Why havent shoes improved in 30 years? 300-500 miles the max?

Many products could be made to last longer however companies choose to instead make a product that lasts a reasonable amount of time, looks stylish and the product looks somewhat attractive the entire period that a customer uses the product for. This is a better buisiness model than making a really good, long lasting model in products that the technology changes(phones) or a gets "WORN" out. Other examples include light bulbs and sticky notes. This is called predetermined warranty.

they have ...you just keep getting fatter and dominating the soles of your shoes with that gut bouncing on them

i only get 50 miles on each pair of shoes i wear. kappa ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

They have improved. I rarely get less than 700 out of a pair of shoes. The best shoes for me, the adizero rocket I never had a pair I didn't put 1000 in. I trained inonly 3 pairs of shoes - 2 rockets and asics ds racers from november of 2011 to june of 2012. Sadly the adizero hagio doesn't work for me at all, even though its supposed to be a replacement for the rocket.

It is due to planned obsolescence.

Back when Asics was Tiger and the Cortez/Corsair was their main training shoe they advertised that a pair would last for 3,000 miles. I never pushed them that far but 2,000 was pretty much a given for a pair of shoes back then and the cost was much lower in real terms than anything on the market today. From a durability standpoint shoes actually have regressed.

Forty years ago when it was common for people to train 4,000-5,000 miles a year and runners were often in school or just out and maybe working part time, a shoe company selling expensive shoes that needed replacing 8-10 times a year wasn't going to sell much of anything. Today runners are generally affluent and as a group maybe run half as much as we did back then. Durability and economy were once essential selling points for a running shoe. Now they really aren't.

I'm not convinced that the "replace your shoes every 500 miles" thing isn't just a marketing gimmick. I use racing shoes that have almost no cushion and get 2,000 or so miles per pair but because they have almost no cushion there's not much in those shoes that can "break down." Maybe a cushier shoe would be different.

But here's a little trick I learned when I used shoes with more cushioning. Get a pair of Spenco insoles and use them. The cushioning will be as good as when the shoe was new and you can use the shoe until the sole wears out which takes much longer than 500 miles to happen.

OP

The same question could be asked about many products. Several auto engineers claim that the technology for engines that use little or no fuel is there, and has been there for years, but the oil companies would not allow these engines to be produced for obvious reasons.

Now, look at a pair of running shoes. As it is, the manufacturers claim to make little profit. Imagine these same shoes lasting longer?

Not only would all shoes, including NB be made in a third world country, but the prices would be much higher.

Most buyers of running shoes don't run more than 500 miles before the next model comes out.

I find the really light weight shoes I train in last way longer than any beefy "supportive" shoes I used to train in. I am running in Nike Streak XC that have somewhere north of 1500 miles on them. Eventually the upper will fall apart enough for me to grudgingly toss them.

Running shoes back in the day had inferior soles that would wear out and come unglued. I remember using "Shoe Goo" to try to get some more miles out of an expensive pair of Nikes I had ($65!!!). I never cared about how the shoes felt when I was younger because I had rubber legs that could run on cement all day. You only start caring about shoes feeling worn out when you get older.

That being said, the Adidas boost seems to last longer than MoGo and all the other stuff out there. I just put @700 mi on a pair and only bought new ones because the webbing on the shoes were starting to tear.

I regularly get 1000+ miles out of my Skora Running shoes, wearing them until the upper fails, generally. The nice thing about them is they are fairly minimal and with a higher density outsole, so there's less compression and wear.

I only had soles come off with Nikes. The heels all wore down over time but it took a lot longer than 500 miles and you could rebuild them pretty easily with Shoe Goo or a glue gun. I do remember that the John Walker shoe from Brooks faded badly when it got wet and left my socks blue.