The FlyWire technology, developed by Nike more than ten years ago, remains innovative to this day. According to the tradition established in the community of manufacturers of sporting goods, this technological innovation was presented to the world on the eve of a major sports forum – the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The athletes of the American national team competed in the ultra-modern at that time running models Zoom Victory Spikes and Zoom Matumbo

What is Flywire

Already at the beginning of the decade, Nike’s production management was thinking about developing such a technology. Engineers have begun work on modifying key areas in order to ensure maximum stability. It was decided that in order for the shoes not to lose their lightness, they should be reinforced with fibers of a durable, but at the same time sufficiently lightweight material. The choice fell on the development of chemists from Celanese Corporation – the material “vectran”.

Why “vectran”

The fibers of this material are extremely thin, but at the same time they are several times stronger than steel. Lightweight, but at the same time having excellent elasticity, the material is exactly what Nike developers needed to create flexible and stable sports shoes that reduce the risk of injury. According to the head of the company’s innovation department, the choice in favor of Vectran was also influenced by the experience of NASA engineers who actively use this material for their developments.

The results of using Flywire for football.

The first model of football boots produced using nike’s Flywire technology was the Nike Mercurial SuperFly, they became the lightest examples of football shoes that the world has ever seen. They weighed a record 180 grams, while the weight of analogues was invariably more. The words of one of the founders of Nike, Bill Bowerman, said when he was an athletics coach, finally found their embodiment: “To get the best running spikes, you need to hammer nails into the foot.” The upper part of these boots was so light that the players felt literally nothing but spikes on the sole.

A combination of advanced developments

Nike is famous for its ability to revolutionize the industry, but there is something that they manage to do with even greater success – to combine various innovative technologies in one model. The development of the revolutionary Flyknit material in 2012, predetermined the appearance of the Nike SuperFly 4 in 2014, incredibly lightweight football boots that provide excellent grip. Their weight is just over 180 grams, which makes them comfortable shoes for both games and training. These cleats combine as many as three innovative technologies: Flywire fiber, 3D-knitted Flyknit material and a Phylon sole. The face of the new boots, built using Flywire technology, became Cristiano Ronaldo.

Adaptive design

Imagine that new tendons suddenly appear in the athlete’s foot, providing stability and additional flexibility. It sounds fantastic, but this is exactly what the Flywire technology has given athletes. In addition to purely technological advantages, the new material also served as a noticeable attribute of the design of sneakers, having a bright, catchy color and striking elasticity. Although the experimental pair of the Nike Zoom Victory model with Flywire technology, in which athlete Alan Webb took part in a race held in 2007 in the Belgian town of Brasshat, was completely white. Such a minimalistic design was to the liking of the famous Bernard Lagat, who won gold at the 2007 Athletics World Championships in Osaka, Japan in shoes of a similar color.

Flywire in Air VaporMax

Flywire is still Nike’s core technology. This can be confirmed by the current Nike Air VaporMax model. For the first time, its design uses an innovative sole equipped with airbags of a special shape, but the upper part is still a combination of Flyknit and Flywire technologies. Undoubtedly, in recent years they have been significantly improved and have undergone many improvements, but at the same time, these technologies are still at the forefront, moving the sports industry forward, and Nike continues to confidently dominate both the sports and casual footwear segment.