Under Armour Infinite Elite — Transcript

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1. 0:00To be very honest, I will admit that
2. 0:03every time I hear about a new Under
3. 0:04Armour elite athlete signing, I really
4. 0:08wonder what the heck are they going to
5. 0:09do all their daily training miles in?
6. 0:12But now, there seems to be a bit of an
7. 0:14answer.
8. 0:15This is the Under Armour Infinite Elite,
9. 0:18and it's time to take it for a run.
10. 0:37Yo, what's going on? My name is
11. 0:38Kapoosey, and I'm an elite runner who
12. 0:39reviews running shoes here on YouTube.
13. 0:41And today, I want to talk to you guys
14. 0:42all about the new Under Armour Infinite
15. 0:45Elite. But before I give you my thoughts
16. 0:46on this shoe, I do want to go over some
17. 0:47disclosures. This is a pair of shoes
18. 0:49that Under Armour sent to me for the
19. 0:50purpose of a review, so I did not have
20. 0:51to pay for these shoes. However,
21. 0:53nobody's paying me to make this video or
22. 0:54to include their shoe in this video, and
23. 0:56no one's going to get a chance to
24. 0:57preview any of my footage or my thoughts
25. 0:58before you guys get a chance to see this
26. 1:00video on YouTube. So, with that
27. 1:02disclosure out of the way, let's talk
28. 1:03about the Under Armour Infinite Elite,
29. 1:04and let's start with the specs. This is
30. 1:07a at least on paper a 36 mm stack height
31. 1:10shoe with an 8 mm drop, giving us 28 mm
32. 1:13of stack height in the forefoot. Now,
33. 1:15this is a very big shoe, and I I get
34. 1:18that like sometimes shoes want to make
35. 1:20the shoe appear even bigger and taller
36. 1:23than it actually is, or sometimes they
37. 1:24just want to create sidewalls for your
38. 1:26foot to kind of sit inside, and so the
39. 1:28foam comes up higher than what your heel
40. 1:30or the bottom of your foot actually sits
41. 1:32on. But I think with 36 mm as the stated
42. 1:35stack height for this shoe, I think they
43. 1:37may be just giving us the number of the
44. 1:38foam that's in this shoe, and then the
45. 1:40actual measured stack height I think is
46. 1:42easily going to be way over 40 mm, cuz
47. 1:45this shoe is very big. Now, the main
48. 1:48thing that's in this shoe, or the only
49. 1:49thing that's in this midsole, is Under
50. 1:51Armour's new Hover Plus midsole foam
51. 1:54material. Now, Under Armour isn't
52. 1:55disclosing exactly what the formulation
53. 1:58of HOVR Plus is, or at least I don't
54. 2:01have that information available to me at
55. 2:03this time. But it is one of those beaded
56. 2:05foams that to me looks and feels a lot
57. 2:08like the Power Run Plus that we used to
58. 2:10see in the older versions of the Saucony
59. 2:12Triumph series. And very similar, at
60. 2:15least in appearance, to what we used to
61. 2:17see in Adidas back when they had just
62. 2:20regular Boost. Now, to protect all this
63. 2:22mid-sole foam, Under Armour is applying
64. 2:25what they're calling thin web rubber
65. 2:27outsole. And there are some exposed
66. 2:29areas of foam in the shoe to help keep
67. 2:32some weight down, but even though it's
68. 2:34called thin web, there is a very
69. 2:36generous and thick application of that
70. 2:39outsole material on the shoe, especially
71. 2:41in some of the higher wear areas. There
72. 2:44is a lot of rubber on the bottom of this
73. 2:47shoe. Moving to the upper, we have what
74. 2:49Under Armour is calling their
75. 2:50IntelliKnit. It looks like a knit
76. 2:53material and it has the word knit in it,
77. 2:55but it doesn't exactly feel like a knit
78. 2:58material. It's not as stretchy,
79. 3:00soft, or as comfortable as I would
80. 3:02normally think of when I am thinking
81. 3:04about a knit material. Now, there is
82. 3:06also a lot of padding and foam on the
83. 3:08tongue and around the heel cup and onto
84. 3:10this Achilles flare to help try and make
85. 3:13sure that the fit is accommodating to a
86. 3:15wide variety of heel shapes, and also to
87. 3:17make it feel a little bit more
88. 3:18luxurious. And there is a big TPU heel
89. 3:21clip to help make the shoe stay stable.
90. 3:24All these things add up to quite a bit
91. 3:26of weight. Under Armour lists this shoe
92. 3:28coming in at a chart-topping 11.8 oz for
93. 3:33a US men's size 9. I actually weighed
94. 3:35mine, and mine came in substantially
95. 3:37lighter. Still heavy, but it came in
96. 3:39half an ounce lighter at 11.3 oz and 320
97. 3:43g.
98. 3:50Now that we've talked about what the
99. 3:52shoe is like on paper, let's talk about
100. 3:53what it's like on foot. And despite the
101. 3:55heavy weight of this shoe, this Under
102. 3:58Armour Infinite Elite is a very
103. 4:00promising shoe and it gives me some
104. 4:02excitement for what Under Armour may be
105. 4:04able to release in the future. Now, it
106. 4:06was a bit firm for a daily training shoe
107. 4:09for my preferences as someone that loves
108. 4:11super squishy shoe. And I didn't exactly
109. 4:14love it when I used it for cool down
110. 4:16miles after a workout. So, it's not
111. 4:18exactly a max cushion shoe for me
112. 4:20either. Although, for my bigger taller
113. 4:22friends, this may be just right. But,
114. 4:24for me, this shoe became most
115. 4:26interesting when I was picking up the
116. 4:28pace just a little bit. Everything in
117. 4:29that kind of easy to moderate range,
118. 4:32that's where this foam really started to
119. 4:34get exciting. So, if you've got a run
120. 4:36with some light pace changes in there,
121. 4:38this shoe is a really fun cruiser. Now,
122. 4:41I mentioned earlier that it visually
123. 4:43reminds me of Saucony's PWRRUN plus and
124. 4:46it definitely on foot feels a lot like
125. 4:48some of those older versions of PWRRUN
126. 4:51plus. And it even kind of reminds me of
127. 4:54PWRRUN PB or at least some of the really
128. 4:56early versions of PWRRUN PB when it was
129. 4:59a little bit firmer of a formulation.
130. 5:02Overall, it kind of reminds me a lot of
131. 5:03Styrofoam, but in a good way. Even when
132. 5:06I pick it up and touch it,
133. 5:10it kind of has that Styrofoamy kind of
134. 5:13feel to it. And while that might not
135. 5:15sound the most kind of
136. 5:18exciting, when you're putting just a
137. 5:20little bit more into the shoe when
138. 5:21you're picking up the pace a little bit,
139. 5:23I feel like then the compression and
140. 5:25decompression works just right for me
141. 5:28and it gives me a nice sense of rhythm
142. 5:30and bounciness that I'm really enjoying
143. 5:32for some of those daily training runs
144. 5:34that might have a little bit of spice
145. 5:36built in to them. It's unfortunate for
146. 5:39me though that the shoe is quite heavy
147. 5:41cuz otherwise I think that this shoe
148. 5:43really could give the Super Blast or the
149. 5:45Invincible a run for their money. Now,
150. 5:48the other area where I feel like this
151. 5:50shoe comes quite a bit short is in the
152. 5:53upper. Now, I love a good knit material
153. 5:55and I feel like I'm the last advocate
154. 5:57left out there for bringing knit
155. 5:59materials back into running shoes. I
156. 6:01think they're super comfortable. I love
157. 6:03to wear them. I feel like they're great
158. 6:05for a running performance product, but
159. 6:07it's a material that seems to be going
160. 6:09away. I appreciate that Under Armour has
161. 6:11tried to bring it back here, but this
162. 6:12execution just isn't it. It's not
163. 6:15stretchy like it should be. It's not
164. 6:17comfortable like a knit material should
165. 6:19be or at least when I hear the word knit
166. 6:20or if you're going to put the word knit
167. 6:22into a trademarked product name. And I
168. 6:24feel like especially visually speaking,
169. 6:27there's just a lot left to be desired
170. 6:30with the way that this shoe is executed.
171. 6:32There's just something about it that's
172. 6:33really frumpy that I'm just not enjoying
173. 6:36in terms of the visual aesthetic of the
174. 6:39upper. It It fits reasonably well. It's
175. 6:42overly padded and it's a little bit of a
176. 6:44sweat sponge. From a visual perspective
177. 6:47and from a performance perspective,
178. 6:48there's a lot more that could have been
179. 6:49done to really elevate a shoe that's
180. 6:51going to be called Infinite Elite. But
181. 6:54if you're old school and are the kind of
182. 6:56person that says we don't choose a
183. 6:57running shoe by color or it doesn't
184. 6:59matter what a running shoe looks like,
185. 7:00then I feel like the Under Armour
186. 7:02Infinite Elite is something you should
187. 7:04definitely consider because although it
188. 7:06is a little bit heavy, it's a pretty fun
189. 7:08shoe to run in.
190. 7:15Now, this is normally the part of the
191. 7:16video where I like to take a moment to
192. 7:18step back and see where the shoe I'm
193. 7:20reviewing might fit within a broader a
194. 7:23lineup of shoes within a running shoe
195. 7:25brand. The only difficulty here is that
196. 7:27Under Armour hasn't always been the most
197. 7:29consistent when it comes to their
198. 7:31dedication to the performance running
199. 7:33space. Now, I've been running in Under
200. 7:35Armour shoes for years.
201. 7:37Uh I remember one of my favorite Under
202. 7:39Armour shoes that they've ever made was
203. 7:41the CGR Hover Mid. It was a mid-rise
204. 7:45winter shoe that had a knit material
205. 7:47that I actually really enjoyed. It had
206. 7:49like the Bluetooth chip inside the heel
207. 7:52and it connected to Map My Run. So, I
208. 7:54was an early adopter of Under Armour
209. 7:57performance running and I really like
210. 7:58those shoes, but I just feel like over
211. 8:00the years
212. 8:01they didn't really change those shoes
213. 8:03very much. Under Armour running shoes
214. 8:05kind of always looked the same like
215. 8:07Under Armour running shoes. So, I've
216. 8:08kind of lost interest in what they had
217. 8:10to offer. Although this Under Armour
218. 8:13Infinite Elite definitely is a big step
219. 8:16in the right direction and I feel like
220. 8:18if I were to kind of build an Under
221. 8:20Armour running shoe rotation with the
222. 8:21product that they have now, at least the
223. 8:23product that I'm aware of that I've
224. 8:24tested, it would kind of
225. 8:26basically be built around the Under
226. 8:28Armour Infinite Elite. I would use it
227. 8:30for my easy runs, my recovery runs, even
228. 8:32my long runs with some pace changes in
229. 8:33it. This is the shoe that I would use
230. 8:35for
231. 8:37the most of my training even more so
232. 8:40than in another brand's running shoe
233. 8:42lineup for their daily trainer just
234. 8:44because there just aren't as many other
235. 8:46Under Armour models that I'm as excited
236. 8:48about right now. And then the only other
237. 8:51shoe in the rotation that I would
238. 8:52probably put in would be the race shoe
239. 8:54if you wanted to stay within Under
240. 8:56Armour for your race product as well.
241. 8:58And this is the Under Armour Flow
242. 9:00Velocity Elite version 2. It has a great
243. 9:03track record. Sharon Lokedi has won the
244. 9:05New York Marathon in it, came in fourth
245. 9:07in the Paris Olympics in it, came second
246. 9:10in the Boston Marathon in it. So, the
247. 9:12shoe has quite a pedigree, but it's a
248. 9:15shoe that I haven't exactly loved. It
249. 9:18has bio peebax in it which is a little
250. 9:20bit firmer than regular peebax, but I do
251. 9:23appreciate the attempt at some
252. 9:25eco-friendliness there. And it does have
253. 9:26a carbon fiber plate, but also has this
254. 9:28bottom layer of super critical foam and
255. 9:30in the heel there's quite a a bit of it.
256. 9:33And so, I feel like this is a fast shoe
257. 9:35that some people, like Sharon Lokedi's
258. 9:37of the world, can run fast in, but for
259. 9:39me, it's not really a shoe that I love
260. 9:42for marathons. It's something that I
261. 9:43would take for like 5K, 10K racing,
262. 9:45maybe up to the half marathon, but as
263. 9:48far as like what's in the Under Armour
264. 9:50lineup. Now, these are kind of the two
265. 9:52shoes, and you can certainly have a
266. 9:53really great time running with a
267. 9:55two-shoe rotation, and for Under Armour,
268. 9:58this is what it would look like.
269. 10:06Now, let's wrap up the video by going
270. 10:07over the buying guide, and we'll also
271. 10:08talk about some alternatives that you
272. 10:10may want to also consider. The Under
273. 10:12Armour Infinite Elite is a pretty good
274. 10:14option for long runs and for daily
275. 10:17training for my high mileage runners.
276. 10:19And for my bigger, taller friends, this
277. 10:20might be the perfect level of cushion
278. 10:22for you for your daily training needs.
279. 10:25And I think if you're an athlete coming
280. 10:27over from a different sport or a team
281. 10:29sport or a ball sport, like a lot of
282. 10:31Under Armour customers are, I feel like
283. 10:33this is going to be a really good option
284. 10:35for you to get into the running
285. 10:37community. And at $160, I think that the
286. 10:40price is very fair, but let's take a
287. 10:42look at some of the competition to see
288. 10:44what that $160 will get you. Now,
289. 10:46already in this video, we've talked
290. 10:48quite a bit about the Saucony PWRRUN
291. 10:50Plus foams, so let's talk about one of
292. 10:52my favorite PWRRUN Plus shoes from
293. 10:53Saucony, and that's the Triumph. And I'm
294. 10:55looking specifically at versions 20 and
295. 10:5821, which were, I think, pretty much the
296. 11:00same shoe, maybe just a different upper
297. 11:01or a slightly changed upper. Version 22
298. 11:04got substantially different. It got a
299. 11:06different foam, so it's going to be a
300. 11:07little bit different of an experience,
301. 11:09and I think less similar to what you're
302. 11:11getting in the Infinite Elite. Now, the
303. 11:14PWRRUN Plus is also a beaded foam, and
304. 11:17it looks and feels very similar to what
305. 11:19we're getting out of the Under Armour
306. 11:21Infinite Elite's HOVR Plus midsole foam.
307. 11:24And I feel like those two shoes can be
308. 11:26used very similarly. Both of these shoes
309. 11:29are a little bit firm for my daily
310. 11:31training preferences, and they're kind
311. 11:33of built like max cushion shoes, but I
312. 11:35feel like once you start moving in them
313. 11:37just a little bit quicker than easy,
314. 11:39that's when the shoes start to really
315. 11:40come to life, and that's why I feel like
316. 11:42the cushioning for me feels at its best.
317. 11:45The Triumph 20 and 21 used to retail at
318. 11:48the same price as the Under Armour
319. 11:50Infinite Elite at $160, but since the
320. 11:53Triumph 21 has been around for a while,
321. 11:55you can find it still some places for
322. 11:57around $120, and I feel like that's
323. 12:00something you should definitely
324. 12:01consider. And then the other shoe that I
325. 12:03think we should take a look at is the
326. 12:04shoe that I always compare the Triumph
327. 12:07against because it's another shoe that
328. 12:09has beaded foams. It was one of the
329. 12:10first shoes to use beaded foams, that's
330. 12:12from Adidas, and that's the UltraBoost.
331. 12:14This is the UltraBoost 5X, and it's got
332. 12:16a different formulation of boost this
333. 12:18time. It's got light boost in it, which
334. 12:20is a lighter formulation of the regular
335. 12:23boost material that initially made the
336. 12:25UltraBoost line so popular. Now, the
337. 12:28light boost material, as the name
338. 12:30implies, makes the foam a little bit
339. 12:32lighter, but I also feel like it's got a
340. 12:34little bit less rebound to it. It's a
341. 12:35little softer and a little bit mushier,
342. 12:38which for a shoe that's called
343. 12:39UltraBoost and is kind of in that max
344. 12:41cushion category, I feel like that's the
345. 12:43right move and progress for that shoe.
346. 12:45So, if you want something that's a
347. 12:46little bit more comfortable, looks a lot
348. 12:49better, and a little bit more cushioned,
349. 12:51then I would say go with the UltraBoost.
350. 12:53It is going to be at a premium though
351. 12:55cuz it comes in at $180. So, those are
352. 12:59my thoughts on the Under Armour Infinite
353. 13:02Elite. Let me know in the comments if
354. 13:03you have any other questions, or better
355. 13:05yet, stop by the live stream that I do
356. 13:06over on the Kofuzi Run Club channel
357. 13:08Mondays and Thursdays. I'd love to see
358. 13:10you guys over there in the chat. That's
359. 13:11all I have for today, everybody. Thanks
360. 13:12so much for making it all the way to the
361. 13:13end of this video. Hopefully you guys
362. 13:15are staying safe out there on your runs,
363. 13:17and I'll see you
364. 13:18in the next one. Yo, what's going on?
365. 13:33Hey.