Nike Ultrafly Review: Nike's First Plated Trail Shoe Is Built for the Long Haul

Introduction

The Nike Ultrafly is Nike’s first plated trail running shoe, positioned as a racing shoe for long distances. It borrows elements from Nike’s road racing shoes but has been changed substantially to cope with trails, and that changes its character in ways worth understanding before buying.

It is an expensive shoe: $260 in the US and £230 in the UK. It weighs around 300 grams (10.6 ounces), with an 8.5 millimeter drop and a stack height of 38.5 millimeters at the heel and 30 millimeters at the forefoot.

Who the Nike Ultrafly Is For

This is not a trail shoe for parkruns, dog walks, or everyday training runs. It is a racing shoe, comparable in intent to buying a plated road racer. If you have a trail race on the horizon and want to run fast over mixed terrain, it earns its place.

It is also a genuinely good option for runners taking their first steps at ultra distances. The combination of comfort, stability, and protection suits long days on your feet, and it worked well for a first 50K and the closing stages of a 50-mile ultra.

Key Features and Design

The headline tech is a ZoomX midsole, but it is a different formulation from the foam in Nike’s road racers. The same bouncy properties are there, yet the foam is wrapped in fabric, which limits how much it can spread under load. That makes the ride a little more stable and protects the foam from abrasions, so a stray twig on the trail will not tear out a chunk of midsole.

A carbon fly plate sits in the midsole and the shoe is mildly rockered, producing a fluid rather than aggressive ride. The drop is higher than most trail shoes at 8.5 millimeters, and the platform is very wide, especially in the forefoot, to help with stability.

The upper uses Nike’s Vaporweave material: thin, with a ripstop-style construction, but without many overlays. Do not expect much protection for your toes from rocks and roots. The tongue is skinny but padded on top, so cinching the laces tight does not press into the top of your foot.

Grip From the Vibram Outsole

The big news here is the outsole. This is Nike’s first collaboration with Vibram, a full-coverage Litebase outsole with chevron-shaped lugs. The lugs are not deep, but they provide decent grip across a wide range of terrain and are built mainly for harder trails.

The grip is a major step up from previous Nike trail shoes. It inspires confidence on wet rocks, wet roots, grass, and fast descents, and because the lugs are not too deep, the shoe also runs comfortably on roads and pavements. What it is not is a soft-ground shoe: on genuinely muddy trails, the outsole will not bite through properly.

Fit and Comfort

Fit has been very consistent for testers in their normal running sizes. The toe box is noticeably wider than typical Nike trail shoes, giving toes room to move on long runs, while the shoe narrows through the midfoot and holds nicely into a well-padded but not overly bulky heel collar. Some found it ran slightly warm and less breathable than other racing uppers, but it hugs the foot securely without rubbing.

How It Rides Over Long Distances

Do not expect the feeling of a road super shoe. The Ultrafly is much less propulsive and dynamic, a fair bit heavier, and far more stable and comfortable. It will not snap you through aggressively, and it is not the shoe for dashing a fast 5K on mixed terrain.

What it does do is look after you over the long haul. Over 150 kilometers of summer testing, including a 50K and the final hours of an 80K ultra, feet stayed comfortable with no rubbing, and the combination of ZoomX foam and plate kept legs feeling supported. The trade-offs: the wide forefoot can feel disconcerting at first and the shoe is not nimble on twisty, rooty singletrack, though the width becomes something you adapt to.

Buying Advice

If you race ultras over mixed, mostly runnable terrain, the Ultrafly is a fantastically comfortable, stable choice that ticks over smoothly. It also doubles as a durable general trainer, which is rare in this category.

If you want outright speed for shorter trail races, look elsewhere. Lighter, more aggressive, and cheaper options exist, and the Ultrafly does not deliver the punch of some rival trail racing shoes. And if you come expecting a Vaporfly for the trails, reset those expectations: this is a cruising shoe, not a snapping one.

Conclusion

The Nike Ultrafly is a very good addition to Nike’s trail lineup and one of the most comfortable, stable plated trail shoes available. It is expensive, niche, and less dynamic than its road siblings, but for long-distance trail racing on mixed terrain, it delivers a smooth, protective, confident ride that is easy to recommend for exactly that purpose.