Puma launched the second version of its acclaimed daily trainer, the
Velocity Nitro, making small changes to its successful formula. But did Puma
improve an already great daily trainer or, like we already saw in the past
with other brands, ruined a shoe considered by many as one of the best daily
trainers?
Let’s find out!
Introduction
The Velocity Nitro line, a road neutral daily trailer, debuted the Nitro foam, a nitrogen-injected EVA foam, and with it, Puma jumped to the front line of the running shoe innovation, making a great reentrance in the running shoe scene.
The Velocity Nitro 1 was chosen as the #1 daily trainer/workhorse by a lot of experienced runners and reviewers, and it was also my case.
For the second iteration of the Velocity Nitro line, Puma didn’t reinvent the wheel, luckily, and only made some improvements in areas that needed those improvements, namely the tongue, laces, and midsole, and in the end, we got a lighter package.
I bought these shoes for my daily runs and I have already logged more than 60 miles (100 km) with them.
Stats
Upper
The Puma Velocity Nitro 2 features an engineered mesh upper, just like the previous version, but it seems to have more padding (just a little more), and probably because of that the upper is less breathable. I wouldn’t worry much about this, but it’s definitely warmer.
The tongue changed for the best. It’s still a minimal gusseted tongue, but the shape changed and the padding is denser and more protective.
The previous version's tongue didn’t protect me from the lace bite, but this one does and is very comfortable.
On the downside, despite being gusseted, the tongue moves. Even with the shoe off, one can see that the tongue does not stay in the correct place. Despite this, you should not worry because this is not affecting the ride experience. But it does reveal a design flaw.
Regarding the laces, one more improvement. The laces are now a little bit thicker, and to be honest, I don’t appreciate that, but this could also help prevent the lace bite and the real improvement for me is that the laces stay in place without the need for double knot.
Moving to the heel area, we don’t have differences from the previous version. It has enough padding in the heel collar and the inside fabric is very smooth to the touch. The heel counter is there, but it’s certainly not the most rigid I saw in a daily trainer.
And like the previous version, we don’t have a heel pull tab and this shoe needs it because it’s not that easy to put on the shoe without having to mess with the laces.
Regarding the toe box, we have enough room for our toes, but the upper seems to be tighter.
If you are a night runner, you’ll love the reflective overlays that this shoe has. It’s not something that I tend to think too much, but the reflective overlays that this shoe has literally flashed at me several times.
Midsole
By now, we should all know how good Nitro foam is. If you’re not familiarized with it, then here goes: Nitro foam is an EVA foam with nitrogen injected in it, in a supercritical production process. With this, Puma created a light and bouncy foam that is making wonders to our riding experience.
I don’t have a durometer, but we don’t need it to know how soft this foam is. By simply pressing with our thumbs, we can feel this foam's softness.
In this model, the midsole is in fact a dual-density midsole with two types of foam. The Nitro is on top, and a more basic EVA is on the bottom. Because the EVA foam is firmer than the Nitro, it has two functions here:
1) Provide a more stable landing platform;
2) Give us a springy ride by decompressing more quickly than the Nitro.
Contrary to the first version, which had EVA foam only in the heel, this second version has a complete section of EVA foam below the Nitro foam, from the heel to the forefoot.
So, what I feel is that the Nitro is giving us softness, great cushioning, and also some responsiveness, and the EVA is giving us stability and responsiveness.
The first version had a TPU clip in the back of the foam to give more stability to the heel and that clip is now gone. But we can see that Puma raised the EVA foam on the medial and lateral side of the shoe and that’s helping to provide more stability to the foot while landing.
And like the first version, this shoe doesn’t feature a meta rocker. The midsole is pretty flat. This is a major bummer for me because I do enjoy a rockered ride.
This foam did seem to improve a bit after the initial runs, so give it a break-in period of 12 mi (20 km) before starting to enjoy the foam at its best.
Outsole
It’s PumaGrip! Do I need to say more? This is probably the grippiest rubber that you can get on a running shoe right now.
The outsole pattern changed, but the essentials remained the same, meaning that we have strategically placed rubber in the high-impact zones.
Still, the PumaGrip is so grippy that the forefoot could have less rubber to save even more weight.
Regarding the outsole durability, the first version lasted me about 466 mi (750 km) before the rubber was gone in the spot where I land first, but the midsole lasted 435 mi (700 km) before it went dead, so the outsole will outlast this shoe durability.
I already logged more than 60 mi (100km) and there is significant wear in the rubber, but there is still much more rubber to wear.
Fit
Puma made some changes to the fit, but not in a good way, at least for me. It could be entirely the opposite for you.
The fit feels snugger, but we have enough space in the toe box, and just like the previous version, I can’t get a perfect lockdown because I can’t secure the heel I as want to. At least in this second iteration, I can better tighten the laces because the tongue is more protective.
Despite my complaints about the lockdown, I did recovery, slow, and speed sessions with this shoe and I had no issues. It’s not a great lockdown, but the foot stays in place.
I found the Puma Velocity Nitro to be true to size. I am wearing my usual size (29cm - US 11) and I don’t have any issues, but the shoe runs a little bit long.
Ride
This is where the Puma Velocity Nitro 2 really excels.
The dual-density foam combination gives us a very comfortable ride at any pace, excelling in recovery and easy paces.
The foam is soft and has a great amount of responsiveness for a daily trainer (it’s not comparable to a super-shoe springiness of course). This springy effect is great to keep on going even when we’re tired because it will help to take our feet off the ground and it’s definitely contributing to a quicker heel-to-toe transition.
Now, because this shoe has no rocker, I don’t feel that smooth heel-to-toe transition. Instead, and because I hit with the heel first. I feel the forefooting slapping hard on the ground, especially if I push the pace. Heel strikers will benefit from the heel bevel and the foam will compress nicely to give us the necessary protection, but then the transition to the forefoot is not what you would expect.
I did not feel this with the first version and the only thing that comes to mind is that the EVA foam below the forefoot is removing the smoothness that I felt in the first version that only had Nitro on the heel.
But don’t worry. This slapping effect that I am mentioning is a minor thing and won’t take your enjoyment from this shoe.
Because the stack is not that high and the midsole is soft, you get a good amount of ground feel with this shoe. For this same reason, this shoe might not be a good choice for heavy runners. Heavy runners will compress this foam too much and might not get the necessary protection.
Now, some great shoe reviewers said that this new version brought more responsiveness and less stability. Well, I don’t agree with that.
First, the foam responsiveness seems pretty much the same between the two versions. And that’s not bad. It was great and still is. If I try hard, I can say that foam responsiveness improved, but this is something very marginal.
Second, I felt the first version was somewhat unstable in the heel and I don’t get that feeling in this second version. So, for me, the bigger stack of EVA foam on the medial and lateral sides is doing its job better than the TPU clip.
The long runs were not that enjoyable with this shoe. After a session of 18 mi (30 km), I felt that I needed more foam under my feet and felt a small discomfort in the medial side of my foot. But again, only minor stuff.
I also did some progressive runs and I felt that the Velocity 2 was better than the first version. I got a quicker response from the foam and I enjoyed doing easier speed sessions with them. But, at higher paces, you can definitely feel that the forefoot is heavy and that's why I think that we have too much rubber in the forefoot outsole.
Verdict
The Puma Velocity Nitro was my go-to daily trainer for 2022 and this second iteration is again my go-to daily trainer for 2023.
It’s light, nimble, comfortable, has that springy ride, and you can use it in all your runs.
On top of this, Puma shoes are often discounted so it will be hard to find a better value-for-money running shoe.
The Velocity Nitro 2 has a place in my rotation as a recovery shoe, daily trainer, and long-run shoe up to 16 mi (25 km).
I would pair it with the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 or Puma Deviate Nitro 2 for a two-shoe rotation, and I’ll add the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 2 if you want a three-shoe rotation, adding a carbon racer.
With the Velocity in your rotation, you don’t need a four-shoe rotation with a max-cushion shoe. The Velocity Nitro 2 can also play that role.
Scoring
This shoe review scoring takes into consideration the shoes of the same category and technologies available at the time of the review. This score might not be comparable to future reviews of shoes that present unseen features and/or technologies.
Have you already run in the Puma Velocity Nitro 2? Tell me about it in the comments below.
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If you're interested in buying the Puma Velocity Nitro 2, follow the links below:
- EU: Top4Running - Code "allaboutrunning" for an additional 5% discount.
- UK: ProDirectSport.com
- Global: Amazon
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