they glanced over at each other’s homework to jot down some notes along the way.

I can’t recommend you buy the Hyper Pace, but at least keep an eye out for Trackspikes.co as they get their feet under them. We’ve seen companies come out of nowhere before — that’s been the case in footwear over the past 5 years. There’s still time for these guys as well.

You can pick up the Trackspikes.co Hyper Pace for $119 from Trackspikes.co by using the button below.