Sneak Peek (And Feedback Wanted) for LRC Better Running Shoe Site

Bumping this. I posted it Friday and forgot to lock it up top.

I think this is a great idea. I'm skeptical that you can come up with a database that is even as good as some basic shoe sales sites like RunningWarehouse. They have a lot of shoe info from heel/toe offsets to even a feature that compares the fit of any one shoe to the fit of any other shoe and it tells you whether it would be better to size up or size down. It's pretty incredible and lets me know I should wear an 11 in the Mizuno Sayonara while I wear 11.5 in most and should wear size 12 in the Brooks T7. My point is simply that there are already sites out there that you can do a lot with if you know basic information about yourself such as whether you're neutral or not and what offset works best for your calves/Achilles.

But here's why I think you should continue to pursue this effort. This database should give you a good opportunity to mention shoe models and recommend them. That's the perfect tie-in to some widgets for shoe selling sites. You could boost your site revenue a lot by getting people to buy shoes linked from your database. While I'm generally annoyed with ads on websites, I am in favor of you guys boosting your revenue. Do me a favor maybe: add the shoe sale widgets to your shoe site, but take away the randomly generated word link advertisements that appear in forum posts! Thanks!

I work at a running specialty store, so call me biased, but I don't think running shoes are something you should buy online. Once you've found a shoe that works, sure go online and buy a million pairs cheap, but you need to go into a brick and mortar store to see how each shoe feels on the foot. Just because you are a neutral runner and want a low heel to toe drop doesn't mean a computer will be able to pick the right shoe for you. The Saucony Kinvara and Brooks Pure Flow are the exact same shoe on paper, but have completely different feels. I welcome innovation, and please, prove me wrong, but I doubt this task is possible. I've seen thousands of feet and no two are the same; a successful shoe data base will have to be pretty complex.

Ludwig Witgenstein wrote:

you need to go into a brick and mortar store to see how each shoe feels on the foot

+10000000000000000

A few responses.

1) Of course there are other running shoe sites out there, but none of them attempt to tie what type of runner you are to your shoe review and what shoe you like.

Heel offsets are a factual measurement as is weight. Whether to size up or size down is a simple problem as well. The next go around we want to have shoe characteristics in there but we want this to be way more than just find shoes with certain characteristics. A lot of runners have no clue about the shoe characteristics they want so if they look to see what shoes runners like them run in, that is a start. It sounds like some of you already know what characterstics you like and can narrow down that way but I think many people have no clue.

2) I'm not saying you shouldn't go into a shoe store and try on new shoes and buy locally. Your local store however may not have the shoe that is best for you or perhaps from an online tool you find new shoes that you should try on that you didn't know about.

3) Your local store will not have data that 100 people tried Shoe X and then it was discontinued 50 tried Shoe Y and 50 tried shoe Z and the people who tried shoe Z liked it better.

4) Giving people more information is a good thing and they can still buy locally.

You can still submit feedback through this weekend via the links above.

Thanks Wejo! I just did the find me tye right shoe feature and out of the three I was recommended, I had owned two in the past 3 years. One of them I just ran in yesterday.

I sell shoes for a living so I will be sharing this with some of my colleagues to see what their thoughts are but at the onset I can tell you it is wildly more accurate than anything Runners World has ever produced.

Mentioned this on the "Running Shoe Geek" group on Facebook as well. Those are some people who I think would be into it.

Ludwig Witgenstein wrote:

...but you need to go into a brick and mortar store to see how each shoe feels on the foot.

Free shipping; free returns.

wejo wrote:

go here to gain access

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/01/better-running-shoe-site-sneak-peek/

and be sure to give us your feedback.

I put my email there but haven't received anything.