are es gee wrote:
wejo wrote:
The top 4 shoes on LetsRun in terms of # of reviews can be bought for under $85
Translation: The most expensive shoes are not the ones bought that most people buy.
"Most popular" as rated as "most reviews" says nothing about the quality of the shoe or the rating. It just means a bunch of people bought it (possibly because it was cheap).
Folks on these boards represent the top 1% of runners in the US. They know which shoes work for them, log thousands of miles, and have no need to try a new model until the ones they are rely on become scarce. Often, they receive free shoes from sponsors of their club, or are gifted them by friends that work in the running industry.
As a result, it only makes sense that the most popular shoes purchased by people on this site are last year’s version of a proven shoe (ex: Nike Pegasus 35). You are likely to find the exact same prices for these shoes at any speciality store that still carries those models and has them on sale to create space for their new inventory (usually ~ 6-9 months after model release) or marathon expo.
Buying these older models through the LRC affiliate links or off amazon is the same thing as buying these from a bargain bin at your local running store. There is one big difference though, and it is the aggregate of inventory that is found through those links that no local store can compete with. That being said, amazon isn’t exactly sponsoring your local 10k, packet pick ups, hiring local college track athletes, donating to your local trail system, organizing group runs, or hosting your running club.
Nothing wrong with ordering online, but give your local store a call and see what their prices and availability are in those models if you benefit from their involvement in any of the above ^^^. They may be able to provide the exact same shoe that day to you for the same prices. If they can’t, then yeah get LRC them affiliate $$$ and order through the links provided here.