The Nike Vaporfly 3 and Nike Alphafly 3 are two of the best carbon plate running shoes in the world, with both offering propulsive rides and speed over any distance. Nick has raced and logged a lot of miles in both shoes and talks through the pros and cons of each here, covering his general testing and a workout using both shoes.
Check out our full reviews of both shoes:
Nike Alphafly 3 Review:
Nike Vaporfly 3 Multi-Tester Review:
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:13 – Design & Key Stats
02:20 – How’s The Fit
02:52 – The Run Test
06:25 – Comparison Workout
08:11 – Stat Attack From The Workout
10:07 – Verdict
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and in this video we're going to Be comparing the Nike alphafly 3 and the Nike vapa fly [Music] 3 so the outfly 3 and the vapy 3 I would Argue are probably the two best racing Shoes on the market there's a lot to Argue about there there's lots of other Great Racing shoes but I do think They're worth comparing as they have a Lot of similarities obviously they use a Lot of the same Nike materials but there Are obviously some differences too one Of the differences is the price the AL Is much more expensive it's £285 or $285 Whereas the a is £235 or $250 both have An 8 mm drop and a stack I that goes up To that 40 mm limit at the heel the Ally Is the slightly heavier shoe it's 220 G Or 7.7 o in my UK size 9 whereas The Vapor ply is 26 G or 7.3 o and the main Difference between the two shoes is Found in the Mido in the VAP fly you've Got a full zoomx phone Mido which is Nike's PE based phone with the carbon Fly plate running through it whereas on The alphafly you've got zoomx and the Fly plate but also the Air Zoom pods Under the 4f foot which Nike say deliver A little bit more energy return than the Zoomx foam alone the alpha also has a Slightly wider plate on the medial side To add a bit of stability in general
It's a slightly wider shoe than the VAP Fly all around I would say the alow has A much bigger cutout on the underside of The shoe as well which reduces weight But it's not the segmented cutout that It used to have basically on the alow 1 And two which almost separated the rear Foam from the front of the shoe now I've Got a continuous midsole which creates a More similar feeling to what you have With the VAP flyer which has always had That continuous midsole youve got Minimal out SES on both shoes but I'd Say that the uh rubber on the outfly Seems a bit thicker and hardier than the Stuff on the vaporfly which really has Worn quickly at the back of the shoe as You can see there and you've got an atom Knit 3.0 upper on the alphafly and a fly Knit mesh upper on the bfly both are Very lightweight and breathable and have The same excellent nobbled laces that Create very secure lace tie on her B Shoes which obviously great for Racing Shoes with the outly you obviously have The booty style fit with the Bly you Have a tongue you got a slightly Different heel design on the the shoes With the Ally heel coming up a bit Higher and having more General padding To hold the heel in place whereas the Vaporfly has a strip of padding which Locks around the back of the Achilles There and can be a little bit more
Irritating I found than the heel design On the alphafly had to heel lock the Vaporfly and even so it's a bit more Annoying at the back of my foot there Compared to the design of the alpha [Music] Fly so for me the fit is good in both Shoes in my normal running shoe size These are both uk9 that is the size I Have across Nike's range and most shoes It's a us10 got a good amount of room in The toe box to go even on very long runs The midfoot hold is good in both shoes And the heel hold is secure enough I'd Say once I've heel locked the vaporfly It's very good on the alply I've had no Concerns with that at all with the VAP Fly I've had to heal lock it which makes It a bit more of a faf to get on and off Actually than even the booty style Alphafly but overall I would say stick To your normal running shoe size with Both of these shoes the fit has been Very good for [Music] Me so I've logged a lot of miles and Raced a couple of times at least in both Of these shoes and I do really like them Both like if you've seen full reviews or Any other comparison videos on the Channel you know that I do think these Are both excellent Racing shoes and I Would probably have them at one and two Overall in the racing Shoe World at the
Moment i' say these two shoes are Certainly closer in field than we had With the vly 2 and the alpha Fly 2 which Were very different the vly 2 was a bit Firmer more aggressive felt like a much Racier shoe than the alpha flyer which Had a very bouncy Mido that segmented Design it was a lot heavier but it Really did deliver the goods in terms of That propulsive feel and then with the Third generation of the shoes they have Come closer together the alphafly is a Lot lighter you've got the continuous Midsole you've got more of that Tippy Forward feeling you associate with maybe More with the vaporfly vaporfly has just Got that little bit softer and cushier With the vaporfly 3 for me it still Feels nice and aggressive I know some People still prefer the feel of the VAP Too because it is that Tad more Aggressive but I think it's still a Fantastic Racing sheo for any distance And now just has that little bit of Extra cush for the longer distances I Say the main differences I've noticed When running with these shoes uh is that The Air Zoom pods in the alpha 3 are Very noticeable like when I was running In booes at the same time and when I did A session with using the alpha light After the VAP fly which we'll talk about A bit later you get quite a similar ride The back of the shoe I'd say really does
Tip you forward very well on both shoes And then the firmer slightly more Propulsive F of the airpods really comes Into play and it's certainly Noti when Running either both shoes on at the same Time or when running them kind of back Toback doing hard intervals the Airing It are the biggest difference between The two shoes vly though also does have That slightly lighter nimbler feel to it Which I think comes into play more late On in races so I've talked about it in The alply 3 review recently like I've L Doing 5K and 10K races in the shoe Really good at hitting a f Pace in the First half of the race it feels Absolutely Fant fantastic cruising along Bouncing along in the shoe which is that Great combination of propulsive but Cushioned and bouncy and still very Aggressive and all that then the second Half of races where I am someone who Tries to increase my Cadence really to Kind of maintain my Pace or try and Speed up I'm a very shuffly Runner the AL still feels really good but it's Probably a little bit harder to engage The plate in it when running in that way Than the vapor fly which is a little bit Lighter and feels like it's easier to Push through the foam and get the nice Propulsive feel from the plate with the Outfly if you're bounding along a bit More or cruising along a bit more you
Can definitely feel feel the plate and The pods all combined to deliver that Propulsive ride and then then that as Maybe you shorten your stride a bit Shuffle along a little bit more you Don't maybe get as much back from the Shoe as you did earlier on in the Exactly the same race that's how I kind Of found it really it still felt great At the back end of those races and I can Still hold a fast pace in the 10K I did For example but did feel like I wasn't Getting quite the bouncy feeling that I Was from the shoe at the start of the Race as vly feels a bit more consistent Through races in terms of how easy it is To keep turning it over I think that's Really for shorter race Paces though I'd Say and as a shuffly runner like myself If you're a bounding Runner I think You're going to feel like that alphafly Propulsion throughout any kind of race And over longer distances I think the AL Is a shoe where it's a bit easier to Lock into a pace and just hold it and That's what really I would look for an a Marathon shoe and both of these are Excellent at it but the AL feels yeah if You do hit that pace it can help you Cruise along and hold that pace deep Through the races so like I have Runner Marathon in the VAP flight and it's also Very good for that but it's one area I Think the outfight will shine a little
Bit brighter another difference is the Outsole like the VAP flight outsole is Not really looking good on durability Especially the stuff at the back here Exposed foam on the shoe also Cuts up Quite quickly it's not the outli is Loads and loads of rubber but it does Seem to be holding up a little bit Better it's a bit thicker a bit harder So you might get a little bit more Durability out of the alpha F which Which might help offset the higher cost Of the shoe that's I had done over 100 Miles in this vaporfly and the outsole Isn't that bad and it's not really Getting significantly worse after after The initial sign of wear and tear and The bouncy feeling is certainly still There so certainly love them both in all My general testing and then earlier this Week I went out and did a session using Them both kind of back to back to get a More direct [Music] Comparison morning morning from Breezy Gunpowder Park in uh North London I'm Going to do an interval session today Using both the VAP fly 3 and the Alphafly 3 session is a simple one it's 2 * 5 4 3 2 1 minutes on with a minute Off in between each of those and then 3 Minutes between sets TOS the coin and The vaporfly is the shoe for the first Set and then I'll Dash to my car in the
In the in the rest I have in between Chain shoes and head out in the alpha Fly for the second set we running mostly The field today just trying to get a Good hard session into the legs turning Over some faster Paces especially in the Shorter reps All finished now nice controlled session There kept all the Reps under 320 pet Pce please that sped up a bit on the Shorter ones all felt fairly controlled There on a Blustery Day um snap verdict I' probably give it to the alpha fly Just i' say like uh the shoes do feel Pretty similar got that very similar Tippy forward aggressive feeling but the Airpods are very present today like when I started to run hard you could really Feel the impact of them just giving a Little bit more back on the forefoot I'd Say caveat there on this obiously this Particular workout is that I did feel Quite controlled throughout like I was Running the pace as well Al flow also Wor in the second half so if you run a Workout where you feel strong throughout You always kind of give the edge to the Shoe in the second half because you were Feeling good then whereas obviously the VAP is maybe trying to be a bit more Controlled more wary of the the extra Reps to come but in both of them I felt Really good do feel like those airpods Do make that little bit of a difference
Now and they're a bit more notable now The difference between two shoes because In the past there was a lot of other Things going on with the alply that made It feel a bit different the vaporfly the Larger disconnected midsole whereas now The shoes I think have quite a similar Feeling apart from those airpods which They give you that little bit of extra Firmness and pop under the 4ot and I Didn't really notice the extra weight or Anything like that today because like I Say everything was quite Controlled all right uh little section Here for the people who really love all The stats you get from watches these Days so you can skip this if you want to Go straight to the verdict but if you Want to dive into some of the stats from The session I'm going to throw them all Up on screen here so I thought it' be Fun to look at the stats I recorded in Terms of my running style and the General pace and heart rate stats Recorded in each shoe for each of the Reps going from 5 minutes down to 1 Minute now some obvious caveats here That ruin a direct comparison a little Bit one is that it was a windy day so on Some reps I've been running with the Wind and some Against the Wind I think One of the Ally reps maybe the three Minute rep in particular I had a really Good SE long stint with the wind it's Al
The fact I'm using a watch the Garmin Epics Pro to record these stats how Accurate is that on you know things like Vertical oscillation and ground contact Time you're comparing very small Differences I'm not sure at 100% rely on It and obviously there is the nature of A session like that that was probably a Little bit more cautious perhaps early On with the vaporfly sets and although I Ran controlled throughout the run so the Stat should be quite comparable in the Fact I wasn't really you know dying in The second half of the workout I was Able to let loose a little bit more Towards the end of the workout in the Alply over the last couple of reps Knowing that I was about to be finished Which is pretty standard stuff for a Session that first few reps you're just Going to make sure you're you're Controlling yourself so you don't feel Too knackered at the end before we look At say my perceptions would be that I Have a slightly higher Cadence maybe in The vaporfly but a slightly longer Stride length in the alphafly things Like that that wasn't really borne out By the stats at all they are very Similar really across the board actually My Cadence slightly higher on the Alphafly Reps in general stride length Was very similar as was vertical Oscillation the ground contact time
Actually was noticeably slightly lower Across the board in the alpha fly a Consistent difference between the two Shoes but again very small differences Here so probably the main takeover would Be that the shoe is not really the key Determining factor in all these stats is Pretty much the runner I run the same Way more or less in both shoes but it is Interesting to me that my perception Would be that maybe bound and get a Slightly longer stride from the alphafly And turn my feet over a little bit more Slowly and that actually really wasn't The case my my can was if anything Slightly higher in the fly and actually The overall stats were very similar Across both shoes but hey there's a load Of stats on screen I thought you might Have liked to have a look at [Music] Those so the verdict is that these are Both absolutely excellent shoes and I'd Be very happy to just have either one of Them for all my races any distance I Think they are both great from 5K to the Marathon or Beyond if you're looking at Those Ultra marathons as well but if I'm Going to pick between them I'd say There's nothing between them for shorter Races up to Half Marathon distance and Then for the marathon I probably just Lean towards the alphafly fly still an Excellent Marathon shoe both of them are
Great for all those short distance races But do think the alphafly will be the Shoe I would use for my next big Target Marathon London next year I think just Because of the way it feels so good at Holding a pace like I think the vly is Great for that and it's really easy to Accelerate in the VAP fly and you do Hold the pace naturally but I think like It just feels easier slightly to hold a Pace in the alpha fly and that's what I'd be looking for for a marathon where For most of the race you feel pretty Good you're locked in you just want to Get through it with as little damage to Yourself as possible while holding your Target race Pace I think the Ally is the Best you in the world for that you have Got to pay a little bit more for the Alply and really looking at Value alone Probably the VAP fly is the better pick Even with those slight durability Concerns so if that's what you are Looking at I would go and buy the VAP Fly and have no real concerns I think It's a brilliant racing shoe and very Nearly as good for the alif for the Marathon you it's very minimal between Them while being just as good for Shorter races and that little bit Cheaper but yeah overall just give the Edge to the outly I'd [Music] Say OK DOI that's a comparison of the
Nike alply 3 and Bly 3 let us know what You think in the comments below please Do like and subscribe ring the little Bell and we'll see you next time on the Channel
