I don’t understand the obsession with the price point. Their singlets and shorts cost the same as Nike’s Aeroswift line. And I don’t think they are trying to play up “blue collar” anything. They are trying to appeal to a throwback era of amateur college track and cross country. Their aesthetic is unique. I dig it, but I can totally understand if someone doesn’t. I just don’t get why people hate it with such passion. It’s not like they are some fashion house asking $300 for a tshirt. To me, it’s a brand that makes nice stuff and stands for amateur distance running so I would rather buy from them than some mega corp.
Would second most of that. My Nike Aeroswift singlet is more expensive than any of Tracksmith ones.
However they're not the only ones with mid XX-century athletics aesthetics. YMR Track club in Sweden is one good example. If you're in EU, they would probably be cheaper, too. I've seen pretty nice striped retro kits from Craft, too.
Newsflash for the oblivious rich folk populating LRC and especially this thread:
PEOPLE HATE THE RICH. Tarksmith markets affluence-signaling gear of the first order. If class warfare breaks out and the rich are running for their lives, the first thing they'll do is bury their tarksmith gear like a Russian burying their uniforms on the retreat out of Ukraine.
As noted upthread, tarksmith's hawking of gear based on Bill Rogers nostalgia is disgusting. Bill was the kind of guy who would have been insulted by the parents of a tarksmith wearer when they were younger for being, GASP, lower class. Bill is too good for the rich who want to claim him now.
For all those people claiming that Tracksmith is for the signaling that the wearer is rich, where the hell do you get your running gear from? This is what I’m not getting. All running gear is expensive. You can get some deals at outlets or on Runningwarehouse clearance, but other than that, Tracksmith is in line with its competitors.
I also don’t get the whole “blue collar” thing. I grew up in the rural south with actual blue collar folks. You want to wear real blue collar gear? Get a white Hanes tshirt and some nasty old basketball shorts. That is legit blue collar. Anything else and you’re paying extra for some degree of aesthetic value.
The only “uppity” thing I can think of with Tracksmith is that their aesthetic/vibe is old school college athletics. So I guess you don’t like Tracksmith if you consider college, in general, to be for the rich only?
Would second most of that. My Nike Aeroswift singlet is more expensive than any of Tracksmith ones.
However they're not the only ones with mid XX-century athletics aesthetics. YMR Track club in Sweden is one good example. If you're in EU, they would probably be cheaper, too. I've seen pretty nice striped retro kits from Craft, too.
I like YMR’s vests and cold weather gear. Never heard of Craft. Thanks for the recommendation!
No, tracksmiths price to quality ratio is abysmal (let’s stick it to the big guys by making our stuff unaffordable to most athletes in the sport and poor quality)
I like Tracksmith apparel. The singlets look nice, Merino tops are good value (esp when they go on sale in summer) and the shorts are really functional and high quality. I hardly even run in any other shorts/tights anymore, those are just backup stock now.
However the wirite-up has me baffled. Trail beside the apshalt path? Pine needle path? What? Why would I run NEXT to asphalt rather than on it? It's the kind of surface that makes the running the most fun. Track is too soft, concrete is too hard, trail is...different, never has that pop and can be just mud. Living in Berlin I have a lot of beautiful routes and good access to tracks, yet for a feel-good run I either warm-up 5 km to an asphalt path by Spandauer channel or travel 6 minutes on train to Mauerweg.
Also, white trainer shoe that is supposed to look nice. I have to wash black and dark blue trainers every week or so because of how terribly dirty they get. How could this be practical.
To me, these shoes look sharp so I’ll give them a try. I love my Vaporfly/Infinity Run/Tempo Next% rotation and I doubt TC’s first offering will be on par with any of those shoes, but I’m willing to take a flyer since I need a pair of casual weekend shoes anyway.
No, tracksmiths price to quality ratio is abysmal (let’s stick it to the big guys by making our stuff unaffordable to most athletes in the sport and poor quality)
Which items have you bought and found to be of poor quality?
I'm excited for my buddy Matt Taylor who founded Tracksmith. From a business standpoint, I've always wondered how apparel companies that make great products make money as their stuff lasts a long time. How often would I need to replace my trackmsmith tights? Once a decade, maybe?
A shoe is something that constantly breaks down and has to be replaced. So it's a smart business move.
Note: The title of the thread was initially, "Are you excited about the Tracksmith Eliot Runner?" but I changed it to make it more descriptive and added in the link to the shoe in the first post as it only contained the picture.
It's an interesting move and I'm interested to see how this plays out.
Tracksmiths unique value proposition in the running market was their apparel and I believe they have the best apparel.
I wonder exactly what the market fit is of this shoe. What is unique or compelling enough about it to lure runners away from Nike, Adidas, Brooks, NB, Asics - I don't really see it if I'm honest. At this point you then solely rely on brand cache you have built up through your apparel but even then we traditionally know that this effect is minimal as the vast majority of your target consumer will still default to the brands they perceive (in this case) that footwear is the core competency.
One example I can think of on a larger scale was Under Armor. They totally destroyed their market fit and unique value by branching into footwear. They had such a stronghold in a niche sector of athletic apparel but that sector was pretty substantial and they were THE best. You might then say "but the company got bigger anyway and makes more money now regardless" which is true, but understand UA wasn't just dabbling in the specialty running industry, they were in the sporting goods industry so they could f--k up their brand desirability and still make money just living off a small piece of a large pie.
I like this brand and the story, I just hope they don't devalue themselves getting into a part of the sector I'm not sure they can ever be competitive in.
I don’t understand the obsession with the price point. Their singlets and shorts cost the same as Nike’s Aeroswift line. And I don’t think they are trying to play up “blue collar” anything. They are trying to appeal to a throwback era of amateur college track and cross country. Their aesthetic is unique. I dig it, but I can totally understand if someone doesn’t. I just don’t get why people hate it with such passion. It’s not like they are some fashion house asking $300 for a tshirt. To me, it’s a brand that makes nice stuff and stands for amateur distance running so I would rather buy from them than some mega corp.
Newsflash for the oblivious rich folk populating LRC and especially this thread:
PEOPLE HATE THE RICH. Tarksmith markets affluence-signaling gear of the first order. If class warfare breaks out and the rich are running for their lives, the first thing they'll do is bury their tarksmith gear like a Russian burying their uniforms on the retreat out of Ukraine.
As noted upthread, tarksmith's hawking of gear based on Bill Rogers nostalgia is disgusting. Bill was the kind of guy who would have been insulted by the parents of a tarksmith wearer when they were younger for being, GASP, lower class. Bill is too good for the rich who want to claim him now.
Umm, BR fully cooperated in the BR nostalgia venture, he signed-off on and was on-board with it.
I don't really have an opinion on the Tracksmith brand. However, it's almost laughable to suggest that the brand is not promoting a certain imagine, or that anyone will be wearing running their gear for 5-10+ years. The vast majority of people will be on to the next fade in a year or two. That's fine, but it's laughable to suggest otherwise.
Judging by the outsole suggests Saucony involvement in this venture.
Yup the bottom looks exactly like that of a Saucony. The article linked to Runner's World mentions that Matt Taylor had a designer years ago, but it took them longer than they thought to get their footwear going, so that person left for Saucony.
For the Eliot, Taylor got designers from Nike, Salomon, and Under Armour. Taylor himself used to work for Puma, but this was long before they started making decent shoes a couple years ago. With the exception of mentioning a designer from Nike, it doesn't sound like he really brought in some heavy hitters to make this shoe.
Taylor says his favorite shoe of all time was the Peg Turbo (RIP), so what we know so far about the Eliot makes sense. I think this shoe will be a big success in that people will buy it. But it's not for me and I don't think it will be a good shoe, nothing close to as fun as the peg turbo. Some Tracksmith fans on here have already said they plan to buy a pair for aesthetics and not for running. I think a lot of people who buy this shoe with intentions to run in it will eventually do the same- take it on a few runs, realize it's not great, and use it for walking around or going out. After all, a bunch of their apparel isn't even fit for running anyway...
I guess money corrupts. Bill wanted a little of that sweet NE rich-man cashish.
Point still stands 100%. Want to be seen as a pretentious, preening rich douche? Wear tarksmith gear.
Okay? But your apparent working class hero Bill went and got rich himself and likes "Tarksmith". So I guess see you at the "Tarkhouse" in 10-20 years when you do the same?
Judging by the outsole suggests Saucony involvement in this venture.
Yup the bottom looks exactly like that of a Saucony. The article linked to Runner's World mentions that Matt Taylor had a designer years ago, but it took them longer than they thought to get their footwear going, so that person left for Saucony.
For the Eliot, Taylor got designers from Nike, Salomon, and Under Armour. Taylor himself used to work for Puma, but this was long before they started making decent shoes a couple years ago. With the exception of mentioning a designer from Nike, it doesn't sound like he really brought in some heavy hitters to make this shoe.
Taylor says his favorite shoe of all time was the Peg Turbo (RIP), so what we know so far about the Eliot makes sense. I think this shoe will be a big success in that people will buy it. But it's not for me and I don't think it will be a good shoe, nothing close to as fun as the peg turbo. Some Tracksmith fans on here have already said they plan to buy a pair for aesthetics and not for running. I think a lot of people who buy this shoe with intentions to run in it will eventually do the same- take it on a few runs, realize it's not great, and use it for walking around or going out. After all, a bunch of their apparel isn't even fit for running anyway...
Puma makes "decent running shoes" a year or two every decade, on repeat. Everyone forget FAAS? Probably, because even if you wanted them you couldn't buy them, same as now.
Peg Turbo was okay, the prototype version of the Peg Turbo was IT, only Nike never knows what it's got 'til it's gone.
Craft, North Face, Oakley, Brandblack even, there are a lot of places to look other than Tracksmith.
I don't really have an opinion on the Tracksmith brand. However, it's almost laughable to suggest that the brand is not promoting a certain imagine, or that anyone will be wearing running their gear for 5-10+ years. The vast majority of people will be on to the next fade in a year or two. That's fine, but it's laughable to suggest otherwise.
Woof. I think I get why you don't feel like you fit the Tracksmith "imagine".....
I haven't tried their products but I see a $250 flannel on there which is a bit out of range for most people. I have read good reviews about their half tights, but you are right people will move on over time. How many people will buy their products because they won't need to buy one for another 10 years like some claim?
As for the white shoe discussion...I think white shoes look good and are a nice change up from the blinding bright colors. The adidas Boston 10 came in a nice white/black or white/black/red color scheme and I thought it was a nice "throwback" to what running shoes and flats used to look like.
Ultimately, I have no interest in this Tracksmith shoe but hopefully it will work for those that buy it.
I don’t understand the obsession with the price point. Their singlets and shorts cost the same as Nike’s Aeroswift line. And I don’t think they are trying to play up “blue collar” anything. They are trying to appeal to a throwback era of amateur college track and cross country. Their aesthetic is unique. I dig it, but I can totally understand if someone doesn’t. I just don’t get why people hate it with such passion. It’s not like they are some fashion house asking $300 for a tshirt. To me, it’s a brand that makes nice stuff and stands for amateur distance running so I would rather buy from them than some mega corp.
Newsflash for the oblivious rich folk populating LRC and especially this thread:
PEOPLE HATE THE RICH. Tarksmith markets affluence-signaling gear of the first order. If class warfare breaks out and the rich are running for their lives, the first thing they'll do is bury their tarksmith gear like a Russian burying their uniforms on the retreat out of Ukraine.
As noted upthread, tarksmith's hawking of gear based on Bill Rogers nostalgia is disgusting. Bill was the kind of guy who would have been insulted by the parents of a tarksmith wearer when they were younger for being, GASP, lower class. Bill is too good for the rich who want to claim him now.
Outside of running circles no one knows what or who Tracksmith is. No one in the general public is looking at a shirt with a hate on it and thinking it is some big money flex. Tracksmith isn't Vineyards Vines. I have a lot of their gear because it is comfortable and good quality but I bet my wife can't name the company by the symbol.
Newsflash for the oblivious rich folk populating LRC and especially this thread:
PEOPLE HATE THE RICH. Tarksmith markets affluence-signaling gear of the first order. If class warfare breaks out and the rich are running for their lives, the first thing they'll do is bury their tarksmith gear like a Russian burying their uniforms on the retreat out of Ukraine.
As noted upthread, tarksmith's hawking of gear based on Bill Rogers nostalgia is disgusting. Bill was the kind of guy who would have been insulted by the parents of a tarksmith wearer when they were younger for being, GASP, lower class. Bill is too good for the rich who want to claim him now.
Outside of running circles no one knows what or who Tracksmith is. No one in the general public is looking at a shirt with a hate on it and thinking it is some big money flex. Tracksmith isn't Vineyards Vines. I have a lot of their gear because it is comfortable and good quality but I bet my wife can't name the company by the symbol.
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.