Under Armour running shoes?

Blargh wrote:

UA is 80's and 90's era technology with good marketing. Their cold gear stuff is decent, but other than that... there are much, much nicer products on the market. Look at base layers by Craft and Helley Hansen- admittedly still expensive, but they perform far better than Under Armour.

Sorry, but UA is way better than 80s and 90s era clothing. You have a short memory. The top products on the market even in the late 90s were pure crap compared to UA and UA has made moisture management affordable.

I'm willing to bet that the company that takes track and field mainstream in the US ends up being UA. Welcome them to the community.

Not true. In tests against Nike, Saucony, Mizuno, and Brooks, UA loses all the tests such as wicking,pilling, snagging etc. Watch all the little soccer kids at games wearing UA and they are all freezing because UA is holding he moisture right next to their bodies. Now marketing is another thing and I can see them putting alot of money into marketing the shoe but my guess they will not match up to companies who have been doing this for a long time now.

Agreed. Even against the Major Running Retailers materials (not the specialists, mind you, just the major merchandisers like Nike, NB, Saucony, etc), UA still isn't that great. Under Armour works fine if you're into spending money on brand recognition instead of performance.

I used Under Armour as a base layer for about 4 years back in the early 2000s. In the past several years, I have tested a number of other products and found nearly all of them to work better than UA products. There has been better product on the market for decades- what you remember being popular in the 80s and 90s and what was actually available in the 80s and 90s are two different things. Sadly, a lot of the best stuff is still sold to the European market as it has been for a long time, but there are some truly fantastic products available. Not as widely as UA, which is part of the reason that you see UA everywhere, but it is out there.

As far as their shoes go, I'm interested to see how it turns out. Fila did some very interesting things when they tried to break into the running market a while back. Some of their shoes were trash, several were quite good. UA certainly has the resources to do some interesting things.

Something tell me that their shoes will be widely available at Dick's sporting goods and will take a large amount of market share away from Nike Shox and Air Max 180s. I doubt they will make a major splash on the market. Maybe I'll be wrong.

I tested a pair of UA Apparitions and my brand new Asics (Nimbus 10) have not been touched since. They are GREAT shoes and have gotten my training back on track. They've got a nice cushion but are still more firm than other neutral cushion shoes. The sock liner keeps it nice and snug. I've been around to running shops in town and no one will carry them (not even GI Joe's which stocks an enormous amount of UA gear). I'm hoping that Dick's will carry them. I've already bought three extra pairs from the company. I love them.

The retailers will all wait with the economy and see what happens before throwing $ towards a brand that isn't proven vs. dropping a shoe they know will pull in a known number of sales.

I wouldn't be surprised if they offer great terms at the upcoming trade shows to get some shelf space and have a strong in-store presence to drive sales at key retailers across the US

I'd stick with the Mizunos. They are the most technical AND comfortable shoes out there. Why change a good thing? Mizuno is one of the only brands that has not "sold out" to whoever will buy their shoes. They are true to running and what the sport stands for.

Fila with an Under Armour logo, just repackaged. So, if you liked Fila, you are in luck!

Agree with you but another would be Saucony.

Yeah Mizuno is sooooo true to the real runner...that's why they are selling tech running shoes to Footlocker. So Footlocker is a real running store?

Under Armour does nothing for our sport, therefore I will not buy anything of theirs.

My feet is my only carriage wrote:

Under Armour does nothing for our sport, therefore I will not buy anything of theirs.

They have sponsored a decent sized marathon for several years.

I wore a pair to the bars Saturday night and (because of them) I got lots of action. I love them.

I bought a pair at Sports Authority and put about 20 miles on them before they went into the trash. It felt like I had strapped 2x4's onto my feet and noticed shin pain and calf pain within a couple of miles.

Stay with what you know works...these do not!

Eldonsearles wrote:

I bought a pair at Sports Authority and put about 20 miles on them before they went into the trash. It felt like I had strapped 2x4's onto my feet and noticed shin pain and calf pain within a couple of miles.

Stay with what you know works...these do not!

Let's be honest here. UA has always marketed their apparel to the gym poseur...they will do the same with their running shoes, but targeting hobbyjoggers (mostly male).

You won't see any technical running shoes from UA.

it's all about the dollars, after all they are a publicly held company.there are only about 300 viable RSG doors in the US. if each one is doing $500k (which is doubtful) at list that puts the total specialty market at around $150 million and that includes footwear, apparel, accessories. the total RSG footwear market is probably only around $100 million or even a little less. spread that across 7-8 brands and you dont have much of a real business.like it or not the game is all about big box sporting goods and their weekend warrior customer.

silly old fossil wrote:

Eldonsearles wrote:

I bought a pair at Sports Authority and put about 20 miles on them before they went into the trash. It felt like I had strapped 2x4's onto my feet and noticed shin pain and calf pain within a couple of miles.

Stay with what you know works...these do not!

Let's be honest here. UA has always marketed their apparel to the gym poseur...they will do the same with their running shoes, but targeting hobbyjoggers (mostly male).

You won't see any technical running shoes from UA.

UA shoes feel good

Their apparel is comfortable

Deal with it