Every year Nike, along with every shoe manufacturer, launch their flagship shoes which are in the spotlight. This leaves another assortment of shoes, those under $100, off in the shadows and not really noticed.

While this particular assortment of shoes may not have all the bells and whistles of the higher performance they are still well made and decently performing shoes; especially for the non-competitive runner that wants a pair of quality shoes but does not want to invest a ton to own them.

Nike Winflo 5 General Info

Think of the Winflo as the smaller sibling to the Pegasus. Differentiation comes in the form of a Zoom Air fitted EVA midsole with lower material specs than the Pegasus.

The Winflo provides a great ride but lacks the stability and responsiveness of the Pegasus. The Winflo fills a need in the neutral daily trainer category in price and features that falls in-between the Pegasus and Dart.

Nike Winflo 5 Sole Unit

The sole unit of the Winflo 5 is really where this shoe is surprising for its less than $100 price tag. Winflos have featured a Cushlon midsole, EVA with a little rubber content thrown in, with a Zoom Air unit in the heel.

Cushlon is a popular foam used in many of Nike’s more expensive models. The difference in the Winflo 5 is that it is not as thick as those models leaving it soft, not mushy, but lacking the responsive and bouncy ride associated.

Nike Winflo 5 – Medial Side

The Zoom air unit in the heel does gives it a responsive and spring like feel but is really limited to the heel, as the forefoot has just foam so it lacks a consistent responsive ride through the entire shoe.

The slightly thinner and softer forefoot provided an efficient transition, but not at the same level as a firmer shoe. The Winflo has a good lower to ground feel making it feel reasonably fast when I picked up the pace.

The outsole uses a soft sticky blown rubber that is generously segmented through the forefoot. Nike’s tried and true waffle design provided dependable traction on any terrain that I threw at it even mild to moderate trails.

The compound does feel softer than the higher end models, so I will be curious to see what the durability of it is.

Nike Winflo 5 Upper Info

Nike Winflo 5 – Top

The Winflo 5 upper is now designed with a full-length mesh instead of the midfoot and heel overlays. The Open mesh design and lack of any overlays create a lightweight and highly breathable upper.

The external Flywire did a decent job of locking my foot down providing a consistent fit but was lacking when I wanted to pick up the pace most noticeably on the track doing interval work.

The toe-box has an internal stiffener for shape which created a nice wide-open space for my toes to splay. The inside of the shoe is also sleeved through the forefoot which was not the case in previous versions.

This gave the interior a sock like feel and also anchors the tongue preventing slide and keeping out debris. I really feel that the design of this upper is well suited for many foot types and widths.

Nike Winflo 5 Conclusions

A retail price of $90 makes the Winflo 5 a great value-for-money purchase. The upper fits decent, and the midsole features components usually found in pricier Nike shoes.

The ride is cushioned and has a bit of responsiveness, and the shoe weighs a lot less than I have would expected. The outsole rubber coverage is abundant, and the sticky compound has a reliable consistent grip.

The Winflo 5 is an entry level trainer so it’s not going to be a Pegasus or Vomero, but it gets most of the things right and will do perfectly well if you need just one shoe to do it all.

So, for runners that are not competitive and logging crazy miles or need top end speed sessions 3+ days a week than the Winflo 5 will be a solid choice.

Nike Winflo 5 – Heel

We purchased a pair of Nike Winflo 5 from amazon using our own money. This did not influence the outcome of this review, written after running more than 50 miles in them.