Nike : What is Nike React?

When Nike asked runners what they wanted out of their running shoes, they got very specific answers: They said they wanted better cushioning. They also said they wanted better energy return. And they needed their shoes to be lightweight, of course. Oh, and they had to last too. In a way, they wanted everything. The tricky thing is that these four qualities are incredibly difficult to deliver in one material because they're opposites.

See, materials are soft because they absorb energy. 'Think about your pillow - when you're laying your head down to go to sleep, you don't want it to bounce back up after it hits the pillow,' says Ernest Kim, Director of Advanced Footwear, Nike Running. 'Instead, you want that pillow to absorb all of the force of you laying your head down so that you can get a good night's sleep. That's what we mean when we talk about great cushioning.'

On the flipside, hard materials give the most energy return. That's why typically foam can provide cushioning or energy return. And why it can be lightweight or durable. But usually it can't be all of those things. An exception: Nike React technology, Nike's latest cushioning innovation and a significant breakthrough in footwear foam.

Nike React foam cushioning launched in June 2017 in basketball - a sport that requires players to shift direction and speed in seamless motion and to lift off at the blink of an eye. The foam met those needs by providing a sensation that is as soft and springy as it is squishy and stable - a balance not previously seen in any other Nike basketball shoe.

To get there, Nike's in-house chemists and mechanical engineers came together to test ingredients to see which composition would yield the perfect outcome. It was a process that demonstrated Nike's in-house manufacturing ingenuity. After more than 400 hundred combinations of chemistry and processing, and using scientific methods to dial in on materials with certain amenable attributes, they landed the unique composition of Nike React foam.

From there, they put Nike React technology through more than 2,000 hours of testing on the feet of basketball players, where it proved to be the most durable foam and to deliver greater energy return than any other Nike basketball shoe tested. Because the runners expressed that they craved similar sensations, it was a no-brainer to take Nike React technology to running shoes.

With the basketball shoes, designers encased the Nike React foam in order to provide durability and stability for traction control the players needed, but with running, engineers uncaged Nike React technology to showcase its full potential for the road.