Under Armour Velociti Wind is the most exciting running shoes innovation since the Adidas 4D | T3
The brand Under Armour might not be known for being the manufacturer of the best running shoes but this might change very soon. It’s latest running trainer, the UA Velocity Wind, can be considered the spiritual successor to the Adidas 4D Run 1.0 and is chock-full of new tech and thinking-outside-the-box innovation. The unacquainted bystander might assume that the main appeal of the UA Velociti Wind is the Bluetooth-capability, but that’s old news: Under Armour already has a number of Bluetooth-enabled running shoes.
In a world of running shoes franchises, it’s refreshing to see a brand new concept hitting the running market. Sure, I love the new and the , but the UA Velociti Wind is different: it introduces a new foam and a new upper to runners, alongside other well-established UA features such as the aforementioned Bluetooth-connectivity that feeds running data straight into the UA MapMyRun app.
Is the world ready for the UA Velociti Wind? I sure am.
Under Armour UA Velocity Wind: price and availability
The UA Flow Velociti Wind launches globally on 3 March 2021, and will be available at Under Armour US and Under Armour UK, as well as UA Brand Houses, Premium Run Specialty accounts and select Sporting Goods accounts.
The recommended retail price of the UA Velociti Wind is $160 / £140.
Under Armour UA Velocity Wind: main features
So, if it isn’t Bluetooth, then what’s the real innovation here? The UA Velociti Wind features two brand new technologies: the UA Flow midsole and UA Warp upper.
As Under Armour explains, the “UA Flow disrupts the design of a traditional running shoe by completely eliminating the rubber outsole, reducing the 2-3 ounces of weight.” The UA Flow is the lightest midsole technology in UA’s current running lineup, and not just that, but the foam also has naturally sticky grip which provides runners with traction under both dry and wet circumstances. In fact, even without a traditional outsole, weartesters at UA found that it “performed [well] in any condition they faced – from wet cement to uneven gravel and variable roads.”
The UA Flow tech is new in the run category but it originally debuted in Stephen Curry’s signature basketball shoe, the Curry Flow 8, under his new namesake brand. And if you think it’s a silly idea to include a foam used in basketball shoes in the Velociti Wind, let me remind everyone that the ZoomX was “derived from a foam traditionally used in aerospace innovation.” Yes, the ZoomX foam used in the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%.
The UA Warp features “supporting tapes that act like seatbelts on the foot, placed precisely where our biomechanists found them to be most helpful for a runner”, as Under Armour puts it. The tapes are in tension when you need them and relax when you don’t – eliminating any buckling and pinch points from traditional uppers built with continuous materials.
The Under Armour UA Velociti Wind has an 8mm heel-to-toe drop (heel: 26mm, toe: 18 mm).
Under Armour UA Velocity Wind: image gallery
