It’s hard to believe it’s been almost ten years since the first Nike Free hit the market. The shoe that brought the concept of barefoot running to the mainstream has remained a best seller for the swoosh, equally accepted by athletes and fashionistas alike.
Originally engineered by Tobie Hatfield and Eric Avar, the Nike Free run online was first inspired by Stanford athletes that were training barefoot on the university’s golf course. Taking this study back to the Nike campus, in 2002 a group of men and women examined wearing pressure-measuring insoles taped to their feet and captured their data with high speed cameras to study the foot in motion. The result of an eight year extensive study yielded the understanding of a “natural” landing stride, demanding a new running shoe from the brand with minimal heel to toe offset, unconventional shape, and a super Phylon flexible outsole.
Perhaps considered a redemption NIKE Air Max LUNAR90 C3.0 Men for many runners of past generations, the Nike Free is a landmark shoe for the brand that sustained many running myths over the past few decades including a raised heel or excessive cushioning and overlays. The original Free from 2004 transitioned from the brand’s approach to barefoot running to eventually accommodate training to become everyone’s favorite coffee shop runner today, here is The Complete Performance History of the Nike Air Max Tavas.