Ultrafly Trail Racing Shoes

I thought the UF1 was a very rigid shoe. Love them for dirt and gravel roads but find them to be unbearable on rocky technical trails. I think the plate helps with stability, especially running down hills. A less rigid plate might help them perform better on trails without sacrificing much.

My go-to gravel shoe has been the Nike Ultrafly Trail. I put 650 miles on one pair and just passed 500 on a second pair. Really well suited to hilly gravel and dirt roads. They’re expensive at full retail price but can be found on steep discounts. I hate them for technical trails though.

Yeah. Couple factors in that mileage. For one, you are a lot heavier than me, so that would likely accelerate the wear rate. A second factor is that the running I really like to do is technical trails and mountain running where i use very minimally cushioned shoes. So even after pounding on the ultraflys for 500+ miles they still offer significantly more cushion than my typical shoe. Note that I avoid using the ultraflys on technical terrain at almost all costs 😀 In my case I retired them because I had completely worn through the tread and into the midsole in the heels. This is because I use them almost exclusively for runs up and down a local mountain on fire roads and a paved auto road to the top. So they saw a lot of heel striking when descending steep pavement. This is pretty abusive for a trail shoe. Contrast this with my typical technical trail shoes where I wear out the tread under the forefoot long before the heel. Anyway, I’m just starting to wear through the tread into the midsole on my current pair. I can feel the foam being a little dead, squishy, and unresponsive back there now, but still plenty of cushion for me. I will add that I tried out a pair of Nike Pegasus Trail 4 shoes between the two pairs of ultraflys, and they really felt like a letdown compared to the ultraflys. They just felt kinda dead by comparison. Ultraflys really do soak up gravel nicely. And they’re a nice wide and stable shoe which has been awesome for recovery runs and such on milder terrain.

I really don’t think the ultrafly is a “super shoe”. I think the plate just helps stabilize the foam. I use it almost exclusively on easy runs on gravel and dirt roads up and down a mountain. I generally run in almost minimalist shoes on very technical steep terrain. Then I switch to ultraflys for off days and they’re a dream. Super cushioned but not spongy. Perfect for gravel and conditions the OP is asking about. At full retail they’re stupid expensive, but I’ve got my last 2 (of 3 total) pairs for around $100

I use Nike Ultrafly on that terrain. Absorbs it nicely, but they’re not light

Big fan of Ultraflys for dirt and gravel roads. But out of around 1500 miles I’ve run in them there’s probably only about 10 actual trail miles. The new ACG ones feel firmer and maybe a bit more capable on real trails.

It depends on model. It would be nice if they were more up front with this info so people could make more informed purchase decisions. As a smaller brand, I've never seen them in a local store, so there's no opportunity to try before buying. Buying online is hit or miss. For me the Ultraventure, Ultraventure Pro, Ultrafly 3, and Ultrafly 4 models were all fine, but the Fli-Lyte 4 was awful.

i know it will sound crazy weird but nike ultrafly (yes those with a carbon plate) are crazy supportive bc the front is very wide and it has a trapezoid shape meaning the bottom is much wider then the top, for me they are the most stable shoes out there. you can add a cudtom sole for the pronation support and you should be gucci

in what way? carbon plate just makes the shoe much more stable laterally so you can't twist the sole that easily which makes the whole shoe very stable anyways you can get them on sales for 120e or so and for me they are more stable then my road running shoes

nike ultrafly is crazy stable due to a carbon insert and a very wide front

for me nike ultrafly is most stable shoe ever due to the very wide base and the plate

I followed the ½ size up for racing shoes (Nike Ultrafly v1) and it has been very mixed results for me. It could also be increased training but whenever I wear these for runs I cannot tie them tightly at all without getting really immediate lace bite. That Tibialis Anterior pain is for real.

I know lots of people that run in Nikes, myself included. I’m seeing them more and more at races, too. The Zegama 2 and ACG Ultrafly are pretty solid shoes.