Thursday , March 28 2024

Elite Series Released by Nike

Nike Elite Series

Nike have just released an exclusive Elite Series soccer boot for this summers World Cup in South Africa. One of the main strategies behind the new releases is to have all Nike endorsed players wearing the same footwear at the World Cup, and from first look there is no doubting that you will be able to pick them out by their footwear! Nike’s big 4 (the CTR360, Tiempo III, Superfly II and T90 Laser III) have all had an extreme style makeover that includes a touch up of paint and a tummy tuck (ie reduced weight!)

In terms of color, this range comes in an incredibly noticeable Metallic Mach Purple and Total Orange. Nike came up with the new color and design through extensive testing and player feedback. The idea of the new color is to take visual technology to the next level, allowing you to notice a player by the color of his boots. This is an area of the market that has never really been exploited (or if it has, no one really knew they were touching on new technology until Nike claimed it for themselves!) and makes complete sense from a marketing perspective. Ultimately, I am not sure if it is really going to work if a defender and a forward are wearing the same Elite series boot, but either way the concept is intriguing.

Another area that Nike have really focused on is weight. Reducing weight means a player is expending less energy on the field. Although a few ounces is not going to make any significant difference, it is an area that can give a player a positive mental advantage. The super-strong, lightweight carbon fiber plates used in this current line result in:

  • the Mercurial Vapor SuperFly II being 5% lighter
  • the CTR360 Maestri being 19% lighter
  • the Total90 Laser III and Tiempo Legend III are 16% lighter.

Their is also an upgrade to the Tiempo Legend III, which has been changed from a K-Leather to a Kanga-light synthetic leather. Kanga-light doesn’t soak water in, so Nike are placing an emphasis on giving players a light weight boot in wet conditions.

I think the following quote from Nike sums up the range:

“An average person’s vision is 99% peripheral.  Under 1% is considered foveal, or focused vision.  To spark increased focus of peripheral vision Nike designers analyzed the color spectrum to identify two, high-contrast colors, so that when a player is running with these boots the colors trigger a stimulus to rapidly tune peripheral vision.  Mach Purple and Total Orange provided the perfect blend to create this effect and performance advantage. ”

Personally, I am excited to see how the color performs and if, in-fact, the color is that much more noticeable for your teammates. Feedback I got after testing the Nike Vapor VI in Purple was very positive with the majority of players agreeing that they noticed the boots a lot more easily on the field. It might be a case of putting the boots up against each other to see if one is more noticeable than the other! Watch this space.

OrderNikeElite

About Bryan Byrne

The mastermind behind the revolution that is SoccerCleats101. Bryan started this website back in 2008 and has been testing boots on a daily basis ever since. Check out our About Page for more details on Bryan and the website.

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17 comments

  1. interesting that we can add a message on Rooney's and Cole's boots 😀

    finally carbon fiber sole plates… gonna be expensive eh? -__-'

  2. Look astonishing. I am not a fan of the colours, I hate them, but they look amazing on the pitch – and yes, you can spot your teammate much faster when he is wearing purple shoes I concur!

  3. And we will say goodbye to KLeather for the Tiempo Legend.

    Nike will continue to push their "Elite" performance by using Kanga-Lite. Same material like ctr maestri

  4. Just addition CTR fans gonna miss the round studs in the middle. From the picture Maestri's studs r same like the Laser's.

    The downside:

    CTR for 340 bux

    Laser for 378 bux

    Superfly for 415 bux

    Tiempo for 303 bux

    heck !! :S

  5. I wouldn't consider replacing kangaroo leather with kanga lite an upgrade more of an upset. It looks like it is time to give the new WC adipures a chance.

  6. I got to agree with yuda it is really disappointing to see that the CTRs have lost the round studs in the middle. Those were a key component in the boot and i think that with the major changes nike is making to each boot for "speed" and less weight are turning people away from the boots. i was looking forward to this but now im preety disappointed with this release.

  7. Interesting release.

    I actually like the color, I wonder if Nike will also release the cheaper version of these. My Vapor 5 is still in good condition along with my T90. I want to get the CTR360 in this color scheme.

  8. I like that the 360s are getting lighter! And the new colors are a nice snazzy improvement to the flat light purple, too! I'm sure my son will go GAGA over these when he sees the pictures!

  9. Hmmmm,i like em,i was today at official nike store,but they doesnt have them yet,i wanna try em onnnn

  10. They look expensive

  11. I think they look good…not a fan of the k lite switch. I'll wait a year to buy these so i'm not ripped off.

  12. can anyone tell me how light the Nike Mercurial Elite are????????

  13. IMPORTANT!!!!

    I got a quick question about the superflys. The author states that the Mercurial Vapor SuperFly II is 5% lighter than the previous superflys. Yet, if you check the NikeShop Soccer site and compare the old Nike II Superflys (the purple ones) with the new one's (grey/orange), the old ones weigh 6.5 ounces and these so called lighter ones weight 8.3!!! That's almost a 2 OUNCE DIFFERENCE!! Is there something I'm missing! Your response would be greatly appreciated!!!!

    Ps. Below you can see for yourself what I'm talking about

    http://store.nike.com/?country=US&lang_locale

    http://store.nike.com/?country=US&lang_locale

    • Well spotted Sam! I have wrote to Nike in an attempt to clear this question up. I actually believe that both weights listed on the site are incorrect as the official weight for a size 9US is 7.8oz. Once I get more information I will update you.

  14. I simply couldn’t depart your website before suggesting that I really enjoyed the usual information a person provide on your guests? Is gonna be back ceaselessly in order to inspect new posts

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