TRAINER
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Nike's new cushioning technology - Lunar Foam
At shoeguide.co.uk we get shown the latest shoes from all the brands, large and small.
But when Nike invited us over to their world HQ to show us something we had wind that it was something a little bit different.
Unfortunately we had a problem. After being snowbound at Heathrow, having a pilot taken ill in Amsterdam, being diverted to Vancouver and then having technical problems with the plane we thought we would never get there.
But Sean McDowell stuck around to wait for us, although we were a day late landing. And once we'd arrived, minus baggage, and dosed up on cafeine he sat down to tell us what had been going on.
Sean told shoeguide.co.uk: "We have got this brand new stuff we’re calling Lunar Foam.
"Lunar Foam is a brand new technology for us, it actually started with NASA. We work with them; we get together and have a brainstorm session, they share with us some of their new stuff and we share with them some of our new stuff. They had a new foam that is super-lightweight. They obsess about weight in almost the same way as we obsess about weight. If we can reduce more weight off your body that gives you more energy at the end of a race."
He told shoeguide.co.uk Nike have taken the foam originally used in Space Shuttle seats and put it to work in running shoes.
"Lunar Foam is encapsulated on the inside of the midsole. It is 30% lighter than normal foam. It’s a really unique system. It took us three years to adapt that NASA compound to something we could use in footwear."
The process was not a simple one. The conditions in a spaceship are quite different to those in a shoe midsole, and making a space ship is a different kettle of fish to mass producing running shoes.
Sean told shoeguide.co.uk: "It's very difficult to produce, we had to change all of the ways we work with foam in shoes in order to produce this and that’s one of the reasons why it took so long. It’s trapped on the inside, you can't expose it to rain or UV [sunlight] so it’s inside this Phylite carrier."
The foam has properties that makes it want to return to original shape rather than remaining compressed.
Sean said: "We found that encapsulating it enhances some of the characteristics. It puts it in tension and you get more bounce and more rebound from the shoe. You can see the distinct accordion features on the outside so it collapses and rebounds with you. And you will notice a little bit of medial posting [in the contouring rather than a second density].
"It’s a fairly wide net so while it is relatively stable it is for neutral runners, but with inherent stability built into it.
The sole has a vintage Nike look to it but there are features which tie in with the Lunar Foam.
"We’ve also built the sole geometry which is a throwback to the Waffle, but we have put a groove around each one of these [lugs] so that any one can 'piston' in on any kind of terrain. That leads directly to the Lunar Foam.
The training shoe is the Lunar Trainer.
Sean told shoeguide.co.uk: "It is extremely light weight. In a size 9 US it is 8.8 oz [approx 250g]. An average training shoe is more like 12 oz [340g] so it’s a good compromise here.
As well as the Lunar Trainer there is also a racing version.
"We’re expecting in the Lunaracer version for this to show up in the Olympic Marathon. At 5.5oz it is extremely lightweight [156g].
We didn't get to put the shoes on the trusty shoeguide.co.uk scales but if those weights are accurate the shoes are both coming in at very light weights.
Sean continued: "We have an arsenal of brand new shoes. Lunar way of cushioning. Lunar distributes the pressure you apply. When you’re landing you're hitting the ground with two to three times your body weight each time you’re stepping. Lunar Foam is able to disperse that pressure over the footbed."
Sean said that instead of the usual peak pressure points that show as reds and oranges on the footscan the Lunar Foam shoes have blues and greens indicating lower forces.
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