Nike's Carbon Footprint...Only 190 Grams!

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed)
Jan 9th 2009 at 10:01AM

Nike's latest iteration of the Mercurial soccer shoe, the Vapor SL, is a real feat of engineering, and I like the color combo, too. The SL in the name stands for "Super Lite" -- the black shoe and its hot pink swoosh only weigh 190 grams.

Some ingredient called "Tepex" is all about maximum strength with minimal weight. I researched Tepex a little bit, and without an engineering degree, reached the conclusion that if it's good enough for the aerospace industry, it's probably good enough to wear on your feet.

Crafted almost entirely from carbon fiber, the sneaker retails for $400. Because a pair of these are so hard to come by -- Nike only made 2,508 pairs -- they're only truly available on eBay, starting at around $1,000.

[Thanks, Dave!]

Tags: carbon fiber, carbon footprint, CarbonFiber, CarbonFootprint, ebay, nike, sneaker, soccer