Design
Inside the Tempo 2 redesign
Eighteen months, forty-two prototypes, and one stubborn heel counter. The story of how our best-selling trainer got better.
· 7 min read
When we set out to redesign the Tempo, we had one rule: do not break what runners love. That meant keeping the ride, the fit, and the price, while fixing the things our reviews kept pointing to.
Listening first
We read more than 3,000 reviews of the original Tempo. Two themes came up again and again: the upper ran warm, and the heel slipped for runners with narrow ankles.
Forty-two prototypes
We tested a new engineered mesh in twelve densities and rebuilt the heel counter seven times. The winning version uses a softer collar with a firmer internal cup, so it locks in without pressing on the Achilles.
The best changes are the ones runners feel but never notice.
What we kept
The midsole geometry is nearly identical. We only shaved 12 grams by thinning the outsole where our wear testing showed almost no abrasion. Same ride, lighter shoe.
