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Nike Flywire is a thread, composed of Vectran, used in the upper of a shoe.

History

Flywire was created by Jay Meschter, Director of Innovation at Nike. He began by taking a last and marking the key points of where a shoe needs to support the foot. When Meschter discovered an embroidery machine, he determined the machine could be used to make long stitches. These long stitches, which would be made with strong, lightweight fibers, would allow fibers to support the foot in key points, just like Meschter's model, instead of using layers of material that support the whole foot.

Design

The goal of the design was to support the foot using the lightest and strongest material possible. The Flywire design (threads placed in key parts of the upper) prevented slippage of the foot when running, and is a minimalist idea, that the upper should only contain the fundamental features. This allows the maximum amount of energy to be moved forward each stride.

Vectran

Nike adapts Vectran fibers, which are produced by Kuraray, into embroidery threads, before use in the shoe. Vectran fibers are thinner than human hair, and is relatively inexpensive. Vectran is light weight, flexible, and high in tensile strength (five times stronger than steel), which makes it an ideal component for synthetic fibers. Vectran has also been used by NASA and in bicycle tires, among other things.

Support

Nike designed Flywire with inspiration from a suspension bridge, where many cables provide support. This allows support to be placed where necessary, especially in the forefoot (metatarsus and toes) and heel. The cables are designed to wrap around the foot like tendons. Since the support does not come from layers of material, the shoe is also more flexible. The only layers of material on the shoe are in place to prevent dirt and rocks from reaching the foot.

Weight

Due to the Vectran fibers, shoes containing Nike Flywire weigh as little as 93 grams, approximately the weight of a Snickers bar with a bite missing. There is little excess weight because the upper very thin, and the Vectran fibers are only added where support is needed. Shoe weight can be reduced up to 50% through the use of Flywire. Spikes containing Flywire are now lighter than Michael Johnson's famous Golden Shoes of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. These spikes are so light that athletes claim they are like "a second skin" or "spikes coming out of their feet." This is a goal that Bill Bowerman tried to achieve as co-founder of Nike and a spike designer.

Shoes

Many Nike shoes contain Flywire, including:

• Zoom Victory Spike
• Zoom Victory+
• Zoom Raketa
• Hyperdunk
• Lunaracer+
• Lunar Trainer+
• Zoom Court Luna
• Zoom Aerofly
• Zoom Matumbo

These shoes cover a variety of sports, including athletics, basketball, badminton, and tennis. These shoes debuted at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, China, and are now available for consumer purchase.