worst running shoe gimmick ever

I'm either giving it to LA Lights or whatever the company was that made the shoes with wheels in the heel.

By far the free. i mean stop being a pussy and just run barefoot if you want to.

I have owned all of the following:

Reebok Graphlite

Reebok Graphlite Pump

Nike lace up the side (forget the name)

Nike Air Rift

I love a good gimmick. I'll probably get the Free.

Puma had some kind of shoes without laces...you would actually twist a sort of plastic dial to loosen or tighten them. They were pretty heavy shoes. I got a pair as a promo. I never saw anyone actually wear them.

ZZrunZZ wrote:

Brooks had the Varus Wedge. That thing injured more runners than just about any other gimmick ever marketed.

Yes. I bought these in 7th grade when I was just starting to get good (39 min. 10km) and they gave me the only injury I ever had in my career. Terrible knee pain. I switched to Nike Daybreaks, but I don't think I knew what was causing it and it lasted nearly 1.5 years. I was straight by freshman year but those Vantages (with the Varus Wedge) took away a lot of good running from me.

Another really gay gimmick was any shoe that had "density" plugs you could put in them that would make the shoe softer or harder. They were almost always on some shitty, third-tier brand.

I don't see how Nike LDV's were a gimmick?

Anyone remember the Osaga brand running shoe. Those were heavy, over built, and ugly.

It's a tough call, but I am going to have to go with the Nike Shoxs.

[quote]darkness wrote:

Another really gay gimmick was any shoe that had "density" plugs you could put in them that would make the shoe softer or harder. They were almost always on some shitty, third-tier brand.

/quote]

The brand is called Power, terrible shoes. They still sell them at some places - like K-Mart.

How about Spira's metal springs in the heels?

you can still buy the rifts... maybe not in specialty running shops but the shoe has been around quite awhile.

is now available with two difft uppers, a double strap closure and a single strap

this sounds like the blue addidas show from the 80s with the colour-coded plugs/screws that went right through the midsole and could be removed.

the top priced silver addidas computer-shoe was a load of pants too. it had a stop watch but you needed to bend down to operate it - dead hard for sessions. caused me to faint once.

just saw the nb 890... have to say that abzorb ex is very lame...

'guaranteed to give you a dynamic running experience'

what the heck does that mean?

its sad when companies like nb start copying (months later) every pseudo technology that the nikes, reeboks and adi's put out... at least nike makes no bones about the shoes being more for fashion than real running.

darkness wrote:

ZZrunZZ wrote:

Brooks had the Varus Wedge. That thing injured more runners than just about any other gimmick ever marketed.

Yes. I bought these in 7th grade when I was just starting to get good (39 min. 10km) and they gave me the only injury I ever had in my career. Terrible knee pain. .

I don't see how Nike LDV's were a gimmick?

See my previous post. I screwed up. I meant the 1000's. I was a 9th grader and got my only injury from the Varus Wedge. A sharp pain just below my ankle on the side of my foot.

Anyone remember the Lydiard shoes-*Lydiart* maybe? My vague memory is of some crazy removable or adjustable heel plug system. Anyone remember these? I do remember tey felt like hell in the store so I didn't buy them.

Etonic had the shoe with the heel cut away so it looked like a shoe that had been worn for over 1000 miles. Puma had the computer chip. Reebok had the pump. Brooks had the shoes that turned your feet blue. (The Johnny Walkers)

Not neccessarily bad shoes..... remember the NIKE BOSTON and TIGER JAYHAWK indoor shoes?

If anyone knows where I can get a pair of those.... or the Nike LDV or LD1000 let me know!!!!! (Someone else mentioned they saw a pair in a SanFran store recently??)

The worst offender in terms of running shoe gimmics is HEEL LIFT. How did anybody ever think that raising the heel in a running shoe was/is a good idea.

If you're talking about gimmics that have had a mass negative effect on runners, Heel lift is #1, and EVA is #2.

Nike shoes that laced up the side were the Footscapes.

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