I'm working on a story right now about stores -- or, possibly individuals -- who take a razor blade to running shoes for their customers and basically turn normal running shoes into Nike Frees.
Also, anyone who removes hard plastic arch supports and other gimmicks from the soles/midsoles of shoes.
If so, please e-mail me:
Thanks.
bump
With a small pocket knife I cut nearly the entire midsole off of some old magic racers so that the heel-forefoot drop is zero. I left the blown rubber on the forefoot where my foot strikes but cut everything else off so its just a thin layer of EVA under my heel. They work great, like Im running barefoot with some protection. I dont know how durable they will be, but as of now they are the best flats (in terms of comfort and minimalism) I've trained in.
No
I think you know the king of this type surgery, Mike. It ain't Sally Nicholson, i tell you that!
Haven't done it in decades, but when I was a young gun (more like a pea shooter) I would slice the forefoot of my Brooks villanovas and my Vantages. I would also slice material from my American Eagles and waffle racers. Stopped slicing the bottoms when Nike produced the Daybreak.
Nike rep Sue Hughes had a ton of those in her living room once and when I asked she told me it's the only shoe Joanie will wear.
Middleman is a freak, but so are you Foley.
Let glue some tire rubber to the bottom of the shoes while we are at it.
I know the store you're talking about. You could just catch one of his customers on the way in or out. I don't even think Jeff would mind. But then again, I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first time, I got married 5 years ago...)
You could also talk to Sally or Michael and see if they have any customers who used to have their shoes cut at R.I. (and that's NOT Rhode Island)
I've heard that Paul Carroza at Run Tex in Austin used to do this regularly for customers. I've also heard he trains exclusively in Frees now. You can likely reach him through runtex.com.