Brooks Pure Project 2: Puredrift

The Puredrift is an entirely new addition to the Brook's Pure series collection. Since last month, I am one of the runners that were given the opportunity to tryout these minimalist shoes before they make their way into the market from January onwards.

According to Brooks Running about the Puredrift -

" Experience the next best thing to naked feet with hyper-light PureDrift. Spread those toes with dual toe flex splits that allow your forefoot to flex through its three functional units, creating natural balance and a springy push-off. An anatomical last mimics the shape of your foot for a closer fit and the hardly-there upper provides just a little more coverage than a birthday suit. When you really want to feel free as a bird, remove the sock liner for a zero drop experience. no-seam construction keeps it comfortable and a soft platform mellows impact. Feet, meet feel."

The Puredrift is a very handsome looking shoe. The men's striking lime green/black looked really great and the shoe also boosts Brook’s night life technology with strategically placed reflective points on the toe box, heel, and side of the shoe.

People won't miss you for the shoes you are wearing. See the pictures below:


I found that the Puredrift is a very light pair of trainer/racer. At 5.6 oz (160 gram), the Puredrift weight less than a pre-race banana..Well, according to a video I saw in Youtube made by Brooks Running, no kidding ;). 



This is what the sole looks like after 80+km of running. The dirt that got stuck on the sole is a very good indicator on where the contact points are. Pay attention to the special wear occurred at the top (near the pinky toe) and the clean surface on the heel area. I guess that explains much about where the specific contact points are - most at the forefoot. 

The profile feels a bit strange at first. It has a zero drop from heel to toe if you remove the sock-liner. Those of you who have done track and field during your school days can tell that the profile of the shoe somewhat resembles the feeling of wearing a pair of track spikes.  And there is a curve within the sole of the shoe which pushes the feet to rest more on the medial side of the foot.



The Puredrift is designed with an anatomical last that wraps around the the feet with good fit, but yet the shoe comes with a super spacious toe box (super round when you look at it from the top). Other distinguish feature includes the design of the out-sole. This is what the 'dual toe flex' looks like in closed up. These feature is designed to improve better balance and push off.

There is an elastic band called  the Nav Band that is suppose to help to wrap the feet on the shoe, but I don't really feel it's presence most of the time, so I can't really make much of it. The lacing system does it job well anyway.

The Puredrift is designed with a comfortable, thin material which give it a breathable upper. I can run with it sockless easily. And again, the toe-box area is very spacious (really wide toe box) and I suppose that is the profile that is to cater for those who are going for barefoot/minimalist style of running.

When I first try running on it, the shoe is somewhat 'forced-encourage' more of forefoot landing (almost like running on a pair of track spike).  This result in more workload on the calves at the beginning, but after a while, I found that the shoe provides excellent strength training opportunity. Fantastic natural speedster.

The Puredrift is making its debut as part of the Pure Project 2 line up which is due to be launch in early 2013. Do keep a lookout for it.

Meanwhile here is a funny video about the Puredrift from Brooks Running, but I think it has provided an entertaining way to explain the technical features of shoe.



And here is a more serious version - summary chart about the features of the Puredrift.