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The Nike Pre Montreal was one of 2012's smartest Nike remixes. Sublime in its execution, the racer-soled redesign of the Prefontaine and Bowerman Pre Spike design that addressed the issue of discomfort from pesky seams in the forefoot by giving it a one-piece toe that presumably appealed to Bill's hatred of excess grams by making it more minimal too. Some updates fall flat, but the reverence this redesign showed admirable restraint, to make it the best Nike shoe of the 1970s that never was. Since last January there has been a whole ton of makeups, but we never felt anything could match the OG Pre blue, red and white colourway (one of the most tasteful acts of patriotism on a shoe ever). One year on, there's still mileage in the Racer and while the contrast was traditionally a front and back affair, this duo keeps the nylon and suede mix but keeps the colour contrast at the back, with greys and oranges popping at the rear. That olive variation is particularly effective. It's hard to quantify the effect the original spiked source material had on Nike design across departments to the present day, but this shoe captures a time when what looks simple now was a performance breakthrough. These arrive in the Crooked Tongues store later this month.