Could it be the counterfeit Vibrams that aren't delivering as promised?
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/13/smallbusiness/vibram_fivefingers/index.htm
I'm sure the real Vibrams are everything they promise, and more!
I've heard that a ton of people are getting injured with them, but it's because they're going from regular shoes to Vibrams very abruptly, without letting their feet strengthen first. Whatever; they look ridiculous so I hope people quit buying them. I can't even stand listening to the "flop flop flop" of people wearing them in races.
This is a frivolous suit will not achieve anything. Did you read the 3 "assetions" made by the plaintiffs. Very difficult to prove, especially since they also acknowledge Vibram includes a warning to ease into running and visit their website for natural running and training tips. Unless the website is completely careless and tells you to strap them on and hit the sidewalks for 10 miles !!NOW!!, then its all debatable and virtually imnpossible to pin on a specific shoe.
Everyday people get hurt training in Nike, Adidas, Saucony, NB, Asics, so are they all next?
People even tear up their ankles and knees playing basketball or soccer in runnning shoes that are not designed for lateral movement, so do we need warnings, sirens, and airbags attached to the sides for the idiots who do too much too soon in a given shoe designed for x purpose?
I am no fan of the monkey shoes, but don't see the suit achieving anything. I'd have to read the full complaint to verify what's in the article though.
They are silly. Kip Litton even knows enough to race in Mizuno
Peace Out wrote:
I can't even stand listening to the "flop flop flop" of people wearing them in races.
Dude, you must suck if you are close enough to these turds to hear their shoes flopping. Go do some intervals or lose so weight.
You got to love marketing. Getting someone to plop down a $100-120 for an ugly toe shoe when you can get a lightweight flat with better ventilation for $60 with the added bonus of not having everyone asking about your stupid shoes.
Lose so weight?
I suspect that many Vibram wearers like the attention they get.
My brother sent me a pair of five-fingers after he read "Born to Run." I was a good high school runner that quit in college due to injury problems, and had given up running. The changes in my stride that minimal shoes led to has allowed me to run again, and I'm up to about 35 miles a week, the most I've done in ten years. So I definitely think, for some people, the minimal shoe thing might be worth trying. I have had to build up mileage very gradually.
But I did exactly what one poster said when that pair wore out-- I just bought cheap, thin-soled shoes, and they've worked just as well. I don't think the separate toes has anything to do with their potential benefits.
Guy O'Leighken wrote:But I did exactly what one poster said when that pair wore out-- I just bought cheap, thin-soled shoes, and they've worked just as well. I don't think the separate toes has anything to do with their potential benefits.
Yep. There are benefits to light shoes which people who already trained in flats for years knew. The separate toes are just a gimmick.
The lawsuit seems highly questionable to me. Can anyone actually prove that a class of people who chose to run in a minimal shoe were more likely to be injured than a class of people who chose to run a in a built up shoe? The fact is that runners get injured wearing all sorts of shoes or running barefoot. The arguments about causation go back and forth without without an resolution. How can you win a lawsuit based on a theory that everyone who bought Vibrams and got injured wouldn't have been injured wearing a Nike Pegasus or some such shoe? The truth there is just unknowable.
They look like five toes to me. How can I join the class?
personally i think anyone who trains exclusively in vibrams should be sued if they claim to be a runner...it's a tool, not a be all end all solution. or you could just save your money and do post-workout recovery and some recovery day in a nice park
Just to throw my 2 cents in here, i train in vibrams and personally they've helped me alot. They've corrected my form and helped me with my shin splints. I went from running a 20:27 5k to an 18:53. Im not saying by just wearing the vibrams your going to be a better runner but they sure did help me. They're all i wear now for running. I dont wear anything else because if feels goofy, heavy, and unnatural.
Javi wrote:
Just to throw my 2 cents in here, i train in vibrams and personally they've helped me a lot. They've corrected my form and helped me with my shin splints. I went from running a 20:27 5k to an 18:53. I'm not saying by just wearing the vibrams your going to be a better runner but they sure did help me. They're all i wear now for running. I don't wear anything else because if feels goofy, heavy, and unnatural.
Just like you...
Vibrams are a fad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GM5MSzXe-I
Knew this was true as soon as those five fingers came out. Oh the irony of being "anti-shoe" and pro barefoot but then spending 100 bucks on rubber foot gloves to simulate the experience. At least us serious runners knew how to train and race in flats long before this bullsh1t
Javi wrote:
Just to throw my 2 cents in here, i train in vibrams and personally they've helped me alot. They've corrected my form and helped me with my shin splints. I went from running a 20:27 5k to an 18:53. Im not saying by just wearing the vibrams your going to be a better runner but they sure did help me. They're all i wear now for running. I dont wear anything else because if feels goofy, heavy, and unnatural.
So, you went form a slow beginner to slightly less slow? Congrats. I'm sure you'll enjoy the next fad just as much.
Every podiatrist in the world thinks minimalist shoes are retarded. Shoe company's invented this problem- they sell really cheap shiddy shoes to idiots for the same price as their regular trainers- and the idiots gobble it up. How dumb are you people?
Puhdiatryst wrote:
Every podiatrist in the world thinks minimalist shoes are retarded.
To be fair, most medical personnel I've encountered think running in general is retarded once you go beyond more than 20-30 minutes a day. If you run, your knees will blow out by 40. Didn't you know?