Where'd they get those colors? ewwwwwwww
Where'd they get those colors? ewwwwwwww
My Tigers arrived and, "They are G-R-E-A-T!!!". I feel like a high school freshman again.
I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo jealous.
Good for you, truly.
Ebay has a couple of old Tigers. I wish I could fit into them. Of course then I wouldn't be posting these links until after the auction was done.
Here's the other one.
those flimsy racing flats helped me get to a bad case of plantar fasciitis, when I was dumb enough to do 100 mile weeks in them in 1973-74.
Where is the love for the Freaks?
I love Tigers (not for running -- you guys are old) but when it comes to training, the Freaks take the cake.
try Uncle Marty's Sneaker Barn...the guy with the crazy ads who sort of looked like Gabe Kaplan in 1975.
check out the ebay lisitngs for Vintage Onistuka Tigers
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=190195848674&Category=48862
Mizuno came out with a flat this year almost identical to the Tiger marathon. It is black nylon, don't know name.
Those Ebay Tiger flats are apparently what they called the TG 22, sometimes the Bangkok. I was told that they were originally designed as a HJ training shoe....The blue suede pigskin uppers would dye your feet blue for the first few workouts, and a badly fitting pair would chew your toe-nails off. I ran my marathon PR in a pair of 'em, however (that's how long ago my PR was) and have a soft spot for the shoe.
The original Tiger racing flat was a white cotton canvas model with red and blue stripes, TG 4 I think, very briefly available in the U.S. I bought two pairs at the Kobe HQ of Onitsuka in about 1966, but they were a total disaster for me and I ended up giving both pairs away. Perhaps someone of about 100 lbs (45 kg) could run in them; anyone of slightly greater heft would just bash himself to pieces on road surfaces. I used them in a couple of races on the then-new artificial Tartan track surfaces, and in cross-country, but almost crippled myself running a couple of road 10 K's. That was the end of the line for me with them. A few of my friends had similar experiences with the TG 4, although we all liked the TG 22's, the Cortez when it came along, and the nylon-upper blue Nairobi.
Tiger Marathons were my first 'racing'flat in '74. Light, flexible and comfy, FOR THEIR TIME they were, I think, the best there was IF you could handle the pounding. Many could not!
The original Marathon with judicious use of current midsole technology would pass muster today no problem.
I loved the Nairobi. I got a pair of hand me down Bangkoks from my older brother, which were first running shoes. My dad didn't want to spend money on real running shoes until he saw that I was going to stick with it. I loved the Bangkoks becasue they were my first.
Yes, and Amen! You're preachin' to the choir, brother. Back in '72 I picked out a used pair from a bin in the track room when switching from sprints to distance. Loved 'em so much I bought my own pair training for JVXC. Year and half later we won state XC. We ran through the briars, and we ran through the brambles, and we ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go - we ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch us.... Best road and trail flats EVER! Just ordered a pair of Mexico66, and I'm pumped. If I can fight through my sciatica, this ol' timer might take up running again!