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.

For dirt roads I picked up some Nike Ultrafly. Retired a pair at 615 miles and am about 400 miles into a second pair. Tried a pair of Nike peg trail 4’s in between, but they were a let down after the ultraflys. Most of my real running is on steep, rocky trails in the mountains, though, where I switch between Arcteryx Norvan SL3 for really fast efforts and VJ Maxx2 as my all arounder. Love both of these shoes. Edit: rocky trails in the mountains, not “Rocky Mountain” trails.

Nike Ultrafly Trail might make the cut

I have no experience with the peg5, but I did grab some peg4 trails after putting over 600mi into a pair of ultraflys. Took only a few runs (~40mi) to decide I much preferred another pair of ultraflys. Got them for less than $100 at that point. I have about 500mi on them now and hoping to see what/when the ultrafly2 will be. The peg4’s felt kind of stiff and boring by comparison. And I’m a person that typically runs in very low stack shoes on actual trails. Ultraflys and peg4 were for paved, dirt, and gravel roads. Hate the ultraflys on actual east coast trails.

One thing I will add is the ultraflys are significantly wider in the sole than most of my other shoes. I notice this when running through mud. They float like snowshoes on top instead of punching through. The tread is fine for mud, just the substantial surface area of the sole can make things a little squirrelly. That wide platform makes for a nice stable shoe otherwise.

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.

Nike Ultrafly Trail would get my vote

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

I have two trail running shoe models from nike and for me they are better then any road shoe I have Zegama 2 are crazy comfy and I just love them, just a crazy secure plushy and dynamic run with them ultrafly for a bit faster running, I love them bc of teh wide forefoot with like the construction where the base gets even wider then the top of the sole which makes them crazy secure /i attach a link to the photo so you know what I mena, it is hard to explain/ (carbon plate helps here too probably so they don't wobble at all) overall crazy secure shoe, you can use them for slow runs or faster ones too and vibram is very delicate so you can easily run on teh road too had pegasus tr5 at home but form me they run smaller half a size so were to small [https://www.nike.com/t/ultrafly-mens-trail-racing-shoes-K8vfLD](https://www.nike.com/t/ultrafly-mens-trail-racing-shoes-K8vfLD) look at the 6th photo on this page ps. best part, you can easily find them at sale 50% down or so

I have Zegama 2 and Ultrafly from Nike. Both good but I would really try Ultraflys at least for me they are crazy nice and roadlike feeling shoes, very stable and responsive. Toe box is very nice and wide and wahts more important the foam in front is like wider on the bottom (hard to explain) just the fron is giving you a very stable run and with a very nice stiff back around ankle it really plants your foot in place (and I had my ankles srrpingkled number of thimes back when I was playing baksetball) . Not sure why they made them so expensive as a stock price and kinda put into premium shoe for racing category bc in reality they are great for easy runs and long runs. And you can find them on sales nowadays like I bought mine new for 130e or so. Zegama is great too but a bit higher and toe is a lil bit smaller and they are a bit less stable (nothing unstable but a bit less then ultrafly) TLDR. I have like 6 pairs from nike (new to running, came from cycling) and I like ultrafly so much that I prefer them over any road shoe I have.

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.

I avoid asphalt as much as I can and I don’t think I shuffle too much. I’ve put a decent amount of miles into my Zegama 2s, north face vectivs, Salomon’s, and ultrafly before retiring them and they held up pretty well. This is the first pair of trail shoes that looks like they took a beating early on. It is a great shoe though

Great question. Road Running Adidas Evo Sl - White (344mi) Black (202mi) - fanstastic daily shoe that totally match the hype, bouncy without feeling squishy. Having two on rotation lets the foam recover. Best travel shoe to handle any type of run. Smitten. I ran over 500 miles last year in the Puma Mag Max, the SL is like that level of comfort without the weight. Nike Vaporfly 4- Blue (16mi) newest shoe for fast days. Feel great, so light and nimble. I replace my Puma Nitro 3 (322 mi) with these. Really like the lacing and upper. So excited to see what I can do in these. Trail Rotation Nike Ultrafly (85mile). These shoes don’t get much talk. But I love the plated trail shoe, these 85 miles have been hard miles. We have lots of rocks in Colorado and these glide over them and don’t squish. Only down side is they get and stay very dirty. I’ve ran everything from Moab to Jungle with these. Lots of summer hiking in them too. Bonus points is these are the best mountain bike shoes I have ever owned. Nike Pegasus Gore Tex - (250mi). My winter snow workhorses. Not to sweaty, durable as hell. Excellent grip. We are lucky to have such great shoes available.