How are Newton shoes still around?

Agreed. Even Skechers cooled it on their midfoot bump stuff, though I suppose two companies ripping off Nike and Adidas wouldn't fly as well as just one.

The Distance is still a quality shoe; great for speed days.

To answer the OP, they drastically cut back on production costs, mainly in Staff and Advertising. There is still a very loyal following in the Tri world that Newton caters to.

The even added a TPU topsole, a la Kinvara.

Tri world bought the KSwiss running shoes, too, as well as Zoot. Probably not a great long term strategy.

I try pretty much anything in shoes and I've got VFs and Next%, but have to say I really am enjoying the Newton Distance 8s for training and tempo stuff. I think this shoe has the best upper of any shoe - perfect shape and fit, nice snug lacing and definitely super breathable. Love the hot orange.

Probably have 150 miles on them. I've run in them on gravel up to 20miles, hilly stuff and pavement tempos. Actually may considering the Gravity for LSD runs and would buy another pair. I do think this generation is a big step up having had a couple previous iterations.

I loved my Newtons until they gave me my first injury in 30 years of running. They feel fast but odd.

They do seem to be somewhat popular among triathletes for some reason.

Ultrarunner Harvey Lewis is a Newton guy.

Bump

I’ve heard great things about Newton from ladies that I know that don’t run.

I’ve heard terrible things from people that do run.

I’d say that the great:terrible ratio is about 4:1. That is, some marketing and running shop salesman can trick 4 non-runner ladies into thinking the shoe is a good idea for every 1 runner.

The majority of people in the world are not runners, so that would be my target consumer. So, I guess ladies that don’t run but have the idea that they might start running probably buy all of their shoes, and that could be a lot of people. That would also explain why you don’t see them on runners.

theJeff wrote:

The Distance is still a quality shoe; great for speed days.

The distance is my favorite interval shoe.

They work for hobby joggers like me. Distance Elite is my 1/2 marathon/marathon shoe.

For real wrote:

I try pretty much anything in shoes and I've got VFs and Next%, but have to say I really am enjoying the Newton Distance 8s for training and tempo stuff. I think this shoe has the best upper of any shoe - perfect shape and fit, nice snug lacing and definitely super breathable. Love the hot orange.

Probably have 150 miles on them. I've run in them on gravel up to 20miles, hilly stuff and pavement tempos. Actually may considering the Gravity for LSD runs and would buy another pair. I do think this generation is a big step up having had a couple previous iterations.

People buy Newton for the bottom, not the upper. The sole technology is to get people to run more midfoot/forefoot.

Say what you want, tri-geeks KNOW equipment...they obsess over it.

Now Newton, after the Olympics in 2021, is releasing a plated shoe:

https://www.runningwarehouse.com/Newton_Gravity/descpage-NMGPL.html

They and Mizuno are pulling up the rear in this market.

Yo, are you Jeff from RTR?

Ran in the Fates back in the mid 2010s. Loved them. Would have loved to have tried the distances. More of a saucony runner though.

Yo you can still get the Newton Distance, they just dropped a new version:

It's amazing this company can still hang on with old, pigeon-holed tech in their shoes. Though Hoka still uses old foam and Mizuno is still hung-up on that wave thing and they seem to be doing alright.

As for tri-geeks, they are the biggest followers and rationalizers when it comes to brands and gear. Why anyone would ever choose to race a half or full IM in Newton over VF4% is a mystery of nonsensical proportions.

Until not-even-there uppers came into being, Newton shoes had, by far, the best uppers ever created.

Some might even say they're still the best.

I wore some Newton racing shoe a few years back, that I got on a sale rack for $20 or something. Put them on, took off on a 2-mile course I had, and ran 6 minute pace when I was routinely running maybe 7 minute pace for a single mile effort. My legs were trashed the next day - and I have not, to this day, run another 12-flat two mile. I probably never will again, in fact.

I love Newtons. I'm not currently running in them because I have a discount on shoes from a major brand that has models that work for me. But if my discount disappeared, I'd be running in Newtons again.

They do make great uppers and I love their designs, mostly. But the low drop and lugs are literally their achilles' heel (pun). I, as of a year ago bought the Kismet and ran maybe 40ish miles in them. They were "fair" at best. Cushioning is still too firm for me and the low drop gave me aches in my achilles area. I switched out the insole to something a bit more substantial and that helped. But ultimately I used them for mowing the lawn. They need to offer shoes without the dumb lugs and stop with the whole midfoot/forefoot philosophy. The truth is that a runner will incorporate many different foot strikes on their run. Saying only one way is the best is ridiculous, at best. Currently I'm loving Puma's Velocity Nitro. It's really great! Seriously.

Over time you adapt to the low drop, and I came to prefer it. I still don't like the popular ~10mm drop on many current running shoes. It is awkward for my foot strike.

However, the lugs can be too much. I found that they gave me a nice pop and mitigated the firmness. But after 10+ miles they made my forefoot ache. However, at my age I almost never run 10+ miles in a session.

I worked running specialty retail pre-super shoes. Can someone explain how Mizuno’s wave plates are different from the carbon plates in the super shoes? Is it just down to material?

also, didn’t adidas have a carbon plated trainer sometime around 2003-2007? It was clunky as I recall, but I remember “carbon plate” being in the pitch when I bought them.