Minimalist Racing Flats are no longer being made —— Sad Days

LT 4 wears out for me within 250 miles too, sometimes. They last me anywhere from 2-6 weeks at roughly 70-80 mpw, less if I'm running more than that.

I feel like with the way things are going when my supply of streaks and streak lts runs out, my running will take a nose dive. I don't see anyway to train without these shoes on ebay, which worries me a little. But live in the moment I guess.

Purchased the Saucony Sinister (size 45Euro) based on this thread. Ran some 100 on the track yesterday with them. Closest feeling to running in those Nike flats back in High School. Yet they feel a bit more modern, with softer responsive. Recommended. Made a middle age men feel fast again. In terms of fit, they are still quite snugg (sockless) but just about managable for my relatively wide forefoot.

Had ordered a 45 and 45.5 (my vaporfly size is 45) Rival Waffles as well. As mentioned here, they are very narrow (and too much of that for me). Sadly a no go.

These high stack big drop shoes kill my knees. I've switched to racing flats and instantly knee issues went away.

Right now I am in Puma nitro elite Deviant and love them.

All time favorite was Nike American Eagle back in 1983 ish ?

I hope Nike comes back out with the “ Mariah”

Ill buy that again and I’m too banged up after 4 decades to even go to a race anymore

I'm curious how the Kinvaras are these days? I dove headfirst into these after reading Born to Run in high school and had versions 3, 4, 5, 7, and finally 9. The early versions were some of my favorite trainers ever but between them I started swapping to more standard trainers and then wasn't too thrilled with the final versions before I dropped them.

They're different. I started out with Kinvara 6. It's much different now. They feel chunkier and not the same ground feel.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who likes racing in basic, thin, featherweight racing flats. After years of wearing featherweight flats, I just can't bring myself to switch to supershoes, knowing that, with high probability, I'll see an instant improvement in my race times, based significantly on technology, which won't sit right with me.

I based my goals, years ago, on times I was running while wearing featherweight flats. I plan to stick with them to the extent possible. I even have an extra pair of Altra Vanishes stored away, so I can continue wearing my "old school"-type racers.

It would be insanely ironic for Hoka of all companies to introduce the saviour to the flat, since they were the first company to introduce maximalist shoes to the mainstream.

That's what turned me away after version 9. They added the PowerRun stuff that was basically Adidas boost and, to me, they weren't the Kinvaras I had loved anymore. Even then, I was basically out of my minimalist phase at that point, having a few pairs of Pegs between Kinvaras and even some Saucony Rides, Vomeros, and Structures.

But every time I see this thread bumped I get really nostalgic for that summer when I read Born to Run and took a lot of pride in having a worn out and ripped up pair of Kinvara 3s. Now, I'm fully back on traditional trainers and have been for a while but I do wonder if my current injury issues and general pain comes from how weak my feet have gotten. I think having more minimal shoes really helped me improve my form and strengthen up my feet and it set me up well for a few years at the end of high school and college where I was basically bulletproof and really ran strong (relative to my modest ability).

Sitting in an office or car most of the day may mean I'm too far gone but I love reading about you guys still keeping at it as true minimalists and scouring ebay for the last stock of Streaks! Keep it up!

I got the Kilkenny shoe - and absolutely loved it!

I had to settle for the spiked version (others were not available in my size) so I was concerned...but absolutely amazed that with no spikes in them on the roads I could not tell they were actually spiked. They fit perfect and ran fast.

I have done 7 10 mile tempos so far. Hoping they last. The first 4 runs were A+. The next 3 runs they felt slightly off (hoping that was just from wearing different socks) but I still give them an A-.

I ordered a total of 9 pairs so far (they seem to be running out fast) and am hoping I can get 200-300 miles of quality training in them before turning them into everyday slow run shoes. 9 pairs X 300 miles = 2,700 miles of tempo - ing.

Again thanks for the tip to HRE for recommending these shoes.

Now that I know cross country style shoes work - I know where to look for my future shoes.

I did some digging and came across the asics hyper racer. It appears to be a brand new traditional japanese flat with a 20 mm drop. Right now its only sold on the japanese/asian market but some sizes are available on ebay.

In Japan there is the descente genten rc and other descente shoes under the gente line that appear to be traditional racing flats. They don't seem to be sold by any seller who will ship to the US, but maybe you can find something if you can read japanese.

store.descente.co.jp

【DESCENTE】デサントランニングシューズ『GENTEN』 | デサントストア-DESCENTE STORE-

デサント公式通販。トップアスリートとの共同開発に基づいて機能美を追求したスポーツモードをご提案。 ウェアからスポーツ用品まで！デサント、ルコック、アリーナなどブランド多数。機能性を重視・公式ならではの品揃え・11000円以上で送料...

Link:store.descente.co.jp/feature/descente-...

Fila has the KR 6 which is sold on the Brazillian and South American markets and Austrlia.

Joma has the R5000 which is a fairly minimal flat - feels somewhere between the Japanese flats and the streak lt.

New Balance hanzo is still sold in Japan. The latest model is the 4. It has a 16 mm stack height.

You might find some more things on the world athletics shoe list, but most are very hard to find info on other than if they are legal for distances 800 and above or not.

Streakfly feel strange to me. They sap my legs much more than I'd expect from flats when compared to the Vaporfly, Takumi, etc. I think their lack of a carbon plate / rods really hurts. I pretty much only use it for treadmill jogging anymore

I'm really glad this worked for you. The Killkennys last a long time but if you want a hedge against a time they might be gone check out the New Balance cross country flat, the "Seven" I think it's called.

I just bought a pair of Descente Genten-RC off Mercari Japan. It was very hard to find anywhere that would ship to the US. I think they are used and just being sold by some dude, not a store front, so we'll see if they get to me in a couple to few weeks. Will review when/if I get them.

I'll keep an eye peeled. Good luck with them.

is literally exactly what you're looking for. 14mm stack, zero drop, 6.6 oz, and a wide toe-box to boot.

topoathletic.com

ST-5

Natural running enthusiasts and gym-goers, this minimalist shoe for working out is for you. With the newly refreshed ST-5, we added a ZipFoam™ midsole and lowered the zero drop platform to just 14 mm for a close-to-barefoot e...

Link:www.topoathletic.com/mens-st-5

No one pays attention to Topo, in part because they have a rep of just doing ultra/trail shoes, but their road shoes are probably a great option for a lot of people who have no idea they exist.

Why when cheat-flats are probably chopping 5 or 6 minutes off your 2:55 marathon time. 2:49 sounds a lot better.

Is this the shoe we've all been looking for? $70 6.2oz. can't tell what the stack and drop is, but looks promising. Softer foam might be a deterrent for some.

Maybe, but I've heard those fall apart after like 20 miles. They are made cheap, and thus the cheap price. Made to be an intro racing flat for a kid's xc season really.