Back when I started running 12+ years ago, I used to put in miles in cross-training shoes. They were fine, but once I finally switched to proper running shoes, I realized just how much I had been missing all along.
TYR has been making waves in the cross-training scene for years, while its logo has long been familiar to anyone who follows the swimming world. In 2022, TYR really caught our attention when six of the top 10 CrossFit finishers were sporting its footwear — not exactly a bad way to announce that you had arrived.
See all our posts on TYR here!
Since then, TYR has started making a bigger push into running, and late last year we got our hands on the Maverick. It was a solid first step.
The shoe was light and the FlightTime foam was a definite upgrade, but I never quite found myself reaching for it over the competition. The upper had some folding issues, while the overall ride landed more in the “dependable” category than the “wow, I need to run in this again” category. And at around $150, that’s a tough place to be right now, with plenty of incredible shoes fighting for that same slice of the market.
Which brings us to the shoe that really has my attention: the TYR Valkyrie Elite V2.
If the Maverick was TYR dipping its toes into the running world, the Valkyrie Elite V2 feels like the brand jumping in headfirst.
Looks:
If speed had a colorway, our review pair of the Valkyrie Elite V2 would be it. The fiery oranges and yellows make it look like these shoes should be blazing a path of speed before you even take your first step. The winged TYR logos on the sides only add to that fast visual.
I think the colors work really well together, too. Everything feels intentional, and honestly, these look fast just sitting still.
Construction & Fit:
I’ll pause while you look at that weight below. Yeah, you read that right — this thing is almost 5 ounces. That’s super light.
The upper is lightweight and incredibly breathable, the midsole uses a new ATPU foam, and the outsole brings a surprising amount of traction to the table. I’ll get into each of those a little more below, but the short version is this: the Valkyrie Elite V2 is a definite upgrade over the Maverick.
Of course, that upgrade comes at a cost. The Valkyrie Elite V2 is almost twice the price of the Maverick, which is obviously a pretty significant jump – but not out of line with race shoes of this caliber and construction.
Specs:
- Weight: 5.3 oz (Men’s size 9)
- Stack Height: 40mm heel / 34mm forefoot
- Drop: 6mm
First Impressions:
I don’t always include a first impressions section, but I felt like this one was worth mentioning. These shoes looked and felt great right out of the box, but we all know that doesn’t necessarily translate to a great run. So I gave myself exactly 12 hours before lacing them up and heading out the door for a local 5K.
It’s always a little awkward showing up to a fundraising 5K in $280 super shoes, but I digress. I had testing to do.
I started with a 2.5-mile warm-up from home to the starting line, which turned out to be a pretty good way to ease into the shoes. They felt solid right away, aside from some initial settling and squeaking — the kind of stuff shoes tend to do when they’re brand new. Like pretty much every race shoe, though, the real magic usually happens when you start asking them to do what they were designed to do: go fast.
It’s likely at least partially a result of my commitment to training, but the Valkyrie Elite V2 propelled me to my first-ever sub-20-minute 5K. I crossed the line in 19:36, a full 28 seconds faster than my previous PR.
Fitness level, training, race-day conditions — all of those things obviously played a role. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think the Valkyrie Elite V2 had something to do with it.
TYR says the shoe delivers 90% total energy return thanks to its midsole construction. I’ll leave the exact science, testing, and studies to the people with access to all of that data. What I can say from the driver’s seat is that the number doesn’t feel completely out of line with what I experienced. These shoes have a serious amount of pop when you start turning up the pace, while still feeling like I was in control.
Upper:
I am hypothesizing that TYR has spent time on their upper. As mentioned previously, my Maverick pair had some issues with the upper being a little voluptous and folding on itself. This has seeming been corrected here. It fits and holds without the fold.
And that hold is really nice.
Either by luck or by design, the Valkyrie Elite V2 is one of the few race-day shoes I’ve been able to pull straight out of the box and get an ideal fit on the very first run. I was genuinely surprised by how secure everything felt given just how lightweight the SPDWEAVE upper is.
I mean, I can put my finger against the inside of the shoe and see it from the outside. That’s how thin and lightweight this material is.
Despite that, the eTPU mesh does a really nice job of providing structure and hold. There’s not much padding in the tongue or heel, but I never felt like I needed more. Everything stayed where it was supposed to without creating pressure points or making the shoe feel overly restrictive.
And honestly, during my PR race, I wasn’t thinking about the fit of these shoes at all. They just were. I credit a large part of that to this new upper.
Midsole:
TYR’s new foam is a 100% supercritical ATPU called HYPERLAUNCH. As I mentioned in the intro, TYR states that it delivers 90% total energy return. We can’t independently verify that number, but I can say that the foam clearly performs well in this category.
The midsole also sandwiches a full-length carbon fiber plate between two layers of foam, paired with a noticeable late-stage rocker that helps keep things moving forward.
Because TYR isn’t exactly a household name in the running world yet, I was curious how all of this would actually feel once I got it out on the streets. The answer? Surprisingly normal — and I mean that as a compliment.
The Valkyrie Elite V2 leans toward the firmer side, but I wouldn’t call it a firm shoe by any stretch. It’s not the kind of super shoe that gives you a giant trampoline sensation with every step or feels like you’re bouncing off a mattress. Instead, the ride is snappy, responsive, and explosive.
There’s something almost odd about how natural it feels. I expected something from a brand making a big push into the super-shoe space to feel more… unique. Instead, the Valkyrie Elite V2 just felt right. Right from the start of my PR 5K, I felt fast — but efficiently fast. I didn’t feel like I was working to keep up with my own feet, and I wasn’t constantly thinking about how firm or soft the midsole felt. It just… was.
That’s probably the best way I can describe it.
On that race, I was focused on staying as close to the high school cross-country runners in front of me for as long as I could. I wasn’t constantly checking my watch or doing the mental math on my pace. So, when I hit the final straightaway and saw the timing board, I was pretty shocked to realize I was on my way to a well-under sub-20.
What surprised me most wasn’t just the time. It was how I felt getting there. I hadn’t felt like I was overexerting myself to reach that point. The Valkyrie Elite V2 was doing its job without constantly reminding me that I was wearing a super shoe.
Outsole:
TYR’s TYRTAC outsole is billed as both high-traction and durable. I probably haven’t put enough speed miles on the Valkyrie Elite V2 yet to verify the long-term durability claim, but I can definitely speak to the traction. And so far, it’s really solid.
Most of the speed work and racing I’ve done in these hasn’t exactly involved a ton of sharp turns. But my inaugural race had a few right-angle sidewalk turns that required some pretty quick pivots. The TYRTAC outsole held firm every time.
In fact, that was really the only time during the race that I consciously thought about my shoes. I hit one of those sharper turns, felt the outsole grab the pavement, and my immediate thought was essentially, “Oh, nice. That was grippy.”
In a race shoe, you just want it to do its job — and so far, the TYRTAC outsole has done exactly that.
Overall:
It’s a little weird to reach the end of a review and realize just how much I loved a shoe — especially one from a company that isn’t necessarily known as a running stalwart.
Maybe my expectations were tempered going in. Maybe I’m still riding the high of the shoe that helped me finally break the 20-minute barrier in the 5K. Or maybe, just maybe, TYR has put together a really solid race-day shoe, and I’m simply giving credit where credit is due.
At $280, it’s right in line with plenty of other high-end race-day shoes. And after putting it through its paces, I see no reason why the Valkyrie Elite V2 can’t hold its own against the more established names in the category. It feels like a legitimate super shoe — and one I’d be happy to toe the starting line in again.