On athlete given a pass to wear next% to race Bekele

I like Thompson's words. He could have gloated over his PR at the age of 38 and the ultra hard training he did in preparation for it just like every other wearer of the clown shoes does, instead he chose not to mention his time and wrote "times irrelevant but that’s road running for you now." It's sad that he's pretty alone with his honesty.

I think an On runner used Vapor/Alfaflys at the Oly Trials too. Pennel maybe?

Raggedman wrote:

I think an On runner used Vapor/Alfaflys at the Oly Trials too. Pennel maybe?

Yes, several of them did at the Trials. The Reebok runners as well.

Sounds like a decision these brands will regret later. I don't get how it helps On Running to let their runner use Vaporflys so they could finish 49th instead of 60th. What's the benefit of that, other than On and Reebok admitting their products aren't competitive.

CaptainPhillips wrote:

Raggedman wrote:

I think an On runner used Vapor/Alfaflys at the Oly Trials too. Pennel maybe?

Yes, several of them did at the Trials. The Reebok runners as well.

Sounds like a decision these brands will regret later. I don't get how it helps On Running to let their runner use Vaporflys so they could finish 49th instead of 60th. What's the benefit of that, other than On and Reebok admitting their products aren't competitive.

The thing is, their products aren’t competitive. It’s not a secret. The shoes they are producing or are likely to produce in the next few years cannot compete with the Nike shoes. That’s a fact, everyone knows it including them.

In order for these other companies to get their sponsored athletes onto the podium at races wearing their clothing it appears they are going to have to allow them to wear the Nike shoes. The road running landscape is changing significantly and somehow these brands have to stay visible at least as long as it takes for the technological playing field to even out.

This.

Alberto's Dog wrote:

keep on keeping on wrote:

On is also rumored to be bringing a carbon-based racer in 2020. I expect no rush, as there are no On athletes headed to Tokyo/Sapporo.

The thing is, their products aren’t competitive. It’s not a secret. The shoes they are producing or are likely to produce in the next few years cannot compete with the Nike shoes. That’s a fact, everyone knows it including them.

In order for these other companies to get their sponsored athletes onto the podium at races wearing their clothing it appears they are going to have to allow them to wear the Nike shoes. The road running landscape is changing significantly and somehow these brands have to stay visible at least as long as it takes for the technological playing field to even out.

Whoops. On is also rumored to be bringing a carbon-based racer in 2020. I expect no rush, as there are no On athletes headed to Tokyo/Sapporo.

keep on keeping on wrote:

In order for these other companies to get their sponsored athletes onto the podium at races wearing their clothing it appears they are going to have to allow them to wear the Nike shoes. The road running landscape is changing significantly and somehow these brands have to stay visible at least as long as it takes for the technological playing field to even out.

same happened to Nike in some field events. For example when their javelin shoe was inferior, they gave Röhler and other their sponsored athletes okay to wear Asics in competitions and tried to improve their own shoe.

Does on even sell racing shoes?

I thought they just sold trainers, in which case who cares

The type of person to buy on likely already has next% or has never heard of them

Free_the_thigh wrote:

Does on even sell racing shoes?

I thought they just sold trainers, in which case who cares

The type of person to buy on likely already has next% or has never heard of them

Yes, the cloudflash and cloudrush. Both a bit heavy for traditional racing flats but racing flats they are.

[/quote]

Whoops. On is also rumored to be bringing a carbon-based racer in 2020. I expect no rush, as there are no On athletes headed to Tokyo/Sapporo.[/quote]

Some of the Zap guys had the new On carbon shoe on - it looked pretty heavy though - but I guess the AlphaFly looks pretty wild too

FWIW - I wore my free AFs for the race and hated them

CaptainPhillips wrote:

Raggedman wrote:

I think an On runner used Vapor/Alfaflys at the Oly Trials too. Pennel maybe?

Yes, several of them did at the Trials. The Reebok runners as well.

Sounds like a decision these brands will regret later. I don't get how it helps On Running to let their runner use Vaporflys so they could finish 49th instead of 60th. What's the benefit of that, other than On and Reebok admitting their products aren't competitive.

Regret later? Why? You get good publicity by finishing up first. When you cross the finish line first at a race and break the tape, no one can tell what type of shoe you are wearing anyway. The tv cameras only show your sin

I think the opposite of you. If I'm a consumer, I want to support a company that treats its athletes well. Racing shoes are a tiny percentage of a shoe company's revenues anyway.

On are pretty big in the Triathlon world, sponsor Tim Don (set an Ironman World Record) and Gomez, Nicola Spirig etc, presumably because it's cheaper than sponsoring a world class distance runner and they are supposedly the fastest growing sports brand in the world.

I like their Cloudflow shoe and am actually faster in it over 10k than the VF - they tend to think outside the box, so will be interesting to see what they come up with over the next 12-18 months.

It's a low-risk move for On. They aren't a company competing at the top end in road racing yet and their customer-base seems to be mainly recreational runners who prioritize comfort over performance and don't mind paying a little over the odds for the shoe. Plus, whenever the athletes are interviewed the only branding you see is on their singlets/jackets and caps so it's more important they are wearing those.

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