Asics Signs Bates and Kieffer

zoomzoomzoom wrote:

the problem is the carbon spring, if Nike just removed that, most people would have far less of a problem with the shoe, I'd actually have no problem if it was just a light pebax shoe because there are others

carbon springs have no place in running, it's mechanical doping, a foreign device other than foam or stability enhancements for those with form problems, even a spike plate can be justified but that's not what's in vaporflys or any other new nike models

Didn't Adidas have a carbon plate (pro plate) in one of their shoes back in the early 2000s? I don't know whether any world records were set in those shoes and I don't know why Adidas stopped making them- did they not give the same performance benefit as the Nikes?

Going further back to the 1990s, I thought Fila made some racing flats which had a carbon plate in the sole. If I recall correctly, German Silva wore these when he won one of the NY marathons back then.

Anon,

Sally wrote that they were in the fight of their life and survived the round. Not a very positive message. Winning the fight would have communicated long-term sustainable growth. They are basically living paycheck to paycheck, which is expected given their over-expenditure in sku and athlete.

They are not in the free and clear. They need to double revenues in 2019 to call this a successful trajectory.

Allie runs this weekend at RnR, so we know know then if she’s full ASICS https://www.oiselle.com/athletes

Yes Fila had the K4 Racer in which Paul Tergat ran the first 2:04 in. I currently have the K4 racer (400miles done) now as a museum piece. The plate in the K4 racer goes just ahead of heel all the way to toes and it's on a rocker platform. It weighed in at 8oz and was Fast. It feels like 8mm drop. **The Fila plate was made out of Kevlar circa 1999 first being tested at Fila Discovery Camp. **Agent Josh Cox care to chime in??

Adidas had the ProPlate that was Graphite but the shoe w/o being on a precurved rocker suffered from being stiff not moving with the foot...

Coach Hudson has worked in Run specialty/footwear/reps like he said in the LRC interview in NYC he's familiar with the mechanical propulsion and is familiar with shoes being made on a custom last ala Bill Rodgers, Meb. As Allie's Coach I'm sure he took a consultant viewpoint in the negotiations if Asics wasn't in Prototype Stage ala Hyperion Elite(Ritz, Shadrack,Des) or Saucony(Ward) then deal was turned down for Allie to still take on Asics that just means she can train/race in VF.

Hudson knows contacts in the Swoosh industry and all those rotating VFs, Pegasus that Allie trains/races in, I don't think she drove out to LRS and paid for.

***Paging Jonathon Gault please do an interview w/Kieffer/Bates and ask them real questions about this

fwiw Mcloglan, Hall, Griffiths all race in the Lyteracer which is based off a Japanese Tarther platform from 13+years ago.

If all of you think an athlete is tied to a sponsors shoe look at all the Skechers, NB, UA athletes at NYC, CIM all wearing VF. There's always a compromise the social media engine will write up most of the negotiations-"posting x number of training/racing photos/month shown from*ankle up.

In particular:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmYnWvLBAZf/

Why do you come here if you're such a snob who hates the sport?

probably for the same reason you come on.

klkj wrote:

Allie got north of $120k.

If that is even remotely true, the new Asics manager is even more dumb than the last guy who signed Candace to a high long term no reductions deal.

lkjjl wrote:

Anon,

Sally wrote that they were in the fight of their life and survived the round. Not a very positive message. Winning the fight would have communicated long-term sustainable growth. They are basically living paycheck to paycheck, which is expected given their over-expenditure in sku and athlete.

They are not in the free and clear. They need to double revenues in 2019 to call this a successful trajectory.

This is what she said:

The reality is that a small growing business is in the fight for its life every moment of every dog year. And in 2018, we fought hard. And I’m happy to report we won this round. We are closing on our best year ever. We took care of those operational details, we grew by double digits, and ultimately soared to a triumphant finish.

No question Oiselle is a small company. And yes, life as a small company is a day-to day battle, and they might not make it. And yes, their gear and stipend deals are tiny and supported by the fees that people pay to join the volee “team.” What’s the problem with any of this? Would you rather not have developmental athletes have a chance at gear and a couple of bucks for meets and travel? Do you think volee members should not be able to decide to throw a few bucks toward sponsorships? What’s the harm? We are talking adults with discretionary income deciding to buy clothes or support athletes who likely don’t yet have other sponsorship options. And a brand deciding how to promote itself. No one is conscripted.

I personally am not into the Instagram/ social media stuff AT ALL, but I can unfollow or block folks that are all product (Oiselle or any other company) all the time.

I’d rather small brands try to make a go of it — Oiselle, Rabbit, Tracksmith — whether or not any individual brand speaks to me personally.

Let's stop referring to them as carbon springs. It's a relatively thin stationary plate. I've not seen any study that says the plate is actually acting as a spring. Now if governing bodies want to legislate carbon plates out I'm fine with that. But let's be more honest about the action happening when the shoe is in use. If the Hoka Carbon based shoe made it to market first I'm rather certain the debate would be different.

Absolutely clueless wrote:

klkj wrote:

Allie got north of $120k.

If that is even remotely true, the new Asics manager is even more dumb than the last guy who signed Candace to a high long term no reductions deal.

There's no way Asics paid anywhere near that unless it's a ten year contract. The new guy is the old guy, right? Didn't Ben Caeser go back after leaving Nike??

BTW, Ryan is no longer with Asics. He did a deal with some compression wear company after he started lifting a few years back.

Bottom line, Asics can sign whoever they want, their problem is the shoes...being left behind. They turned their attention to a different consumer (and wasted money on stupid celebrity endorsements) and didn't focus on running and now it's biting them in the ass.

All wrote:

Absolutely clueless wrote:

If that is even remotely true, the new Asics manager is even more dumb than the last guy who signed Candace to a high long term no reductions deal.

There's no way Asics paid anywhere near that unless it's a ten year contract. The new guy is the old guy, right? Didn't Ben Caeser go back after leaving Nike??

BTW, Ryan is no longer with Asics. He did a deal with some compression wear company after he started lifting a few years back.

Bottom line, Asics can sign whoever they want, their problem is the shoes...being left behind. They turned their attention to a different consumer (and wasted money on stupid celebrity endorsements) and didn't focus on running and now it's biting them in the ass.

Asics was THE runner's brand in the '80s and even into the '90s. Then they froze their product r&d in time, as former bit players like Saucony, New Balance, Brooks and newcomers like Hoka have passed them by. Afraid to innovate could be their mantra.

All wrote:

Absolutely clueless wrote:

If that is even remotely true, the new Asics manager is even more dumb than the last guy who signed Candace to a high long term no reductions deal.

There's no way Asics paid anywhere near that unless it's a ten year contract. The new guy is the old guy, right? Didn't Ben Caeser go back after leaving Nike??

BTW, Ryan is no longer with Asics. He did a deal with some compression wear company after he started lifting a few years back.

Bottom line, Asics can sign whoever they want, their problem is the shoes...being left behind. They turned their attention to a different consumer (and wasted money on stupid celebrity endorsements) and didn't focus on running and now it's biting them in the ass.

Ben Cesar won’t do a thing except maybe try to beat up Danny Mackey again. Has no budget and no plan. Signing some 2nd tier ladies is all.

Hahahaha wrote:

Let's stop referring to them as carbon springs.

Well, they ARE carbon springs.

Seriously mate? wrote:

They say they want to "win running" yet they end the article with this quote:

“I think there’s a new audience out there where they’re not ‘runners,’ they are people who run,” he says. “Particularly millennials. And they’re not familiar with this brand, and that’s the hard work that we have ahead of us.”

Interesting....

I think they're talking about Hobby Joggers- in my area (a relatively small area) a "big" race will have 600-800 people.

Once you get out of the top 15-20 you have Hobby Joggers and some older Age Group "stars".

If they can get those people to wear ASICS they've won running.

brad and al-lie up in the tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g wrote:

I'm shocked she's moving away from the 4%s, unless asics lets her wear them with some duct tape on them

Well, it's the difference between making no money and paying for gear, or getting a paycheck, being an asics athlete and getting a ton of free stuff.

The two fastest American marathon times--Hall & Deena Kastor--were in Asics. And two years ago before Vaporfly mania took off, this would be a big deal.

Anima Sana wrote:

Asics was THE runner's brand in the '80s and even into the '90s. Then they froze their product r&d in time, as former bit players like Saucony, New Balance, Brooks and newcomers like Hoka have passed them by. Afraid to innovate could be their mantra.

And really.. a large portion of the runner field at any big race, or even smaller races, are running in asics. Not many elites use them (it seems), but they're still quite popular. If Allie models herself around "looking like everyone else", this could be a good move for them. More women wear Asics GT-2000 and Nimbus 21s than Vaporflys.

Odd that neither of these athletes have posted on social media about joining with Asics? Not off to a good start if they are trying to get people excited about future of brand