Nike surprises the world, and during the 2016 Innovation Submit in New York has presented the new generation of the Mercurial Superfly. Although the company has given a lot of clues about it, it has also hidden many other things. Its name, will it be Mercurial Superfly V? The colors it will have when launched for the first time… are they these ones or has Nike just shown some generic colors for the presentation? A few weeks ago we had the chance to see them for the first time, try them on, (but not the football pitch yet), however we do have enough information to give you the first clues.
The main and most evident feature is the new upper part. The new framework shows a 3D finishing touch, extremely than the one shown by the current Mercurial Superfly generation which was completely flat.
This new pattern is a better fit for the needs that football players usually complain about: ít is necessary to generate friction at the contact between the boot and the football´. This new finishing touch that Nike has names “Speed rib 3D texture” significantly improves the interaction boot/football. However there is much more behind this new 3D finishing.
The responsible person for this Nike design is Jeongwoo Lee (a brand new acquisition for the long list of responsible people of the SWOOSH brand). “Previously, the Mercurial´s surface on the mid-foot was uniform. According to our study we realized that the players who base their style on speed usually dribble with the side of the boot while they are running, but they shoot with the central part of the mid-foot, therefore we placed the speed pattern accordingly”.
What does this mean? Well, Nike has experimented with the thickness of the Speed rib 3D texture according to the boot´s part where it is located. Most of the framework is 1 milimeter thick, but on those shooting parts its thickness goes up to 2.5 milimeters in order to achieve a better reinforcement of the foot every time it hits the football.
However that is only the most obvious evolution at first sight. The secret of the new Mercurial Superfly is much more hidden, and can be found at the insole´s plate. The explanation given by Jeongwoo Lee is tremendously revealing about the main plate change of the Mercurial Superfly V: “We used to work with a flat insole, but the human foot is not flat”. Consequently Nike has designed the first anatomically developed plate to fit the player´s foot insole. Is it all just gibberish by Nike? It may seem so… Until you try them on!
Once your foot is placed inside the boot, a reallyi mpressive moment comes up: the plate of the Mercurial Superfly V anatomically coincides with our foot in such a way that the boot will never limit us when it comes to make a movement. “The shaped up plate provides us with a more natural adjustment and allows our foot to be wrapped up in it.” Lee explains. “ The physical therapists we work with believe that this feature will reduce irritation on the pressure points, as well as the undesired movements inside the boot, and therefore maximizing the energy return during the high-speed phases”.
Another important change regarding the previous Mercurial Superfly generation previous Mercurial Superfly generation, is the elimination of the carbon fiber. Are the people at Nike crazy? After all the time we have been saying that the carbon fiber Is the most reactive material for every step taken… This is true. However you have probably experienced that, it being a superposition of different layers that must be flexible, sometimes one of those layers used to break. “The carbon fiber had left a very high standard”, Lee explains, “ but we were convinced that we could achieve something even better, and after two years of research and tests, we did it”.
In order to create the new plate for the Mercurial Superfly V, Nike used a new vacuum packed assembling process to scoop out the plate, and the result, an insole 40% lighter, with no fracture risk but as flexible and reactive as before, compared to those made of carbon fiber.
The next speed aspect set out by Nike seems contradictory: the stopping. “Having the trust that you can stop in just an instant is a key component of speed”. In order to achieve this, Nike has developed a new stopping system for the Mercurial Superfly V. Now all the cleats have the same shape but placed in different directions, on a straight line with the heel for the stopping, and tilted on the front to improve thrust.
And now here is the most interesting part of the story. Nike will keep these Mercurial Superfly V locked up until JUNE 2ND 2016, and professional players will keep using the current generation. Until then, we will have enough time to give you an answer to all the questions that have already come up:
- Are these the final colors?
- Will the name be Mercurial Superfly V?
- Will Cristiano Ronaldo dare to wear it with the high dynamic fit like the rest of the players?
- Will other Nike players switch to the Mercurial Superfly due to the quality increase?
