Minimalist Racing Flats are no longer being made —— Sad Days

They stopped making them for a reason wrote:

YoungManYellingAtClouds wrote:

As the Saucony A9 is no longer being made and remaining inventory on it starts to wane, I went on the minimalist racing flat search. I do this every few years when they discontinue the brand/iteration I have been using. I want low stack height (max 20mm heel) , light (max 6.5 ounces), and no carbon plate (purist here). This is my daily running shoe. It was NB 1600v2/v3 for about 6 years, then Saucony A8/A9 for the last 6 or 7 years.

It now looks like we’re nearing the end of the road.

Sad days folks. Not much being made anymore that fits the bill. Anyone else sad?

There are some clouds passing over shortly that we can yell at. Anyone want to join me?

Did you mean the NB 1400? The 1600 is a lifestyle shoe.

If the 1400's worked for you, then the Adios 7 or 8 should as well as they have a similar ride and stack height. Or try the Takumi Sens, moderate stack height and the light, agile feel of a traditional flat plus the benefit of modern superfoam. Or you could try those dumb Xero shoes. Personally, I like being able to run faster and I don't miss having my feet and legs beat to crap in road races.

ch1234 wrote:

I’ve got a soft spot for classical racing flats as well. I enjoyed the NB RC1600 quite a lot back in the days (based on the specs you mentioned I assume it was really the 1600 you meant and not the 1400 as someone else assumed).

I can’t comment on a suitable modern replacement for the 1600 as I still have a couple of pairs of NB 1400/1500, Nike Streak LT and Adidas Takumi Sen 7 lying around, however, I am sure that the Nike Streakfly is not the solution. Even leaving aside that the specs don’t match your requirements (though that will be difficult with any modern shoe), the Streakfly simply is not racing flat. To make matters worse, it’s not a good shoe. It’s lightweight but that’s about it. The upper is baggy, the midsole lacks pop and bottoms out easily at the same time, the outsole is bad, and the midfoot shank is one of the worst implementations of its kind I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t add any pop to the shoe but can be very noticeable in a disturbing way at the wrong paces or with the wrong gait.

Honestly, if you could live with the basic specs of the Streakfly as 1600/A9 replacement, I would much more recommend the Puma Liberate Nitro instead of the Streakfly. It’s a touch heavier but is a so much better shoe.

My take on the Streakfly is that Nike deliberately released a mediocre shoe in order not to cannibalise Vaporfly sales.

ch1234 wrote:

I’ve got a soft spot for classical racing flats as well. I enjoyed the NB RC1600 quite a lot back in the days (based on the specs you mentioned I assume it was really the 1600 you meant and not the 1400 as someone else assumed).

I can’t comment on a suitable modern replacement for the 1600 as I still have a couple of pairs of NB 1400/1500, Nike Streak LT and Adidas Takumi Sen 7 lying around, however, I am sure that the Nike Streakfly is not the solution. Even leaving aside that the specs don’t match your requirements (though that will be difficult with any modern shoe), the Streakfly simply is not racing flat. To make matters worse, it’s not a good shoe. It’s lightweight but that’s about it. The upper is baggy, the midsole lacks pop and bottoms out easily at the same time, the outsole is bad, and the midfoot shank is one of the worst implementations of its kind I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t add any pop to the shoe but can be very noticeable in a disturbing way at the wrong paces or with the wrong gait.

Honestly, if you could live with the basic specs of the Streakfly as 1600/A9 replacement, I would much more recommend the Puma Liberate Nitro instead of the Streakfly. It’s a touch heavier but is a so much better shoe.

My take on the Streakfly is that Nike deliberately released a mediocre shoe in order not to cannibalise Vaporfly sales.