VKTRY Carbon Insoles

Previously when I tested the Nike Invincible, I found no benefits to running economy despite all the ZoomX foam. While the shoe is very soft and cushioned under foot, it tends to feel flat and lack the pop you feel in the Alpha/Vaporflys. I was curious if placing an aftermarket carbon-plate insole would improve the performance of the shoe, perhaps allowing you to compress and interact with more of the foam. Previous research that has tested carbon-plate insoles in such a way has not been overly promising in terms of their benefit, but I don’t think this had been tested with highly compliant/resilient midsole foamed shoes like the Invincible. Anyhow, I was curious so I tested it.

Testing Methods

Check out this link to see what running economy is, how it is measured, and how it impacts performance.

Results

The VKTRY Carbon Insole resulted in slightly worse running economy in both the Asics Hyperspeed and the Nike Invincible.

Take Home Message

Simply adding a carbon plate to a shoe, even a Zoom X foamed shoe, doesn't help to interact with the foam in a more ideal way. It is likely that the location of the plate imbedded in the foam, the curvature of the plate, and the stiffness of the plate are all important integrated factors. I would also note that the VKTRY insoles were not very stiff relative to the stiffness observed in other carbon plated shoes.

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