How come the shoe guys never thought of the 4% technology until now?

How come didn't I think of inventing Facebook?

I used to think this trend towards novel foams in running shoes was positive and exciting. But now I feel different . I believe they are going in the wrong direction. Shock absorption is the way to go. The best shoes are ones that are as form as can be yet as shock absorbing as should be.

A good example of this was the Mizuno Wave prior to about 2009. Forget about looks. This shoe had an inside midsole construction that was like a hollow wooden door stop with a 12mm drop. Picture that and then imagine each time your foot hit the ground you felt almost no shock, The shoe was fast, stable and provided a glorious run. All shoes should be like this!

So my theory is, as noted, all shoes should be firm as can be but be designed for optimal shock absorption. What do you think?

I accidentally left out that the Mizuno Wave prior to about 2009 was the Alchemy model. This is the model that felt like the description. I had no other experience with Mizuno models. They have used a plate, a wave plate, since at least the early 2000's.

The costs of such a shoe could not be passed on profitably to south-east Asian laborers until now

In the most recent House of Run podcast Alex Hutchinson says this design was originally Addias' design and Geb actually ran in shoes very similar to the 4%. This design was done as a collaboration with researchers at U Calgary. They eventually designed to abandon the project because it increased the shoe manufacturing cost by a few dollars and didn't think it was necessary. One of the researchers from U Calgary went on to Nike to design the 4%.

http://www.houseofrun.com/episode-510-alex-hutchinson-on-kipchoges-159-shoes-and-fast-times-at-worlds/

BmoreRunner wrote:

In the most recent House of Run podcast Alex Hutchinson says this design was originally Addias' design and Geb actually ran in shoes very similar to the 4%. This design was done as a collaboration with researchers at U Calgary. They eventually designed to abandon the project because it increased the shoe manufacturing cost by a few dollars and didn't think it was necessary. One of the researchers from U Calgary went on to Nike to design the 4%.

http://www.houseofrun.com/episode-510-alex-hutchinson-on-kipchoges-159-shoes-and-fast-times-at-worlds/

Forgot to say that this segment starts at ~37 min.

BmoreRunner wrote:

In the most recent House of Run podcast Alex Hutchinson says this design was originally Addias' design and Geb actually ran in shoes very similar to the 4%. This design was done as a collaboration with researchers at U Calgary. They eventually designed to abandon the project because it increased the shoe manufacturing cost by a few dollars and didn't think it was necessary. One of the researchers from U Calgary went on to Nike to design the 4%.

http://www.houseofrun.com/episode-510-alex-hutchinson-on-kipchoges-159-shoes-and-fast-times-at-worlds/

Here's all the proof you need that Adidas had this design first. Geb's crazy pronation matches what we see every time someone is in Cheaterflys now:

Yeah... every hobby jogger is doping as their times improve...that's it

Lots of companies actually do use pebax foam. They just use it differently.

Why didn't anyone think of a sole that mimicked a waffle iron before Bowerman?