Not buying Nike shoes anymore - which company then?

I gave up buying Nike shoes years ago. Then after the Lance fiasco stopped buying their kit too.

I shifted to NB which do a fair bit for the sport. Agreed that Hoka are doing a lot of good, but I know way too many people who have had their feet screwed up by the shoes.

For the last almost 2yrs I have run in Altras and have loved them: zero drop and foot shaped toe boxes make perfect sense. Have been injury free since. The Superior 2.0 is a great lightweight trail shoe, but the One 2.0 (and now 2.5) is the best lightweight road shoe I have ever run in. Very light and yet astonishingly soft, cushioned ride. Almost all of my miles are done in these shoes now.

Baconn wrote:

Adidas easily has the best trainers/flats.

Bostons or Adios to train in, Hagios for speedwork and tempos. They're light, durable as hell, and seem to have the lowest injury correlation from the people I have trained with.

Adidas is just as evil as Nike.

check the numbers wrote:

Pinche Gringo wrote:

Generally true, but the Streak LTs are awesome all-around shoes.

The Streak LTs may be awesome, but an inside source told me 50% of all revenue from the purchases of Streaks goes towards testosterone cream for Galen.

Well then, clearly not enough people are buying those shoes. Gaylen is to masculinity as John Mayer is to blues music.

Moby Dick wrote:

Just ordered 3 pairs of Lunar Tempos from Nike.com A pair of 2" racing shorts and a Miler singlet. LOVE NIKE. LOVE GATLIN. Hate all of you.

If you're boycotting Nike shoes/gear/etc, please realize you can do it for a personal reason and feel good about it, that's completely true. But for the poster who claimed it will "hit them where it hurts" please know that Nike don't care. Their running line isn't the main line, and a small decline (

I'd be willing to bet that all the people on letsrun account for a meaningful portion of Nike's sales of spikes and flats though. Nothing crazy, but perhaps a few percent. And believe me, if sales of spikes/flats declined by several percent, Nike would notice.

The thing that sucks is that I love Nike apparel but hate the company. When it comes to shoes, though - Brooks all the way. Smooth, plush ride AKA extremely comfortable.

Wtf??? wrote:

Any Company wrote:

Aside from spikes, Nike makes terrible shoes. Brooks is the next worst. Any company you go with will be better than those two. Asics, NB, Adidas, Reebok, Mizuno, Saucony, all have far superior spikes. Probably want to go with Saucony or NB for spikes.

He is likely not talking about spikes. And saying Brooks makes the next worst shoes is laughable. You may not like them, but they easily have the best shoes across the entire line and to say they are one of the worst shows you don't know what you're talking about.

Have to agree, Brooks are aweful shoes - heavy >9oz , big heel to toe drop >10mm, really bad fitting midsole/tongue burrito wrap... just doesn't work for trainers or racers. With that said, at least they have spikes. Im also happy about their support of athletes unfortunately I cannot say the same about their shoes.

Pureflow 4 which is their 4mm drop 'light weight' trainer @ 8.6oz, still has a horrible fit and the pod outsole is awkward. Saucony, Skechers, Adidas, New Balance, Nike..just about everyone are using 6-7oz trainers now.

Brooks trainer shoe is Launch 2, @ 9.8oz 10mm drop. Who is this shoe for? Brooks sells it as a road/track shoe. Assuming you like running in stillettos I guess it is their version of the Pagasus. I just don't see how it can be sold as a track/road shoe. Look at every other brand, even hunky hoka; they offer

100milepants wrote:

I gave up buying Nike shoes years ago. Then after the Lance fiasco stopped buying their kit too.

I shifted to NB which do a fair bit for the sport. Agreed that Hoka are doing a lot of good, but I know way too many people who have had their feet screwed up by the shoes.

For the last almost 2yrs I have run in Altras and have loved them: zero drop and foot shaped toe boxes make perfect sense. Have been injury free since. The Superior 2.0 is a great lightweight trail shoe, but the One 2.0 (and now 2.5) is the best lightweight road shoe I have ever run in. Very light and yet astonishingly soft, cushioned ride. Almost all of my miles are done in these shoes now.

++1 The Altra One2 shoe is amazing. Nike wishes they made a shoe like this. Extremely light and flexible, almost zero drop, and fantastic cushioning, especially for forefoot strikers like me. So easy to run fast in. Get the One2 on sale now as the 2.5 just came out with very few changes.

Haven't worn Nike in 2 decades. The don't make quality shoes for forefoot runners that last, too much gimmick not enough substance.

Started with Adidas, when to Saucony, now Brooks seems to be the best (although the life span isn't great).

I ran in the Pegasus for three years (2012-2014) and switched to the Hoka One One Clifton out of curiosity. It's an all around amazing shoe with it's low drop, lightweight frame, and tons of cushioning. In my opinion, they're like the Pegasus, only softer.

Not to mention Hoka has been trying really hard to fund and support American track and field meets for both HS and Pros. Few other companies can claim they try as hard as them, especially for their brief history.

Why not wear what the highest % of runners, who had to qualify for the Boston Marathon, wear: See attached story -

http://running.competitor.com/2015/05/photos/the-shoes-of-the-2015-boston-marathon_128889

Wear the shoe that is best for you foot, and know that each year the shoe companies tweak their best selling shoes, to make them better. Wearing the same style of shoe for 4 years, and then the new one is awful for you foot is very common.

Note also that in the Specialty Run Channel of running stores, around 500 in the USA, Nike is below 10% market share. If they wanted to dominate this market, they could. But they prefer to have 56% of the Running shoe market, with #2 ASICS at 16% (2015 data, as of March). Brooks has 2-3% of the total running shoe market.

Loved Moby Dick's post above, had the balls to disagree with the main stream. My dillemma is the opposite of MB's in a way, and opposite of OP, too.

I'm totallly pro-drug. (Seriously, I'm not kidding.). Problem is, I think Nike shoes suck and never ran in them in the first place. I do believe PED use should be more common, but it's difficult to patronize a company attempting and/or succeeding at this agenda if they don't sell anything I want.

Do I take the opposite path of OP and everyone else here and start wearing Nike as a show of solidarity? Join Moby and not only root for their courage but also give them money and wear their shoes/gear?

I'm in asics and saucony now. What do I do. Also, any advice on non-cream T?

My tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia was wearing a pair of Newtons. Give it a try.

Saucony

Huddle & True the peoples distance runners! How could you not respect them?

Memo to everyone in this thread:

DO NOT PIMP OUT YOUR FEET FOR A POLITICAL OR SOCIAL STATEMENT.

Your feet are your running livelyhood. If you feel compelled to make a statement regarding Nike or any other company, do so via those products that are secondary to your running success, aka singlets, shorts.

Personally, I'd wear Vlad Putin's Commie Clogs if they felt good on my feet.

Disclaimer: I do not currenty wear Nike's, haven't worn them since they dumped the Skylon years ago, but would return to them in a heartbeat if they came out with something i like.

Huddle true wrote:

Saucony

Huddle & True the peoples distance runners! How could you not respect them?

+1 for this

Well...anyone else can't be as bad as Nike. I run in Asics, Ryan Hall doesn't strike me as someone engaging in roid rage.

Does mizuno sponsor any big runners? /whats their stance on doping?

Sock Uh Nee wrote:

Saucony. They have clauses in their athletes contracts which require complete repayment of all earnings if they ever test positive.

Exactly. And they are making some of the best stuff on the market right now. Rarely have brand loyalty, but I've become a HUGE Saucony fan for multiple reasons.

Try NB. I love the new 1500v1 model.