The Puma Fast-RB Nitro Elite LD is a new version of Puma’s rule-breaking race shoe that now has laces, compared to the laceless design of the original Fast-RB. It has a monstrous stack height of 58mm at the heel and 46mm at the forefoot, and three carbon plates in the midsole. Does that all add up to a very fast shoe, or just a very heavy one? Nick took it down the track to find out.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:14 – Design & Key Stats
04:10 – How’s The Fit?
05:06 – First Run
09:14 – Early Verdict
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Hello and welcome to the Run testers my Name's Nick and this is the Puma fast RB Nitro Elite [Music] LD so you might recall in the second Half of last year that Puma launched the Fast RB Nitro Elite which is this shoe Here which was a rule breaking carbon Plate racing shoe that has a very high Stack ey well above the world Athletics Limits and three carbon plates in the Mids it was also a laceless shoe as you Can see here whereas the new Fast RB Nitro Elite LD is a shoe with laces but Otherwise six to the same you know rule Flouting principles as the original fast RB whole point of the shoe being really To see what you can do with shoes if you Do ignore those regulations so World Athletics have brought in regulations For carbon shoes to try and combat the Tumbling of all the world records since The Nike vaporfly launched and every Other brand launched a really good Carbon plate racing shoe the main rules That are being flouted here are that the Shoe must have a stack heite that's no Higher than 40 mm and it can't have more Than one carbon plate so the pummer fast RB Nitro Elite LD stands 58 mm tall at The heel and 46 mm at the 4 foot so You've got 12 mm drop and a stack height That's 6 mm above regulations under the 4 foot and then you have three carbon
Plates in the mid soole you know two That are just in the 4ot of the shoe and One full length plate as well so the Idea of this and the original one was What happens when you create a shoe that Really Breaks the Rules like can it be Better than carbon plate racing shoes What exactly can you do with with it Obviously the fast IB is not the only sh That has broken these rules in the past The main one being something like the Adidas Prime X strung which people have Used in races to great effect it has Been shown to be a very effective racing Shoe lots of other training shoes that Also go above that 40mm limit things Like even the super blast or the Hocus Skyward X but this is something a bit Different it's obviously a bit of a Concept shoe and one that's designed to Appeal as a eye-catching newsworthy shoe As much as one that you're actually Going to run in that's also pointed to By the fact only a th000 pairs have been Made available of this shoe and there Are only a th000 pairs available of the Fast RB without lasers as well not sure If availability is going to increase in The future but if you do want to pick One up you're going to have to spend a Lot of money it cost £300 in the UK $350 In the US and 350 in Europe this shoe so It's expensive hard to get it's a bit Crazy but what does actually feel like
On the run like on the run test is like We are we keep things pretty straight Lac when it comes to our review so this Is going to be a pretty straight laced Review which might seem at odds with the Slightly mad looking thing I'm holding As I'm talking about it but I did want To try and run fast in this year when I Tested out the fast I be Nitro original I took it for you know mixed paste run But I wanted to go and actually run fast Issue so I took it down the track today To see how that feels so we talked about The drop and the design in general let's Talk a bit more about the midsole you've Got three big chunks of pummer nitro Elite foam in there the nitrogen infused Bouncing material like a big sizable Section at the back of the shoe there And the heel which is almost pronged at The bottom to create kind of a tripod With the for foot of the shoe where You've got two more chunks of nitro Elite and then like I say two carbon Plates in the for foot here and here Then a full length power plate running The length of the shoe as well got huge Cutout here as well which reduces the Weight a little bit but not much this is An incredibly heavy shoe as was the fast RB without laces it in at 363 G or 12.8 o in a UK size 9 US size 10 so you Know that's immediately going to put Some doubts in your mound when it comes
To race day but you know you got all This propulsion in there can that Counteract the weight of the shoe I Guess is the question you have a pummer Grip rubber out soole you know really Good grip quite a thick layer of that as Well obviously not too concerned about Weight and then you've got an ultra Weave upper with laces like I say which Is a big difference to the the first Shoe this does improve the fit and the Lock down a little bit I know some People had problems with heel slippage On the first shoe talk more about that In the fit section but in general it's Nice to have a more secure fit when You're standing on such a high you know Stack of foam because it does create a Little bit more of a secure feeling Actually that's added to by the pumer Grip which is a very good reliable outso Material which again makes you feel a Bit more secure the draw of the shoe is Quite interesting as well you've got Quite a notable for foot rocker when You're running in the shoe but when You're actually not running the Sho and Just stand it up on the surface the heel Doesn't touch the ground it's actually Elevated above the for foot but when you Running the heel does come down you land And hit that section of it at some point And then roll onto this foro so Certainly a very interesting shoe in
Terms of the design let's see how it Feels on the [Music] Run when it comes to the fit of the shoe I have my normal size here which is a Uk9 which a us10 with Puma I found it Actually fit quite well sometimes with Puma's Racing shoes like the Nitro Elite Uh V version 3 it ended up being a Little bit big for me and I needed Probably to go half size down cuz I'm Often slightly in between sizes but Didn't really have a problem with either Version of the fast RB I'd say with the Laceless design the Temptation would be To go half size down anywhere to get a More secure fit given that you don't Have laces to tighten up the fit but I Didn't really have any problems with the Fit on that shoe I would say I know some People had slippage didn't feel that Secure but you do have a more secure Feeling with the laced version Especially in terms of ensuring there's No lateral movement if you are going to Run fast and try and take any kind of Corner in the shoe which is obviously Helpful and yeah had a nice hold around The heel today on the run and enough Room with a toebox so if you are going To pick up this shoe I'd probably look At your normal size maybe if you are Very small for your size you can go half A size down but I think yeah it's the
Right size for me in my normal size with Pummer [Music] Shoes good morning I am just down at the Track here in W sto in London to do a Run in the pummer fast RB uh Nitro Elite LD long name lot going on with this shoe The raw breaking shoe with its three Plates and so on I did run in the Laceless version of the shoe just did a You know mixed Pace run in that shoe to Try it out I'm going to try and run fast In the uh breaker today I've got quite a Short session just a little taper Session ahead of a Marathon today where I'm going to be doing 5 time 800 uh in 245 with 200 M float recovery in 50 Seconds so whole session will work it's Just like 5K of volume in total should Be like a you know High 17 18 minute 5K Or so in the shoe so it be interesting To try it out for that actually running Get a decent pace that's around marathon Pace on the 800s obviously then slowing Down for those float recoveries a magpie I you know it's a very big heavy shoe But it's a very bouncy shoe as well so Really interesting to see how it feels Actually trying to run fast for a Sustained period in it and yeah I'll see How it is check back in [Music] After all done there that run in the Fast hobby rule breaking shoe I did
About 5 miles about 30 minutes and then The actual body of work in the middle There with the reps did them a little Bit quick so the whole 5K ended up about 1717 so you know it's a reasonable Little run out in the shoes with a bit Of pace in there they're strange really Experience running in them like I'm Hill Striker I think when I get up to Pace I'm probably a bit more midfoot but There isn't really midfoot there so I'm Probably still landing on those almost Little spiky stilts at the back of the Shoe there that kick you onto that you Know exaggerated Rocker with the three Plates in there I think that's almost The best way to unlock that rocker like When I was up on my toes for a couple of Little strides to feel it out actually Didn't feel quite as bouncy as when I Was getting kicked onto it and kind of Using the whole Leever there of the Three plates and it's very bouncy it's Almost Judy bouncy it's like like kind Of the impact of it as it you know Propels you on your way and there's a Lot of Bounce there but I would say There's not enough bounce to counteract The size and weight of the shoe I mean This could be down to running style as Well so I'm quite a high Cadence Runner Quite a shuffle style so you might Unlock more bounce have more fun with These shoes if you are loping a bit more
And you know exploding out of them even More than I am but I'm putting a bit of Force into them today I was running Reasonably quick and the weight on the Front of the shoe is just apparent the Whole time it's very much at the front The back doesn't feel as heavy uh to me It's all those plate everything hanging Off the front of the shoe just as you Lift your toe off you got that bounce But you are still feeling the weight of That putting it down again like kind of Drags you down again so yeah it's not a Shoe I'd be using for racing myself no We're going to review this as we would Any other running shoe obviously this is Something a bit different there only 1 Th000 pairs it's designed to be a bit More of a eye-catching news making shoe Rather than something that you ever Going to see pummer Elite runners in Because it's obviously it's illegal but Even if it wasn't illegal You' be using The fast R2 or the DV8 Nitro Elite 3 Instead which are God DV8 Nitro Elite 3 Must be 160 G lighter something like That so it's you know it's almost double The weight of that shoe which is a Fantastic racing shoe you know really Good shoe I was wearing the metas guy Paris here at the start just in case I Didn't want to run in these shoes today And it feels like a it's a different World and it is a different world and
It's fun and it's surreal and it's Enjoyable to do and there limited Edition if you get hold of them you're Going to have a bit of fun with them but They're a bit too chunky to be the shoes That you pick to run fast in uh they are Pretty stable though I'd say like you Know this is the week of my marathon It's maybe slightly risky to come and do This session in these shoes but I Actually having used the previous Version actually they're quite stable Got massive wide forfeits one of the Reasons they are heavy hly and they've Got to be like that to be stable with All this stuff going on and the little Things at the back there D stabilize the Back of the shoe so I didn't really feel Like it was a risk uh so you can't just Go and mooch around in them I you know I Did a fairly you know slow run in the Other in the uh laceless version when we Tested that out and yeah they're you Know fun to just mooch around and you Get that bounce there and there were Times today when I wasn't really trying To run fast like at the start of a repi Like towards the end of it I was trying To just Cruise along and you know I knew I was ahead of pace and I was relaxing a Bit and the shoes almost take over and You ask running quite quick and you can Get into a bit of a rhythm with them but Yeah then you start to feel the way to
Get off for a while so I mean that was Fun they're interesting shoes it's Something a bit different I enjoyed Running them today you can run quick in Them but they wouldn't be my top choice For that within the Puma range or Outside the Puma [Music] Range so it was a fun outing today at The track in the fast RB Nitro Elite LD You can see I smiling quite a lot in the Post run section there so I did have a Good time like it's an interesting shoe To run in it does feel really weighty And that does definitely track from some Of the fun because lots and lots of Bounce coupled with a very heavy design Is not as fun as lots and lots of bounce With a lightweight design and there are Really lightweight bounce issues out There now you know if you are looking For really wild shoes things like the Muno wave Rebellion Pro Line or even the New hocus yellow X 2.0 is a very fun and Bouncy shoe that's a lot lighter and you Know this is as we say more of a concept Shoe more of a fun idea of what you can Do maybe one that collectors will pick Up or have been able to pick up with a Very limited availability but I think it Was fun and interesting to go and do Even quite a short track session like That just to see how it feels if you Going to try and maintain paces and
There were points like I said at the end Of that video there where it did feel Like you were starting to lock in and Cruise along in Rhythm but they didn't Last very long and if you're actually Looking at like a street race or Something like that every time you hit a Corner you'd lose all that Rhythm Because it would be very hard to Actually run in it so yeah we're going To see pummer athletes and people who Like puber in general continue to race And race well in the fast R2 Nitro Elite 33 and that's not just because they Stick to the rules and regulations it's Because they're more effective Racing Shoes than you know a 360 G shoe no Matter how much bounce is in the 4 foot But yeah it was very fun for me I think It might be a bit different to different Foot strikes as I mentioned in the video There landing on this kind of the two Prongs at the back and then being pushed Onto that forefoot I think created the Best ride I could get from the shoe if You are landing more squarely on the for Foot don't actually think you get as Much fun out of the bounce because it's Almost like you want to glide into the Shu section and really you know compress It in the the exact way where you're Starting at the back there and rolling For if you kind to hit it all square on I'm not sure maybe if it feels quite as
Propulsive as if you do rock through From that hill but yeah it was fun out There today not a lot of people are Going to be able to buy the shoe not a Lot of people are necessarily going to Want to buy the shoe but it's a pretty Cool piece of kit it's a nice idea and I'm not against Puma having a bit of fun And doing this with various shoes they Al they've also shown you know a desire To innovate even with their legal races Be interesting to see if any design cues Or prompts from a product like the fast Obby end up in their you know legal more Effective racing line in the [Music] Future so that's a puma fast RB Nitro Elite LD let us know what you think of The shoe in the comments below I'm sure There'll be lots of opinions on what is Is a very you know like I say Eye-catching and newsworthy shoe uh Please like And subscribe ring the Little bell we'll see you next time
