Feel the Flow with the FLOW Velociti Wind

The team at Under Armour were good enough to hook us up with a few pairs of their new Flow Velociti Wind, so we decided to round up the crew and take them for a spin through the streets of Melbourne.

If you want to skip our breakdown and cop the shoes, you can do that right now from the Under Armour website.

The Flow Velociti Wind is pitched as a lightweight daily trainer that leans more towards tempo work than long runs. If you’re searching for an all rounder that can handle a variety of runs and do a pretty good job at all of them, this is in that category.

If like us, you haven’t spent much time in Under Armour shoes before, let us break down what’s what.

The Flow Velociti Wind sits on a Flow midsole - Under Armour’s lightest midsole foam. It’s the same foam they put in Steph Curry’s shoes, so next time you see him splashing one from the logo, just know he’s landing on a bed of Flow. Nice.

There’s no outsole rubber - we’re seeing a few more shoes start to head this way and I think for the most part that’s a win. Outsole rubber is one of the big causes of weight gain in a pair of shoes - it obviously increases durability but at a cost. We live in a world where most people are switching out their shoes long before they wear through the outsole anyway, so removing outsole rubber isn’t of great consequence.

The other thing - the outsole of the shoe still has great grip, it's almost like it's a bit sticky. I don't know how else to describe it, but you're not missing out just because there's no rubber on the outsole.

Teresa Phan is studying Structural Engineering at Uni, and got into running during 2020. She’s currently training for the Run Melbourne 10k, while casting a sneaky eye at the Melbourne Marathon in October.

"I would still class myself as a casual runner, but a casual runner who signs up to races here and there.

My favourite runs are probably interval sessions. Even though they're tough, you always feel good afterwards - especially if you're training in a group."

The upper here is pretty sick - it’s a semi transparent weave and it looks to get its structure from those thicker white lines you can see darting all over the shoe. Without having put it through a 2 hour long run in mid-summer, this would have to be one of the most well ventilated shoes I’ve seen.

Under Armour call this upper 'WARP', which is a cool name.

The upper also features a gusseted tongue and a padded, more rigid heel cup. The gusseted tongue almost adds a second layer to the upper - which definitely gives a more comfortable fit.

Overall the upper contains everything I think people want in a lightweight trainer. It’s a tidy, well executed package.

Kyle Petrie hails from Perth, but moved to Melbourne for his career a few years ago. That’s when he found running, and these days spends most of his time running on the Surf Coast and darkening the doors of Geelong’s best coffee spots.

"It’s a good looking shoe, nice and streamlined design, comfy on the foot and love the ability to customise with the extra set of laces.

I've been running in them for a few days now - they're actually pretty fast."

Melbourne can dish up anything on a run through the city - commuters, pedestrians, deliveries, it’s all happening - even on a cold winter morning. Just across the river, Southbank is a relative oasis when you want to dial up the pace without having to sidestep people every few metres.

The Flow Velociti Wind is the perfect partner for city running. It’s light and it’s nimble - you can turn on a dime, aided by a sturdy heel counter and the well structured upper we’ve already spoken about. It’s also quick enough to get going when you need to sprint for a traffic light or when another runner inexplicably passes you (you tell yourself that they must be running a shorter distance than you).

Dan Virgona spent his summer dipping into 5,000m and 10,000m races on the track, before turning his focus to the roads over winter. After the Gold Coast Half Marathon, he’s levelling up to the Melbourne Marathon. The point of all this is to say - Dan’s worn A LOT of shoes.

“My first impression of the shoe was that it felt really light. Without the rubber on the outer sole I felt light on my feet and enjoyed a less familiar feeling of being closer to the ground through the midsole. I appreciated this lighter feel more and more as the run (and hills!) went on and my legs began to fatigue.”

If you're liking the look of the Flow Velociti Wind, trust me when I tell you it looks even slicker in person. We asked Jenna McHugh from Port Melbourne how she plans to use the shoe from here.

"These are the shoes I would use for a tempo or a thresh session - super lightweight with some pop, whilst still feeling quite stable."

You can cop the Under Armour Flow Velociti Wind right now from the Under Armour website.