Nike makes the best distance spike (Dragonfly), road flat (Vaporfly) and flat/ xc shoe (Waffle). I did switch to the Brooks Launch over the Pegasus a few years ago so I can't speak to their every day trainers currently.
Most of Nike's apparel are about an 8 out of 10 in terms of quality and are generally available in more sizes and color schemes than other brands.
My take away- Nike still leads the way for competitive racing shoes and apparel.
I don't think anyone doubts their racing shoes, but I really wish their trainers didn't suck. None of the recent iterations of the Pegasus have felt even remotely serviceable compared to Saucony, Asics or Adidas trainers.
Their apparel is great, I agree. They are still leading overall of course, but they could definitely do better, and complacency will allow other brands to catch up even more than they already have. Competition is good, but I'd rather that everyone is at the top of the game.
Nike makes the best distance spike (Dragonfly), road flat (Vaporfly) and flat/ xc shoe (Waffle). I did switch to the Brooks Launch over the Pegasus a few years ago so I can't speak to their every day trainers currently.
Most of Nike's apparel are about an 8 out of 10 in terms of quality and are generally available in more sizes and color schemes than other brands.
My take away- Nike still leads the way for competitive racing shoes and apparel.
I don't think Nike is cool or trendy, but as far as I can tell, they make the best shoes.
Nike makes the best distance spike (Dragonfly), road flat (Vaporfly) and flat/ xc shoe (Waffle). I did switch to the Brooks Launch over the Pegasus a few years ago so I can't speak to their every day trainers currently.
Most of Nike's apparel are about an 8 out of 10 in terms of quality and are generally available in more sizes and color schemes than other brands.
My take away- Nike still leads the way for competitive racing shoes and apparel.
I don't think anyone doubts their racing shoes, but I really wish their trainers didn't suck. None of the recent iterations of the Pegasus have felt even remotely serviceable compared to Saucony, Asics or Adidas trainers.
Their apparel is great, I agree. They are still leading overall of course, but they could definitely do better, and complacency will allow other brands to catch up even more than they already have. Competition is good, but I'd rather that everyone is at the top of the game.
I really wish they hadn't discontinued the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2. I loved that shoe so much! Light, superfoam, comfortable. Just perfect.
The current senior leadership is comprised of technocrats that have no concept about product, marketing, emotional connections, etc. The joint is run by a former Ebay exec, a former Walmart exec, and a ton of soulless ex-McKinsey and Bain people. They are more motivated by grinding out efficiencies and margins than by creating innovative and exciting products for athletes.
They also fixated on a consumer direct approach to sales. While that makes some sense in the online age, they sh*t on a lot of longtime retail partners and are starting to realize that consumers still like trying things on and the instant gratification of walking out of a store with something new. Last week, they brought back from retirement the guy that cultivated all of the retail partner relationships of the glory days.
A lot of the old guard is retired. Phil is fixated on his legacy, a University of Oregon football national title, and Oregon politics. Layoffs and restructurings have ousted a lot of longtime passionate people that lived for the brand. The CEO has mandated that employees have to be in the office four days a week while he continues to work full-time from his home office in Silicon Valley. I hear from friends still working inside the berm that the place is equal parts "Lord of The Flies" and the douchiest Greek house that ever existed. Once upon a time, you clamored to work at Nike because it was cool. Now, the new generation thinks that they are cool because they pull a paycheck from Nike. Great ideas get shot down because that makes higher ups feel threatened and marginally talented brown nosers get promoted for being obedient little suck ups. This has been going on for years and now Nike is harvesting what they have sown.
Right now, I am happy that I dumped my Nike holdings about two years ago. When John Donahoe took over, I had a gut feeling that things were going to go south. If I hadn't trusted that feeling, I would be looking for work today instead of enjoying retirement.
Mark Parker is Chairman at Nike.... and at Disney, both two companies who have been underperforming under his Board supervision.
Had a NIKE sponsorship back in the day. Guys made some great gear. The track spikes, racing flats high end training shoes are still good. Rest of the stuff is average. Had a trail running jacket that the zipper went out after 3 weeks. They have slipped a bit. Lot of other choices out there.
Right now, I am happy that I dumped my Nike holdings about two years ago. When John Donahoe took over, I had a gut feeling that things were going to go south. If I hadn't trusted that feeling, I would be looking for work today instead of enjoying retirement.
Never fully understood the hate for Tracksmith. They make some nice clothing in a certain style at prices that are slightly but not dramatically higher than many brands (and indeed, they are not even at the top end). I've even heard good things about the shoes. They also seem to be pretty good citizens of the running community, putting on cool events, including for amateurs, supporting some elite amateurs, etc. I would welcome a world with more and not fewer Tracksmith-like companies.
Depends where you look. The Vaporfly still seems to be the shoe of choice for the tryhard hobbyjoggers near the front. It's not a huge market, but from what I've seen they still have it cornered.
You can only see what's in the place you're looking. I'm mainly looking at really low key local races and Just not seeing much from Nike. In this neck of the woods that may be due to the running shops mostly being small operations, the kind Nike doesn't sell to. But I'm not seeing a lot of Vaporflys.
Yes, you already said as much in your other comment.
Dragonfly's, Vaporfly's don't raise the stock of a company like Nike.
The problem started when Nike decided to sell half of their from their own sale channels (Nike stores, specialty sneaker-stores and mostly online). Customers who still buy their shoes in a general sport or fashionstore saw half the 'shoe-wall' rebranded with other brands, and pick one of those rather than looking for that one Nike-shoe.
Never fully understood the hate for Tracksmith. They make some nice clothing in a certain style at prices that are slightly but not dramatically higher than many brands (and indeed, they are not even at the top end). I've even heard good things about the shoes. They also seem to be pretty good citizens of the running community, putting on cool events, including for amateurs, supporting some elite amateurs, etc. I would welcome a world with more and not fewer Tracksmith-like companies.
Totally agree.
When family ask what brand to buy me things for birthday, Christmas etc I say Tracksmith
I always take not when my two children are playing junior basketball what shoes the kids are wearing. Nike has at least 90% market share of teenagers playing basketball between the Nike/Jordan brands.
At the Gold Coast marathon a couple of weeks ago. Vaporfly and Alphafly were easily the most common super shoe and it wasn’t even close.
So yes, they have some more competition and some brands are having some decent wins against them, but didn’t we hear a similar story a few years ago with Under Armour?
Never fully understood the hate for Tracksmith. They make some nice clothing in a certain style at prices that are slightly but not dramatically higher than many brands (and indeed, they are not even at the top end). I've even heard good things about the shoes. They also seem to be pretty good citizens of the running community, putting on cool events, including for amateurs, supporting some elite amateurs, etc. I would welcome a world with more and not fewer Tracksmith-like companies.
the stuff being mentioned as quality nike footwear is usually >$200. when nike first released the air stuff it was expensive and exclusive in a similar way. it took off when you could get a good pair of pegasus for a reasonable price, if not air jordans. they are now circled back to the model where the good stuff is priced like jordans. you can get the cheap stuff if you want.
but if i have $100-150 i want to spend on good runners, asics, brooks, saucony. what nike offers at that price is not equivalent.
now if you are a collegian or pro, different story, you might want the top stuff, like i had kings or copas for soccer no matter what the price tag. but what percent of nike profits is mass mall sales vs. joggers vs. college/pro who might even get some of it free.
wow kings and copas - you seriously know your stuff. they are literally THE two boots great stuff.
I must have gone through 15 pairs of copas in my life (and world cups the version with metal studs)
The Copa Mundials were the choice of every kicker in College/NFL too. That and the Nike Tiempo. Then there was this kicking shoe called the Pelfrey Dual Purpose that was specifically for kicking footballs (not for soccer) and it was billed as the lightest leather cleat ever. They stopped making them in the mid-2000's, but they were really popular for a good 10 years.
Nike came back on the scene with the Vapor line and it's far lighter than the Copa Mundial and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone in that cleat nowadays. When it got wet, it was a burden to play in.
I don't think anyone doubts their racing shoes, but I really wish their trainers didn't suck. None of the recent iterations of the Pegasus have felt even remotely serviceable compared to Saucony, Asics or Adidas trainers.
Their apparel is great, I agree. They are still leading overall of course, but they could definitely do better, and complacency will allow other brands to catch up even more than they already have. Competition is good, but I'd rather that everyone is at the top of the game.
I really wish they hadn't discontinued the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2. I loved that shoe so much! Light, superfoam, comfortable. Just perfect.
You are in luck. A new version comes out in less than a month!
Never fully understood the hate for Tracksmith. They make some nice clothing in a certain style at prices that are slightly but not dramatically higher than many brands (and indeed, they are not even at the top end). I've even heard good things about the shoes. They also seem to be pretty good citizens of the running community, putting on cool events, including for amateurs, supporting some elite amateurs, etc. I would welcome a world with more and not fewer Tracksmith-like companies.
They're better than they used to be, that's for sure. Quality is up and I've heard some of their clothing is actually good now. But the entire genesis of the brand was "east coast liberal elite." That was it. That was their marketing strategy. And it worked. And that's dumb and I hate it. Running has the potential to be the most egalitarian sport, and they were like, "What if we found a way to make rich people feel superior?"
They've dropped that a bit and I respect them for sponsoring some of the less popular athletes. But I will never forgive them for having Malcolm Gladwell narrate that stupid-ass commercial that I had to watch 100 times. As a data scientist, there is no man I hate more than Gladwell.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.