Shoe drop preference ?

Zero drop, but with one 5mm drop shoe in the mix. My Achilles, peroneal tendon, neuroma, and PF issues all went away with lots of strength training, foot strength (Moboboard) work, barefoot style shoes at work and casually, and switching to Altras and the Topo cyclone. Torin 5 is my easy day shoe, Escalante Racer my workout and race shoe, occasional easy run. Cyclone I rotate with the Escalante Racer. Have a pair of Rivera’s too but not sure I’m gonna replace it.

I’m a convert to Altra and Topo. Got a marathon coming up in a month, the Escalante Racer’s gonna be my chariot for that.

Tugboat1980 wrote:

Zero drop, but with one 5mm drop shoe in the mix. My Achilles, peroneal tendon, neuroma, and PF issues all went away with lots of strength training, foot strength (Moboboard) work, barefoot style shoes at work and casually, and switching to Altras and the Topo cyclone. Torin 5 is my easy day shoe, Escalante Racer my workout and race shoe, occasional easy run. Cyclone I rotate with the Escalante Racer. Have a pair of Rivera’s too but not sure I’m gonna replace it.

I’m a convert to Altra and Topo. Got a marathon coming up in a month, the Escalante Racer’s gonna be my chariot for that.

I’ve found having one stable-but-not-stability 5mm shoe (cyclone) in the mix helps to give my feet and calves a break occasionally.

7-9mm. Used to have Brooks PureFlow, which had less drop, and my Achilles trouble went away after I switched to higher-drop.

Bond 007 wrote:

Shoe drop : height difference between ball and heel (has nothing to do with cushion height)

Do you prefer a certain drop and why?

The only difference heel drop makes is to move overuse stress points from the lower leg (with low heel drop) to higher up in the knees and hips (with higher heel drop). I use shoes with different drops in my rotation for diversity benefits.

Never ever thought about it. Not even once.

6-8mm for road running. 6mm for short, faster runs, 8mm for long run.

A low drop <=4mm creates more pressure on the calves, archilles tendon, and with a high drop heel striking is more likely.

So 6-8mm is my compromise. Sometimes 10mm for very easy pace.

I remember trying the new balance beacon which are a 5mm drop and they gave me posterior tibial tendonitis.

I prefer 10mm drop.

My achilles started hurting me a year or two ago while wearing the Pegasus (10mm drop) I switched to the Clifton (5mm drop) still hurt. I put in a heel insert of unknown height, probably 5-10mm and it fixed my problems with the heel. But I race and sometimes workout in next% which is a 8mm heel drop and I don't have pain there even without a heel insert. I'm not sure why since it's less than the 10mm from Pegasus and it still hurts with the Pegasus unless I have the heel insert. Summary, I'd say about 10mm is a good height, I wouldn't do zero or any less than 5.

4-8mm, 10 - 12(c'mon brooks ghost) is too high, any lower and your options start to wear thin.

run789 wrote:

I remember trying the new balance beacon which are a 5mm drop and they gave me posterior tibial tendonitis.

I prefer 10mm drop.

If we are keeping score - I switched to the NB Beacon and they corrected my patellar tendonitis, which I developed from a 10 mm shoe.

lexel wrote:

6-8mm for road running. 6mm for short, faster runs, 8mm for long run.

A low drop <=4mm creates more pressure on the calves, archilles tendon, and with a high drop heel striking is more likely.

So 6-8mm is my compromise. Sometimes 10mm for very easy pace.

Look at how much 2mm is on a ruler. Do you really think that makes any difference?

rewqrewq wrote:

Look at how much 2mm is on a ruler. Do you really think that makes any difference?

Funny, i did some calculations month ago and found how little degrees difference that is. :)

But the truth is, i feel it during running. It is different.

trail - 4 mm

road - 6 mm

race - 8 mm