The Nike Vapor Laser Talon was designed from the start to shave time off a critical combine metric: the 40-yard dash. Given that goal, Mr. Golden Shoes himself (a.k.a. Michael Johnson) was brought in as a consultant on the project and emphasized the importance of the “Zero Step” in determining an athlete’s propulsion and acceleration. This knowledge, combined with so-called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) production, which fuses small amounts of materials into functional three dimensional parts (3D printing), vastly reduced prototyping time during the development process, allowing Nike designers to quickly tweak their futuristic concepts.
The resulting cleat keeps overall weight down to a feathery 5.6 ounces while helping players maintain their “drive stance” longer and accelerate faster through the first 10 yards. Before you start dreaming of Chris Johnson eating your divots off the line, though, keep in mind that these particular kicks are likely to fall only into the hands of today’s future pro-bowlers, as Nike hasn’t announced a price or release date. Your current Epson won’t help you out, either.
