I have gotten two running shoes from a major manufacturer over the last year that are just abysmal. The shoes were literally unrunable in. They're noticeably cheaply made and without the normal quality build of years ago. Yet the company hyped the shoes as "the next best thing" or something along those lines and cost $100+. Has anyone else noticed this? My feet were numb by mile 4 in the last shoe I wore. They lost me as customer.
user error
Name and shame the shoes
Yup...
Nike is pioneering a trend of putting out 2 shoes that are "runnable"
and making everything else so awful that their use would lead to injury.
Nike still has potential as a young company but they're going to have to repent for their Medieval manufacturing practices and the way the f-ck their customers who see elite athletes in Nike and find "shoes" that hurt performance in local stores.
rafv wrote:
I have gotten two running shoes from a major manufacturer over the last year that are just abysmal. The shoes were literally unrunable in. They're noticeably cheaply made and without the normal quality build of years ago. Yet the company hyped the shoes as "the next best thing" or something along those lines and cost $100+. Has anyone else noticed this? My feet were numb by mile 4 in the last shoe I wore. They lost me as customer.
Haven't seen this or experienced this in the least.
I work at the largest running store(s) in Columbus, OH. We haven't noticed any more returns or complaints over the past 5 years. Our return rate actually shrunk from 2018 to 2019.
Of course, we only stock each company's best running shoes. I'm sure there are sh*tty shoes you can get from the big box stores that would suck, but we don't deal with them.
Christopher G B T wrote:
Yup...
Nike is pioneering a trend of putting out 2 shoes that are "runnable"
and making everything else so awful that their use would lead to injury.
Nike still has potential as a young company but they're going to have to repent for their Medieval manufacturing practices and the way the f-ck their customers who see elite athletes in Nike and find "shoes" that hurt performance in local stores.
Shoe quality has been increasing. Only crap slow runners with crap form have major issues with shoes. Sure, a lot of shoes suck when it comes to running fast, but they aren’t going to injure me. Nike has many shoes that are easy to run well in. I’ve never tried the vaporfly but all the Nikes I have run in, Pegasus, turbo, react, and zoom fly are good shoes. I still prefer Adidas (Boston and Adios) for most of my road running but for long and easy runs all those Nikes are good shoes.
Stop buying hoka
name the brand/model or GTFO
"I work at the largest running store(s) in Columbus, OH. We haven't noticed any more returns or complaints over the past 5 years. Our return rate actually shrunk from 2018 to 2019."
Could it be that your customer base doesn't know what is good or bad quality? Maybe they have no way to judge from the shoes made years ago? To me it seems that all the major brands have declined in quality compared to years ago.
All shoes are expensive now. Quality of foam and fit have improved a lot.
You might have bought a prototype new style or just a cheap model.
The build quality of most shoes have improved. Knit uppers for weight and fit, tpu and pebax.
Not every shoe on the market has good tech. You have to know what to buy.
build of years ago. Yet the company hyped the shoes as "the next best thing" or something along those lines and cost $100+. Has anyone else noticed this? My feet were numb by mile 4 in the last shoe I wore. They lost me as customer.
rafv wrote:
"I work at the largest running store(s) in Columbus, OH. We haven't noticed any more returns or complaints over the past 5 years. Our return rate actually shrunk from 2018 to 2019."
Could it be that your customer base doesn't know what is good or bad quality? Maybe they have no way to judge from the shoes made years ago? To me it seems that all the major brands have declined in quality compared to years ago.
Shoe quality is better than ever and at the same time increasingly more complicated to make. Even cheaper shoes are good enough to run in.
rafv wrote:
Could it be that your customer base doesn't know what is good or bad quality? Maybe they have no way to judge from the shoes made years ago?
I can’t speak for all of our customers, but I can be sure that for a large percentage this isn’t the case. Many (1000+) have trained with us for years and have purchased with us for years. They are BQers, sub 16 5k, proper runners (not just weekend warriors) who aren’t afraid to give their opinions. Haven’t seen anything over the past 5+ years that would signify a reduction in quality.
anybody saying a shoe made their feet numb most likely just bought a shoe that doesn't fit.
only other time I've seen that happening is when people go with a max cushioned shoe and they had never worn one before. A small percentage of people just can't use max cushion shoes. Sucks, but that's just you, it's not the shoe.
95% of the time, the shoe was too narrow or too short. that's on you
and I'm sorry that you can't get your 13oz trainers anymore made of mesh, glue, suede, and EVA.
Yes. Very good. The shoe was in fact much harder then usual to slip into but it was also the exact same size from the same manufacturer that I have been wearing for over 10 years. Once on my feet slipped in the shoes felt fine and I had the thumbs length space on the toe end, which is the same with all the models I have worn. It wasn't until I ran before I felt that the shoe was constructed missing the usual quality and build signature of the manufacturer. It felt like they substituted a cheaper, wobly foam and did not put any thought into the build. My feet were hurting at mile 1 and went numb by mile 4. I was so glad to near home.
Hopefully you reviewed them properly on letsrun.
I hear that kind of complain from my friend.This is largely due to a decline in the shoes' shock-absorption abilities. Sometimes it's hard to give up a favorite pair of old shoes,
I always wore Saucony Guides. Up until and including models seven and eight they were great, I couldn't say enough good things about them. I have a pair of tens that I can't say enough bad things about. I turned them into pedestrian shoes and they're not even good enough for that. Saucony Guides took a drastic fall from grace and only belong in one place, a trash can.
I am really sorry to hearing this.