Nike Vaporfly Aero
When Nike introduced the Vaporfly in the Breaking2 project, the long midsole tail was a novel feature. Nike touted it as aerodynamically superior and it certainly matches our mental model of slippery long-pointy teardrop attached flow shapes. Moreover, the Vaporfly Elite worn by Kipchoge and other pros featured a much more pronounced tail than the consumer 4% version. The subsequent Next% and Alphafly also have big tails. While I appreciate that the movement of the foot through the air is a complex motion that needs to factor in both forward motion and the gait cycle, I'm wondering if there is any validity to Nike's aero claims? Given your access to CFD resources, this could be an interesting analysis, especially versus the other conventionally shaped super shoes coming to market.