Allbirds new Tree Flyer running shoe
Natural materials and innovative technology come together to deliver an even better Allbirds running shoe.
May 13, 2022
The Tree Runner leverages materials made from natural castor beans, a renewable natural resource with 20% lower carbon footprint than common petroleum-based alternatives.
For many runners, the idea of running in a “sustainable” shoe has typically meant one thing: sacrifice. Sacrifice on the quality of the shoe construction, sacrifice on the weight and comfort of the shoe, and sacrifice on performance.
But not now.
Innovative Kiwi brand, Allbirds, has announced the Tree Flyer: a performance running shoe created at the intersection of innovative technology, renewable natural materials, and instantaneous material circularity.
The shoe offers more bounce, more propulsion, and a 70% rebound rate that helps give runners more energy with every step. And with a carbon footprint of just 9.92 kg CO2e, all of which is offset to zero, this shoe is ready to run circles around shoes made with plastic.
The Tree Flyer is a cushioned running shoe designed to handle everyday miles, or tackle your favourite road race, and brings Allbirds’s commitment to unlocking the performance potential of natural materials, and manufacturing processes with a lower carbon footprint, to life.
The Tree Flyer utilizes a first-of-its-kind technology, SwiftFoam, in the construction of the midsole. The result is a shoe, made for runners of all stripes, with the brand’s highest rebound rate (70%) yet.
Nearly 100% of the excess waste created while making the midsole is instantaneously recycled to craft the external heel counter. In this way material circularity happens right away.
One of the dynamic results of using SwiftFoam’s low energy process is the unique marbling aesthetic on the Flyer midsole. No two midsoles are alike. They are consistent however in their bouncy, airy feel under foot. Accompanying a new sleek-fitting eucalyptus-based knit structure, the SwiftFoam midsoles are approximately 30% more responsive, 25% lighter and require less energy to manufacture than Allbirds existing SweetFoam midsoles, which have already been critically acclaimed for comfort.
The new Tree Runner is also a lighter shoe, weighing in at just 269 grams, the lightest running shoe made exclusively by Allbirds.
The Tree Flyer has gone through extensive development and testing: in Allbirds innovation lab, and on the road. Countless iterations were developed to perfect the shoe with over 115 runners testing the shoe over 9500kms, across a wide array of conditions and climates, to prove its performance.
Tina Muir, former professional runner and host of the Running for Real podcast, ran the 2022 Boston Marathon as a guide for a visually impaired runner in the Tree Flyers. “The shoes did great. My body felt great. The lightness and bounce of these shoes carried me through the full 26.2 miles in Boston, and would perform equally well in someone else’s first run, race day, or anything in between.”
“The Tree Flyer is a true technical and environmental achievement, and demonstrates that the right mix of expertise, diligence, and vision can lead to ground-breaking innovations,” said Tim Brown, co-CEO and co-founder of Allbirds and former 66 Magazine cover star.
“Getting this mix right, without a runner's performance or the planet left behind, represents one of the greatest challenges and opportunities for our team, and all footwear brands. I’m proud of this team for what they’ve achieved with the Tree Flyer. At Allbirds, we’re setting out to prove that you can create a running shoe that is truly better for the planet and pushes you to perform.”