Every year Nike, along with every shoe manufacturer, launch their flagship shoes which are in the spotlight. This leaves another assortment of shoes, those under $100, off in the shadows and not really noticed.

While this particular assortment of shoes may not have all the bells and whistles of the higher performance they are still well made and decently performing shoes; especially for the non-competitive runner that wants a pair of quality shoes but does not want to invest a ton to own them.

Nike Winflo 5 General Info

Think of the Winflo as the smaller sibling to the Pegasus. Differentiation comes in the form of a Zoom Air fitted EVA midsole with lower material specs than the Pegasus.

The Winflo provides a great ride but lacks the stability and responsiveness of the Pegasus. The Winflo fills a need in the neutral daily trainer category in price and features that falls in-between the Pegasus and Dart.

Nike Winflo 5 Sole Unit

The sole unit of the Winflo 5 is really where this shoe is surprising for its less than $100 price tag. Winflos have featured a Cushlon midsole, EVA with a little rubber content thrown in, with a Zoom Air unit in the heel.

Cushlon is a popular foam used in many of Nike’s more expensive models. The difference in the Winflo 5 is that it is not as thick as those models leaving it soft, not mushy, but lacking the responsive and bouncy ride associated.

The Zoom air unit in the heel does gives it a responsive and spring like feel but is really limited to the heel, as the forefoot has just foam so it lacks a consistent responsive ride through the entire shoe.

The slightly thinner and softer forefoot provided an efficient transition, but not at the same level as a firmer shoe. The Winflo has a good lower to ground feel making it feel reasonably fast when I picked up the pace.

The outsole uses a soft sticky blown rubber that is generously segmented through the forefoot. Nike’s tried and true waffle design provided dependable traction on any terrain that I threw at it even mild to moderate trails.

The compound does feel softer than the higher end models, so I will be curious to see what the durability of it is.