Should You Get Super Spikes?

Can they really make you faster? Many professional runners and coaches seem to think so, and I had to see for myself

So if you’ve been involved in the track and field world at all the past few years I’m sure you’ve heard about the Nike dragonflies the super spikes I haven’t been racing the past few years but I’ve heard a lot about them remember when they first came out everybody was

Talking about them how great they were and then controversy over all these Time Records being broken at all levels College High School professional you name it there’s been records broken from people wearing these shoes people saying that the shoes shouldn’t be legal that the record shouldn’t count a lot of

Controversy a lot of stuff but I hadn’t actually tried them myself until I started getting back racing so I decided tovbe pair give them a try and see how they were forever all I’d heard is just how great they were some of my friends bought them and talked about how it’s

Complet a completely different experience when you put them on compared to regular spikes I heard stories of non Nike either college or professional athletes getting the dragonflies and just ripping the logo off so they could race in them so a lot of expectations on

These I had to see what all the fuss was about I bought a pair and I tried them out recently before I put them on some questions that I had were obviously how are they going to feel how are they going to fit cuz I’ve tried spikes

Before with a lot of cushioning like the old Nike Matumbo and I did not like it at all I tended to prefer the zoom Victory spikes that’s what I’ve been racing in for a long time and with these obviously not a lot of cushion on them

But to me I didn’t care they just felt more comfortable on the dragon fly there’s obviously a lot more cushion I was curious how it was going to feel knowing that the more cushion Matumbo I did not like at all but I could also see from pictures that the dragonfly and the old

Victory shoes actually had a fairly similar profile on the side whereas the matambo is more flat on the bottom these have some curve to them so I felt like even with more cushioning it was still going to be the feel that I typically like when I got them out of the box

First Impressions were that they do look nice especially this color I’m a sucker for white shoes but I noticed there’s definitely way more foam than on any Spike that I’ve ever had especially in this section in the midfoot it’s a crazy amount of foam fabric felt nice and but the thing

That stood out to me the most was how rigid it is you cannot really Bend this thing especially compared to like an old school Spike this this was this is zoom Victory 2 I believe from I I bought this in 2019 you can just see how much more it

Bends than the dragonfly and this doesn’t even have a carbon plated and it’s just a paback plate and it’s very rigid so gone out to the track the other day and put them on and they fit nicely they fit true to size I did notice that you have to I had

To tie them pretty tight to get this back section to fit on me well but once I got that sorted out I was able to run on them properly and the big thing you notice is definitely the cushion it’s a lot more it’s a lot softer ride than the

Old victories with hardly anything on them surprisingly comfortable at the speeds that you’re going and not sure if it’s just a new spike thing or it’s just going to be like that forever but they were kind of squeaking a lot more comfortable for sure and but I also the

Big thing that everyone talks about that I was noticing was that the the feeling you get that feels like it comes from this center part of the shoe is each step kind of feels like the spike is like pushing you or springing you forward I can actually feel that more

The slower that I went during the repetitions I was doing you could still feel it but when you were doing the cooldown jog in between I could really feel that like push forward so that’s why obviously these spikes are designed for the mile up to the 10,000 so I was

Running at Mile Pace So the faster end that they’re designed for so I could see as you get racing longer and longer that that effect plays more of a role and why if you were a 800 1500 you know middle distance specialist you might want to go

For the victories instead this is still going to be I imagine a great shoe for running the mile and for a lot of people the 800 as well most of us aren’t running fast enough to where it’s going to make a huge difference it’s but at

The end of the day it’s just about your personal comfort and as far as the extra speed that they supposedly provide I’ve heard an extra 1 to 3 seconds per mile out of these then you know traditional spikes that’s hard to prove just because the nature of track and field running

And middle distance running in general but they do feel quick they do feel good can’t say for sure but a lot of people do seem to think they’re faster and that’s where the controversy comes from personally I don’t see a problem with it I don’t see a pro I don’t see the need

To make these types of super spikes illegal I mean it was one thing maybe if Nikey had a monopoly on it but there are many other Alternatives now now Adidas Brooks New Balance Hoka soy they all have alternatives to these a lot of people are still going to prefer Nike

But there are alternatives now and just in general shoe technology is always evolving that’s just going to be a part of running if shoe technology wasn’t allowed to innovate we’d all be running you know the spikes from the 1930s you know even the old school spikes like

These would have been would have seemed crazy like super technologically advanced compared comped to you know shoes in the’ 70s and 80s obviously recently we’ve had advancements in Marathon running shoes with the Vapor Flies some controversy when those came out but now pretty much every manufacturer is going to have a super

Shoe of the r like I personally run in soy like Innovation is just part of the game it’s going to happen every so often it’s going to shake things up when it does and I don’t think it has to devalue the performances that people have in the

New shoes I just think it makes performances people had in the past that much more impressive there’s a video out there of Andre degrass an Olympic sprinter wearing the spikes that Jesse Owens wore in the 1930s and he’s not able to run as quick so Andre degrass is going to be running

In the best shoes he can get that does not make him any less of an athlete if anything it just speaks to how like great of an athlete Jesse Owens was she are always going to be innovating we just happen to be in a time now with the

Super Shoes and the super spikes that it’s been a little more rapid than years past so I have nothing against it I’m going to be racing in these from now on I recommend that if you are serious about running that you give yourself the best chance to performing your best you

Know which is going to be these super spikes the dragonflies if you’re on the track or the victories or the Super Shoes The Vapor Flies the Endorphin Pros all those kinds of shoes if you’re racing the marathon give yourself the best chance if you’re worried about the cost there are other options these

Normally go for 150 I bought them on eBay for 40 bucks so there’s ways out there to get them cheaper if you can get your hands in a pair of super spikes I would recommend doing so they feel great they make you feel fast probably a

Little easier on your legs too they look good and why not give yourself the best chance at running as fast as you can