Running Shoe Brand "Tiers"

Every brand makes a good shoe and every brand makes a bad shoe. Find one that works for you. Unless they're paying you, brand loyalty is stupid.

As for the elites, they wear what the highest bidder pays them to wear.

What weird marketing scheme is this by On? No way any runner thinks they're on Tier 1b...

Saucony has a gem of a marathon racer with the Endorphin Pro. I am loving this shoe and for me at least it is better that the vaporfly series.

Never understood the distaste for Hoka. I have only pleasant things to say about the Clifton/Bondi/Carbon X

Standard Setter wrote:

Tier 1

Brooks, HOKA, Nike

Tier 2

adidas, New Balance, Saucony, Salomon, Altra, Asics

Tier 3

Under Armour, Mizuno

Tier 4

Puma, ON, Skechers, The North Face, Reebok

Accurate. Put some respect on Hoka people.

Tier 1:

Saucony, Asics, New Balance, Nike, Mizuno

Mizuno has great training shoes but limited racing shoes; so is Tier 1 for that category at least.

Nike is the opposite with sub-par trainers and great racing shoes. They make the best spikes and flats on the planet - due to that can't exclude them from Tier 1

Saucony, Asics, NB - all acceptable brands, can't hate

Tier 2: Brooks, Hoka, Adidas

Lots of people wear them, they are functional, not as good as other shoes

Tier 3:

Skechers, Under Armour, Reebok, On

Trying to be a thing but currently sub-par relative to other brands

Tier 4

Altra, Puma, Karhu, Diadora, Topo Athletic, Arc'Teryx, Salomon, The North Face

You would judge someone if they told you they were training in any of these

The number of elite runners in the front of the pack at races speaks to two things, (1) the current tech in their top of the line shoes, and (2) the amount of money they have to splash around (not saying that is a bad or evil thing, but it is a critical fact in their penetration of the pack of elite runners).

As for defects, I doubt that there are reliable industry studies by brand and model, and we all will have our own experience. For me, I found the quality control in Nike shoes to be poor enough that I gave up on them. I have had Newtons in my show rotation for over a decade, and never had an issue. I am on my second pair of On Cloudflows and were not defects, which reflects the experience of a couple of other runners I spoke with who also wear On shoes. Thinking back over more than five decades of running, I have only had manufacturing defects in Nikes. And other brands I have used include Saucony, Adidas, Brooks, and New Balance. I didn't love all the models I tried, but they didn't have manufacturing defects.

I recently considered giving Nike another chance, and perused their website to try to find a shoe that fit my needs. For most models the stack heights and drops were unacceptable, or I couldn't evaluate them because Nike's own site didn't provide drop information.

Ok so I don't disagree with a lot of what you said, but I'll make my own based on the brands you listed. Working at a running store and training in basically all of these has lent me to at least some sort of insight maybe other people don't have. Also, split it up speed vs training. I won't include the shoes I haven't run in, so that I won't seem misinformed.

Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Skechers, mizuno, nike, Adidas, under armour, reebok, on, altra, asics, hoka, puma, karhu.

Training Shoes:

Tier 1

Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Hoka, Mizuno.

All of these brands are well-known and respected for their trainers, Brooks especially. The brooks ghost, Saucony Ride, Hoka Clifton, Mizuno Wave rider, are all known as goldilocks shoes because of their sweet spot for training. I personally have trained in every single one of these brands extensively, and think they are all good at being trainers. Also, shoutout to Saucony for killing it with the Endorphin line up.

Tier 2

Skechers, Nike, Adidas, Altra

It seems weird to not put Adidas and Nike up at the top, but they are much better at doing speed shoes than trainers. I was tempted with the pegasus and infinity react to put Nike up top, but I feel like they are not as much on the same level. Could put Nike as a 1b. Altra seems gimmicky, but the Torin 4.5 plush is legitimately comfortable for slower days and the escalante better for more up-tempo. Skechers Go Run ride is a great shoe, and their hyperburst foam is solid. Name alone could be why I'm putting it in tier 2.

Tier 3

Asics, Puma, Under Armour, Reebok, On

They are all ok, but not great. On could be a 2b, but I just think that their shoes aren't objectively better than anything else in tier 3. Asics is great for those people who walk/jog, but it's a very select population that truly choose to run in them, and I'm not one. Puma, Reebok, and Under Armour have good shoes here and there, but are better at other things than running shoes.

Tier 4

Karhu

I hate Karhu.

Speed Shoes:

Tier 1+:

Nike

Say what you want about Nike, but their shoes are absolutely killer for speed. No need to say more, we all know what I'm talking about.

Tier 1:

Saucony, Adidas, Skechers

I absolutely love the Endorphin Pro, and Adidas and Skechers have great speed shoes as well.

Tier 2:

Brooks, New Balance, Asics

Brooks Hyperion, New Balance Fuel Cell RC elite, Asics Metaracer are sub-tier carbon plate type shoes, not awful but not great.

Tier 3:

Hoka, On

Carbon X is awesome, but I can't rank it on one shoe alone. (Rincon counts as a trainer in my book). On Cloudboom isn't great, so ranking them low.

N/A

Puma, Under Armour, Reebok, Altra. I don't know enough about them to rank them.

I agree with this ranking.

Maybe a tier 5 for just on. They are trying to not be unique but its just bizarre and non functional. "I really like ons" translates to "i dont really run"/"one parkrun a week is a lot"

It's a bit asinine to make such such statements for whole brands. There are good models and bad models for every brand , but not good brands and bad brands. Also Puma, Diadora and North Face have some nice models, if you cared to find out. But of course what can you expect by somebody who's unable to look beyond his front garden.... After all you guys still cannot get the best running flat in the market..... Try to guess which one

Tier One: Brooks, Saucony, Adidas, Nike, New Balance, Skechers

Tier Ten: Everyone else.

kirkandorules wrote:

Brooks - fat overpronating hobbyjoggers

ASICS - fat overpronating hobbyjoggers and people who were fast in 1998

New Balance - old people

Usually I run in Brooks and Asics.

Recently I bought 2 pairs of NB because they were cheap and do the job.

But you have a point. I was a lot faster in 98 and I am getting older.

Sure Nike makes bs like free runs but i mean with stuff like pegs they need to be tier 1.

HOKA is love or hate. Either 1 or 4.

Facts. A few of my friends wear Hoka for high mileage and cushion, but they're ugly AF and the build quality is terrible. Fortunately Hoka has a decent return policy, but what good is it if you have to return the same pair of shoes three different times in a year for the exact same tear in the upper?

Wasn't Sarah Sellers wearing the Alphafly at the US Olympic Trials despite being sponsored by Altra?

Based on the running shoes I've bought, and how they worked for me.

Tier 1

------

Skechers, Reebok

Finding Skechers made running shoes was a revelation, and I've been through over 10 pairs since finding them. Shame the company don't promote them in the UK, so the running shoes are not easy to find and the company are frustrating.

Reebok another revelation, but their floatride pebax shoes are brilliant (and cheap)

Tier 2

------

Nike, Merrell

I've had good shoes that worked for me from these, and would be happy to get more from them.

Tier 3

------

Brooks, New Balance, Puma

Ok shoes, but not rushing to try any more.

Tier 4

------

Mizuno, Asics, On Running

Shoes that just did not work for me. Ascis were the worst of the lot I've tried, people rave about them but the one's I've tried have been heavy, slow and no fun at all.

I've never owned Saucony, Altra, Hoka, etc

Skechers is crushing it. Didn't want to buy them because of the name. Kept seeing good reviews. Liked the price. Tried them out. Liked them.

Now I own and run only in Skechers. Razor 3 is the best shoe on the market over the last couple years in my opinion.

Sample size n=1.

Tier 1:

Nike

Tier 2:

Adidas

Tier 3:

Brooks, Asics, Saucony

Tier 4:

Skechers, Reebok, Mizuno, Hoka

Tier 5:

Under Armour, Altra

10/10

deleuze wrote:

Skechers is crushing it. Didn't want to buy them because of the name. Kept seeing good reviews. Liked the price. Tried them out. Liked them.

Now I own and run only in Skechers. Razor 3 is the best shoe on the market over the last couple years in my opinion.

Sample size n=1.

Definitely. Hyperburst foam is the real deal, and also pretty affordable. Only ding I've seen against them is inconsistent sizing and durability of shoes with exposed outsole foam. In some ways it's good to be more of an upstart, since they don't have the temptation to keep a bunch of heavy legacy shoes in the lineup (ASICS).

Reebok also made one of the best ever racing flats last year (Run Fast Pro), but I can't comment on their other shoes.