Swedish sports brand Craft has been in the running game for some time with technical apparel, but are not renowned for their running shoes. The Craft CTM Ultra Carbon aims to change all that with this innovative new shoe that offers excellent durability and deep lugs for superb grip on any surface. The shoe was developed collaborating with Tommy Rivs, the world-renowned marathon and ultra-runner.
The shoe features the highly innovative Ultra Carbon Plate ™, made from carefully selected carbon fibre. This slim plate functions almost like a trampoline, much like many of the other Carbon Fibre running shoes in the market, such as the Nike Vapourfly Next %. Additionally, the carbon plate features a precision slot, allowing the big toe to independently press on the medial side of the plate and the other toes on the lateral side – which supposedly creates a twist to offer additional rebound.
The styling will be a love or hate thing!
The Craft CTM Ultra Carbon combines super-lightweight Vault Foam™ with a tuned carbon plate to provide ultimate efficiency and energy return. It also comes with a full-contact rubber traction outsole with deep lugs, much like the Nike Pegasus Gore-Tex Trail for optimal durability and traction on various surfaces.
The shoe also features the highly innovative Ultra Carbon Plate™. Made of carefully sourced carbon fibre, this thin plate works almost like a trampoline, offering best-in-class energy return. In addition, the tuned carbon plate comes with a precision split, allowing the big toe to press independently on the medial side of the plate and the other toes on the lateral side–which creates torsion to provide ultra-rebound on varying surfaces and angles.
These shoes won’t be to everyone’s taste, and there will be debate as to their specific purpose. Are they a trail shoe or versatile trainer? The likely conclusion would be they are a fast but cushioned trail shoe due to their deep lugs on the sole.
Whatever your thoughts on the Craft CTM Ultra carbon, it’s great to see another player in the market pushing the innovation envelope.
Buy the CTM Ultra Carbon from Craft
