Victor A970 NitroLite [2024]

I just bought the white version (worn by Anders Antonsen) because it looks amazing. I tried them on at the store and they felt great. This is the first A series from Victor that I bought. I had a knee injury a few years back so my go to shoes were P series, my favorite being the P9200II.

My first impression of the A970 Nitrolite is the cushioning. It feels great around the toe and like the OP said it has extra cushioning at the heel cup. This gives the same feeling with the P series like the P8510 or the new P8500II. What distinguishes it is its weight and the lighter feeling. Maybe because of what Victor market as Nitrolite, the shoe can afford as much cushioning while still being light.

I have 2 main issues with this shoe. First, the toe box is a bit tight. Despite being labelled as V-shape standard 2.5 like the P9200II, I think the P9200II has more room in the area. This is perhaps due to the extra cushioning of the A970 Nitrolite. However, this issue might just go away after I “break in” with more sessions (fingers cross!). The second issues is a bigger one for me. With the padding at the heel cup, I felt like there is extra space around the ankle area. This causes an unstable feeling around the ankle, which is something I dislike. Victor also does not have extra holes to tie the “runners knot” which could have tightened the ankle area. The P9200II somehow got away with this for some reason. I managed to tie the laces tighter to lock my heel, while this felt impossible with the A970Nitrolite.

I will need more time with the shoe to evaluate its durability. The white color gets dirty easily though, so I have to choose “cleaner” courts to play with it.

In sum, I think the shoe fits the all-around category, leaning a bit towards a more cushioned side while maintaining its lightness. The downside is its stability could be a bit compromised, and the V-shape could be a bit tight depending on your toe shape.