Following the Nike Air and Nike React, the latest silhouette, the Nike Joyride, is the company’s newest proprietary innovation, forming part of a wider array of cushioning platforms.
The Joyride is engineered to help keep the runner’s legs fresh, delivering a personal underfoot experience with great impact absorption in a surprisingly light, energy-returning package. The proprietary cushioning system is a Nike-only technology, featuring thousands of TPE beads. The beads themselves are added to zonally-tuned pods, allowing the foam to expand in all directions. The beads make for a dynamic footbed, which forms to your foot, making them personalised to the wearer. Before finalising the beads, 150 different materials were tested before the selection of the current TPE beads.
The pod system is designed as to how the foot strikes the ground when in motion, from heel to toe. The heel pod is bigger, as it absorbs the most impact, with the forefoot prepared to facilitate a smooth transition forward. The pod and bead system creates a unique sensation while running, which feels as if you’re running on bubbles. In order to solve the issue of having the beads moving around too much, the pods are spread around the foot without them becoming uncomfortable. That said, the beads are required, by design, to move to the most optimum positions.
For example, while running, 50% of the beads would cover the heel strike, with 5% shifting cushioning at the toe. This provides the best level of comfort to the runner.
The first drop of the Joyride is in the form of the Nike Joyride Run Flyknit, designed for all runners. The silhouette is already available to Nike Members and will be available to the public from 15 August 2019. This is the first drop from the range, with more Joyride to be released in the coming months.
