A roomy toe box, 10mm drop, and nylon plate: What it’s like to run in the Veloci Featherweight

Introduction to the Veloci Featherweight

BRADY: This is the first Veloci shoe I’ve had in for testing, but I’m always excited to see a new brand enter the foot-shaped space. If you haven’t heard of Veloci, its mission is to provide foot-shaped shoes for people who want more toe box room, but don’t want to go zero-drop. Altra, the brand most people think of if they’re familiar with the category of anatomical kicks, has only recently introduced shoes with drop, but they only go up to 4mm, while Topo has some 5mm options. I think Veloci is carving out a nice niche in the industry here, and for testing is its new supertrainer, the Featherweight.

CHAD: I make it a point in life to always give credit where credit is due. So, to begin, I give all the credit in the world to Veloci and its young entrepreneur founder, Tyler Strothman, for going out on a limb in an incredibly competitive industry and trying to compete right away. The first shoe the brand put out, the Ascent, was a solid attempt at a neutral daily trainer with a natural foot shape and a high drop. There was a lot to like about that shoe, but a few things needed work.

When the incredibly well-done green Veloci box with the easily distinguishable feather logo on top arrived at my doorstep, I was really interested to see what they had cooked up. What came out was the Featherweight, a shoe that Veloci tabs as its entry into the supertrainer marketplace.

What we like about the Veloci Featherweight

BRADY: I have a feeling Chad and I will have some differences in our review from here on out, but that’s why we have multiple reviewers! I really appreciate how much thoughtful technology went into the Featherweight. We’re seeing these swings pay off in the Topo Specter 3 and Elite (both anatomically shaped shoes), which I haven’t personally reviewed but have received many plaudits from others in the office. Over the years, the notion has been that anatomical brands belong in the middle/back of the pack, and while I am 100% in that demographic, Veloci knows there are some of us who don’t want to sacrifice performance for comfort.

Now, a pair of shoes isn’t going to put me in the front of the pack, but it can help runners like you and me stack miles, improve running economy, and have some fun doing it. That’s where I think this shoe excels — you have 45mm of ATPU with a 10mm drop and a nylon plate for stability, which combine to give a feeling of naturally moving through your stride. The midsole doesn’t feel bouncy per se, but it does glide.

CHAD: I would normally give the Featherweight a knock because I received the light gray colorway, and it looks a bit meh. However, I’ve seen that they also have a hunter green version that looks absolutely beautiful, so I’ll give it a pass on the aesthetics. As I have harped on many times, it can be hard to make an anatomically shaped shoe look cool, but I really do love the feather logo, and I think it sits on a shoe really well (especially the… Featherweight).

Just like the Ascent, this shoe fits me like a glove. The heel and midfoot width are absolutely perfectly dialed while giving that extra appreciated room in the forefoot for the toes to splay out. The upper is a thin mesh-like material with a thin but gusseted tongue… always a classy move. From a fit and comfort perspective, Veloci has absolutely hit the mark.

The Featherweight feels light on foot, coming in at 8.9 oz. for a US M9, which helps with getting a solid turnover. The underfoot feel of the FeatherForm, which is a dual-density ATPU midsole (softer on top, firmer on bottom), was a really solid choice for the Featherweight. In conjunction with the Helix nylon plate for stability, I got a fairly smooth, consistent, stable ride for all of my miles in this shoe. Additionally, the outsole material and coverage were great and gave me great confidence to take corners, even running at dialed-up paces.

What we don’t like about the Veloci Featherweight

BRADY: Surprisingly, the issue I had with the Veloci Featherweight, which on paper seems tailor-made for me, came down to the fit of the upper. Of course, my toes have plenty of room to roam, but I find the tongue and lace combination to be a let-down.

Veloci went to extreme lengths to make a fully premium shoe, even providing sawtooth laces, but the tongue came up pretty high on my ankle, which forced me to re-lace the shoe quite a few times on my runs. If I didn’t get the laces perfect, I could feel the tongue putting some unwanted pressure high on my foot. I mention the sawtooth laces because, unlike smoother laces, which come undone, these really grip themselves, making quick re-lacing impossible.

I really enjoy the ride of the Veloci Featherweight, so I’ve thought about trading out the laces with a pair of lock laces I have lying around, so we’ll see if that helps. Are the tongue and laces themselves a dealbreaker? Absolutely not — it just makes getting the fit right a bit of a process.

CHAD: I think my biggest qualm with this shoe boils down to terminology. I just don’t know if I would classify this shoe as a supertrainer. I just don’t get the same magical feeling underfoot that I get from the Mizuno Neo Vista 3, the Asics Superblast 3, or the Adidas Hyperboost Edge — all shoes that feature high stacks of elite foam and sometimes plates. It may very well come down to a preference issue and to my mechanics not being well-suited for a 10mm drop, but I just didn’t get the bounce and propulsion I expected after reading Veloci’s technical specs and marketing materials.

Given that it comes in at $200, there’s a ton of stiff competition in that area. I think the Featherweight feels more like a lightweight daily trainer, performance-wise (think Saucony Triumph 23, New Balance Rebel v5, or Ellipse v1); therefore, the $200 price tag may set expectations the shoe can’t meet.

Final thoughts on the Veloci Featherweight

BRADY: I really like the ride of the Veloci Featherweight and plan on logging many more miles in my pair. I won’t be surprised if it lasts 500 miles, which, for a shoe that costs $200, is all you can really ask for. I think that if Veloci were to soften up the tongue or address some of the fit issues I mentioned, this would be an A/S shoe for me. As it stands, this is a good buy for those in the anatomical market, and it only makes me more excited about the inevitable race-day option from Veloci.

CHAD: As I said at the start of the review, Veloci has been incredibly bold and has swung for the fences. And empirically, they have dropped three quality shoes in the Ascent, the Mesa (the Ascent but the stability version), and now the Featherweight. They’re definitely a brand to keep an eye on if you enjoy natural footshape shoes and a high drop, because I expect big things to keep coming from them.

You can pick up the Veloci Featherweight for $200 from Veloci by using the buttons below.