Nike Pro TurboSpeed makes you run faster

Nike has just caught up with comic book superheroes who have been wearing lycra supersuits for years, expect in this case it’s the Nike Pro TurboSpeed suit that gives you the powers.

All right lycra suits aren’t new, in fact the eighties saw plenty of lycra-based fashion faux pas. But this skin-tight suit is new, utilsing the technology on golf balls that lets them fly so far, and applying it to a runner. By adding dimples, or surface architectures as Nike calls them, to the shoulders, arms, and calves where drag is greatest it can speed up a runner. But how does less smooth mean more fast, you ask?

The dimples create a turbulent rather than laminar layer of air molecules which hold to the surface more efficiently reducing the wake behind. This is what causes a smoother transition through the air, which will cut 100m times by 0.023 seconds thanks to the extra speed, according to Nike’s wind tunnel tests. It might not sound much but when running a 100m sprint against Usain Bolt at the London 2012 Olympics that could be the difference between gold and bronze.

Nike hasn’t revealed any pricing or a release date, or even if this will be available to the general public. So for now you’ll have to stick to a bin bag and cape if you want to look like a superhero. That should, if you’re in a rough area, also help you to run faster.

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Sam Kieldsen Contributor

About

Tech journalism's answer to The Littlest Hobo, I've written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I've always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.

Areas of expertise

Cameras, drones, video games, film and TV