The move to running in 2018 exposed the foam, requiring an algorithm to help create the ideal mixture of React cushioning in certain areas. Nike introduced React in basketball sneakers as an encased spot-solution. React also eliminates EVA, starting with a TPE base-thermoplastic elastomers-a completely different chemistry formula that improves both cushioning and energy return. Now Nike has the one-piece React, maximizing cushioning while removing layers of glue for a lighter weight option. Adding two densities of foam, adding a layer of glue and locking that innovation up was by no means an ideal scenario.” “We had to glue those two pieces together. “That didn’t allow us to maximize the soft, lightweight responsive foam,” Holts says.

Nike had to surround it with a protective carrier, a firmer foam that remained in contact with the ground. Lunarlon, while offering a softer, more responsive foam than EVA, wasn’t able to stand on its own. And the Lunarlon foam Nike introduced around the 2008 Beijing Olympics just received its first major upgrade, as Nike debuted its React cushioning in 2017 before rolling it out as a feature in 2018.īrett Holts, vice president of running footwear at Nike, says React eliminate the compromises required with both Lunarlon and EVA. After introducing the original air, Nike upgraded its air experience to Zoom Air in 1995, a pocket of air that includes a series of highly tensioned polyester or nylon fibers that snap the Zoom Air bag back into position after a compression. The Swoosh has the most versatile lineup of cushioning options on the market. Since then, Under Armour, Puma, New Balance and more have continued to try to upgrade EVA, creating their own take on cushioning. Asics has embraced gel as its cushioning of choice since the 1980s and Adidas undid the world of foam cushioning by introducing Boost in 2013.

Nike broke the mold, introducing air as a cushioning method in the 1970s. Then came ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam, an elastic material similar to rubber.

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