worst running shoe gimmick ever

At least the Bowerman Webb had no ill effects.

reebok DMX, hands down.

the Reebok 'pump' shoe

I don't think they had Pump's that were running shoes.

Nike made a shoe that laced on the side. The old Adidas TRX had a "spoiler" on the back. Adidas had a shoe with removeable plugs for varying firmness. Someone tried a shoe with a velcro outsole that could be switched out.

The stupid Adidas "smart" shoe or whatever with the computer chip.

They did have pump shoes and the best/worst gimmick was the Puma Disc. Another gimmick, Asics split tongue of the early-mid 90's.

For starters, it was the Dellinger web. Bowerman's contribution to running shoes was the waffle sole with a different company (Nike-- you may have heard of them), not adidas.

Saucony: varus wedge (endorsed by Rod Dixon no less)

Nike: LD 1000 (the first move away from minimalist midsoles), followed shortly thereafter by air soles.

Reebok: the pump (what were they thinking?)

Nike LDV

Ah man, I loved the LDV. I must have had 5 or 6 pairs when I was in High School. I was in San Fran a few years back and some store had a retro pair of LDV's. I will admit I was always glad to get the bright yellow a bit dingy.

Kangaroos has a racing team for a while that included John Tuttle, if my memory serves. I think they had some sweet pink racing flats. I don't think they had a pocket, though.

Air Rift. The one with the split toe and special socks. Yeah those lasted.

air jordan, what a crock that was

These weren't running shoes, but anyone rememeber "the Catapults?" I believe by converse.

Chase Me With a Saw. wrote:

Air Rift. The one with the split toe and special socks. Yeah those lasted.

VAVoting wrote:

Ah man, I loved the LDV. I must have had 5 or 6 pairs when I was in High School. I was in San Fran a few years back and some store had a retro pair of LDV's. I will admit I was always glad to get the bright yellow a bit dingy.

I wore the LDV. Before that, I wore the LD1000, which was a much more extreme predecessor to the LDV. The soles were flared so much that my calves had cut marks from the shoes.

Brian wrote:

I don't think they had a pocket, though.

But some of them were made out of kangaroo leather. Seriously.

Brooks had the Varus Wedge. That thing injured more runners than just about any other gimmick ever marketed.

VAVoting wrote:

Ah man, I loved the LDV. I must have had 5 or 6 pairs when I was in High School. I was in San Fran a few years back and some store had a retro pair of LDV's. I will admit I was always glad to get the bright yellow a bit dingy.

See oldguy's post below. From now on my posting name will be bart"idon'tknowthef'ingdifferencebetweenthegreatLDVandtheworstgimmickeverLD1000"r

Sorry for the confusion.