Most Hated Company In Running???

CROCK wrote:

ESPN. They killed Dyestat...

Oh god, I remember that. ESPN took a messageboard visited by thousands of people a day and turned it into crap virtually overnight. Their replacement boards for dyestat were so bad that absolutely no one would post there. This definitely is my number one. Plus they insist people would rather watch poker on tv than running. Oh and besides poker, they only show talk shows. Seriously for a sports network, they have awfully few sports. This is the one network that should have sports playing during the day, the one where you're sleeping in or just home early in the afternoon you can see sports, not freaking talk shows. I don't mean sportscenter, that one is ok. Not good, ok. Their top 10 is really the top 10 baseball, football, hockey, and soccer plays of the week. I think I saw a wr get 4th one time behind a slam dunk or something.

Oiselle - I kind of like these gals. Its female only and their women's clothes are no better than nike, adidas, new balance (prob worse than new balance), et al. At least they are doing something to popularize the sport instead of hiding their fairy star boy and declaring xc courses are too tough for him.

Nike - From the crappy uppers on their flats, designed to rip before you get to race 2 to their ridiculously draconian contracts, these guys are up there. Yet, without them who'd be sponsoring usatfs and what not. Quite possible they paid some bribes or did some favors to get that though, who knows. They make the best running shorts for sure, but new balance is better in every other form of apparel.

Brooks - great company marketed at the blue collar runner turned to hobby jogger trash. Their t series racer was the only thing they had going though, but up to the t5 boy was it great. Unfortunately, their ceo basically came out of the closet and said running is for funsies not competition and insulted serious runners. I'd never buy a brooks product again unless they rereleased the t5 (which they'd do if they had any sense).

Adidas - great if boost works for you. If you're in that tiny percent of runners who don't bounce when they run, their shoes aren't going to work and are going to feel awful.

tracksmith - pretentious northeasterners. They are like the frat boy who never grew up. Meter magazine was cool, their saving grace. They dropped that though. You can get lookbooks from them for free, which kind of have articles, but mostly just slice of life stories with people wearing their gear. Their gear is overpriced and no better, usually worse than other brands.

all nonmentioned - they're ok I guess

Summary: ESPN is the worst. Bunch of twats.

No vote for them wrote:

I'm going with Lululemon or the Swoosh company.

It's hard for me to say Lululemon because they aren't a running company. At their heart, they are an athleisure company. Do they make running apparel? Yes. Does it mean they are a running company? No.

I was just in one of their NYC stores this weekend, killing some time. Their mens running stuff is atrocious. Their "lightweight" running jacket has side pockets. All of their shirts seemed to be rather heavy. Their shorts material felt, I don't know..scratchy? cheap?

No vote for them wrote:

Blkrbn wrote:

Tracksmith

Only on LRC. I've mentioned Tracksmith to some non-runners and also many runners and no one knew who they were .They can't be the most anything. If they get the market cap of Lululemon?

I'm going with Lululemon or the Swoosh company.

Huh? Why the lulu hate? Not a fan of all the smokin hot 20-30somethings wearing athleisure around all day?

Any Which Way But Loose wrote:

oldfart wrote:

I have nothing against flotrack. Yes, the quality is lacking and the price is somewhat high but there is nothing stopping a competitor from entering the market and providing a superior experience at lower cost.

My vote for most hated is NBC. The death of T&F can be traced directly to their coverage of the 1972 Olympics.

Olympic Coverage in 1972 was on ABC.

Exactly

Lemon Lime 5000 metre runner wrote:

Run Gum and anything else connected to Nick Symmonds.

+1

Anyone who has ever had to endure speaking with these three turds will know they are the most hated company.

5 pages in this thread and no one mentioned ACTIVE.COM ????

Active.com is the ticketmaster of running events. They suck with their processing charges and spam email. Plus they love to trick you into subscribing to stuff you don't want.

I don't see how anyone can hate any shoe company more than active.com

Active.com was back on the first page. Try to keep up.

Active Sucks wrote:

5 pages in this thread and no one mentioned ACTIVE.COM ????

Active.com is the ticketmaster of running events. They suck with their processing charges and spam email. Plus they love to trick you into subscribing to stuff you don't want.

I don't see how anyone can hate any shoe company more than active.com

Completely dodgy enterprise. I refuse to run any race that uses Active for their online registration.

I’m not rich. No way. I buy stuff that lasts. My backpacking gear is from the 70s. I have a snow lion sleeping bag that’s still good for -5 deg. Paid $130 for it in ‘76. The company is extinct. I buy tracksmith stuff prudently. It wears well. My local running store sells brooks, Saucony, Nike, etc. shorts and tops for $35 to $75, generally. My tracksmith stuff is def comparable, if not cheaper. (Not a short out there that beats their Session in heat and humidity.)