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.

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

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.