Nike Air Turbulence review

Ramp it up!

I'll let you in on a little secret - I bought this pair of the Nike Air Turbulence around two months ago, and I was supposed to have finished writing the review around three weeks back. So three weeks ago, I ran five kilometers in them for the initial weartest, but I severely underestimated the time it would take me to write other reviews, so I said, no sweat, I'll push this review to the next weekend. So by the time the next weekend came, my weartest experience became a distant memory, so I ended up running 5k in them again. That weekend happened to the one in which I wrote the reviews of the Air Max 360 and Air Vomero, and both of them took a day each to write, so that weekend came and went. Needless to say, I postponed the Turbulence review to last week, but unexpectedly, some bugs came up in the solereview website, and I spent the whole weekend working with other people to fix them. But I had not expected that to happen, so I ran 6k again on the night before for a fresh assessment. Anyway, you get the story now - by sheer chance, I have run a cumulative total of sixteen kilometers in these shoes, so they have become the most weartested shoes till date on solereview.

It must be tough for the likes of Nike. With a history of launching innovative technologies like the Nike Air, Shox, Nike plus, they must feel the constant pressure of having to invent and release a new technology out in the market every now and then, not unlike a star batsman who has the burden of statistics every time he goes out to bat. The problem with being the world's number one sports brand is that everyone has insanely high expectations, so unless the brand comes up with a new innovation every year or so, it becomes terribly difficult to meet them. I would broadly classify innovation into two kinds: the first could be something of a milestone; a big one which has everyone talking for months. Nike Max Air, Nike Shox and the Nike plus would somewhat fall in that category. On the other hand are these periodic and minor improvements which are at its best, extensions of an existing technology. The recently released 'Ramp' air is one such innovation.

Ramp air: Adding a different flavour to the air bag story, the Ramp air system uses a combination of midsole foam pillars and gas sealed inside a urethane chamber at atmosphere pressure, unlike normal Nike air bags which are pressurized. So if you poke your finger in the air bag, it has a lot of 'give'.

Traditionally, all Nike Air sole units have been about pressurized gas sealed inside an urethane chamber and though they looked cool, a large volume air sole unit was nowhere as soft to the touch as compared to compression molded midsole foam, and you felt it only when you were running and had three times you body weight crashing down on the air bag. Nothing wrong with that; since this is exactly what a Nike air bag is supposed to do. But what if you wanted cup noodle style instant cushioning? What if you were a walker or a slow runner who wanted your shoes to feel soft no matter what the speed? Perhaps the folks at Nike gave this some thought, and it might be reason behind the creation of 'Ramp' Air. This new concept is a radical departure from how the regular air bags are constructed; while normal Max Air bags feels taut, the Ramp Air bag feels soft and yielding to the touch as if all the gas had leaked out of the chambers. The reason why it feels so is because the gas in the Ramp Air bag is sealed at atmospheric pressure, so for all practical purposes, the pressure outside the urethane chambers and inside is the same. Is that a good thing? That's what we are going to find out today...

The Air Turbulence+ 12: This shoe is second iteration of the Ramp air running shoe. The first one was launched sometime last year.

The Air Turbulence + 12 is a bit of a misnomer, since this is only the second version of the Ramp air running shoe and not the 12th. I think the reason behind this is that Nike used to sell versions of a shoe called the Air Max Turbulence earlier, and maybe it did well for them so they wanted to stick to a lucky name. I don't know this for sure, but that's good a reason as any. When the original Ramp air shoe was released last year, I gave those shoes a miss. Honestly, I had slight misgivings about a Nike shoe with an air sole which felt as all the air had leaked out of it. But I thought it would make for an interesting review, good or bad, so I bought a pair of the Nike Air Turbulence+12 along with the Air Max 360 III and Air Zoom Vomero 3.

Ramp it up: I visited the Nike website to see whether there was any additional information on this model, and sure enough there was a video on this shoe on one of their product pages. According to them, the low pressure air bag 'ramps' up during heel strike, increasing pressure inside the shoe and also results in soft heel cushioning. The reflective piping on the heel area makes night running safer.

During my review of the Nike Air Max 360 III, I wrote that there are shoes available at almost half the price of the 360 and still might be more cushioned, and the Nike Air Turbulence+12 is undoubtedly one of those. This is one of those shoes in which you can feel the soft heel cushioning instantly, no matter how slow or fast you are. As I gradually picked up speed during my wear test run, I began to appreciate the soft give of the Ramp Air heel unit, and this shoe is perhaps the only shoe I have ever wear tested which I felt was the next best thing to running on soft soil. The Ramp air sole in the back does a neat job of taking each heel impact and spreading the pressure evenly, and the well cushioned compression molded EVA midsole in the front complements Ramp air perfectly. And to top it, there is a layer of EVA just below the sockliner (insole) which attempts to make combination of the Ramp Air and EVA foam cushioning as seamless as possible. I would not say that this is the most cushioned shoe I have ever weartested; that honor goes to the Nike Air Zoom Vomero+3. Rather, the Air Turbulence+12 is the softest shoe I have ever worn. Though I comfortably breezed through sixteen kilometers in these shoes over the last few weeks, this shoe would not be my choice if I was running a fast 10k; I would probably switch to a racing flat. But there are days when I go out for a brisk walk or a short and leisurely run, and during such times I would look no further than the Nike Air Turbulence+12, that's for sure.

Shiny bobs and bits: A hard molded TPU hardware in the toe area is good defense against unexpected toe bumps; lining-less single layer mesh upper and cut out areas in the silver synthetic leather panels makes short work of warm weather.

Nike Air Turbulence "+": Lift the sockliner of the left shoe, and you'll see a cavity for inserting a Nike+apple transmitter chip if you happen to own one. The orange area is EVA strobel, so that's what adds some extra soft heel when you step out in these shoes.

The business end of the Nike Air Turbulence: With a rubber outsole area which covers almost the entire base, the durability angle is certainly taken care of. White exposed areas in the front are bi-directional flex grooves which add flexibility where you need it the most.

The soft cushioning is not the only area where the Nike Air Turbulence shines bright; it is extremely well ventilated and flexible to boot. The single layer mesh upper, when combined with mesh openings in the synthetic leather panels, makes for very effective ventilation. And though the rubber outsole covers the entire foot, that was no barrier to flexibility as the outsole design has flex grooves at well thought of positions. The heel area grips well, and there's enough room in the shoe to accommodate a variety of widths, and that does not come at the cost of a baggy, fit, which is good.

After having run 16k in the Nike Air Turbulence, one thing's for certain; this pair goes into my personal collection - sorry guys, you won't see this shoe up for grabs in the monthly prize...

The Lowdown:

Shoe name: Nike Air Turbulence + 12

Color reviewed: White/New Blue-Obsidian-Metallic Silver

Retail price (India): INR 5400

Estimated US retail: $ 88

Available at: Major Nike outlets

Weight: 388 grams for a half pair of size UK 10 / US 11

Recommended for: Recreational runners who need a comfortable and a soft running shoe; serious runners who are looking for an alternate recovery day shoe. The Turbulence is also good for brisk walkers who need instant cushioning.

Not recommended for: Runners who over-pronate or have a flat foot/low arch.

Verdict: Whether you are a recreational runner or a brisk walker, this incredibly soft cushioned shoe will make your workout a joy.