Asics Fail!

Dirtbag

Barefooters
Oct 17, 2010
204
0
0
Promotional materials for minimalist shoes rarely include the phrase, “a cushioned ride from heel strike all the way through toe-off.”

http://www.runblogger.com/2011/04/asics-33-minimalist-shoes-cushioned.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Runblogger+%28Runblogger%29
 
It looks like a Nike Free

It looks like a Nike Free knock-off. They named it after the 33 joints in the human foot. Aw, isn't that special?

 
pbarker wrote:The only thing

pbarker said:
The only thing minimal about this shoe is the effort.

Where's the rolling around on the floor laughing my ass off smiley?!
 
It may not be a min shoe, but

It may not be a min shoe, but clearly they see the light. Another words they see a trend taking shape, and they want to be part of it. These companies don't want to saddle up to years of bad shoe designs. So they are going to make small changes at a time. In this case I can't really identify what changes they made to consider the shoe min, but obviously they desire to move in that direction. So this is actually a good thing. Do you not see that ? In fact uneducated consumers will see it advertised as min shoe, and they will buy it. Then later they will learn that other better min shoes are on the market as they pay more attention. False advertising is just as powerful as truthful advertising.

Also all these years of over designed shoes. Millions of consumers have weakened feet because of it. We can't just dump all conventional shoes overnight. If we did few would research a proper running gait, and injuries would go through the roof. That will not help the movement. Yeah that is not a min shoe, but when they see better designed min shoes selling. It will cause them to make further design changes so they can join in on the new money making design trends.

This is a process, and the larger companies will be slower to adapt. As they don't want to be to obvious that previous years shoes were bad designs. Let them evolve slowly, and they will loose money. The trends are new, but consumers will determine how quickly/slowly these large companies adapt.

I don't see it beneficial with threads like this to discourage them. They should be encouraged to improve the design if for nothing else to raise sales, but more importantly over the long term for more healhty feet. When large companies start to use terms like min shoe. This is a good thing.

We live in a shoe addicted society. People want to buy shoes. As more choices are brought to the market. Shoe companies will note what are selling, and what are not selling. So the consumers will dictate what direction the shoe companies focus on.

Maybe in their next generation they will ditch a lot more of the cushion. Then they may go zero drop. Then round out the toe box, etc. It's a process for the larger comapnies to change. Besides nothing really needs to happen overnight anyway. If we can get design improvements in each future product release season then were going in the right direction. If they don't go in that direction it will be because the consumers are not demanding it.
 
Yea, we get all that, H.E. 

Yea, we get all that, H.E. It's going to take time. And through their constant redesigns, until they get it right, they will have critics to help them along their way to true minimalism.
 
In the video they describe

In the video they describe the heel through toe running mechanic. They are still promoting bad running form. Asics sponsored runners Deena Caster, Ryan Hall have excellent running form but asics must believe the myth that only elite runners can be biomechanically efficient.

I see nothing minimal about this shoe other than a new label that is intended to deceive the consumer.

Hardly a step in the right direction.
 
I'll applaud Asics for

I'll applaud Asics for wanting to jump on the bandwagon and be a part of this great revolution, but why they chose not to follow suit has me wondering. There are plenty of great models to copy....Asics didn't advance at all with the shoe - and took a giant step backward promotoing a heel strike as good minimalist biomechanics. And to call the shoe 33????? Production must have missed a few sit-downs with R&D.
 
Reebok has also jumped on the

Reebok has also jumped on the exact same wagon here with the Free copy as their attempt at minimal with the RealFlex running shoe. Same thing here with the thicker heel except they explain it away as being bad to run long distances bare on concrete and impossible to run downhill barefoot so you need the heel thickness!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZHd8dBQaf4&feature=player_embedded
 
And the Reebox Zig is a

And the Reebox Zig is a minimalist shoe for basketball players. Go figure. I saw a kid in line the other day at Chick-fil-A, and he was wearing a pair of basketball shoes (Nike) that had (no doubt) a 2-1/2" raised heel! I know they want to reach the basket, but that's ridiculous! Shouldn't that be considered cheating? I mean, why don't they just run around the court on stilts?
 
I can't decide if its willful

I can't decide if its willful ignorance on the part of this company or cynicism. Are they really thinking, "Look, this is moving towards a minimalist shoe, which is what the market wants." Or is it, "Here, here, here, watch! Ok, we'll cut the sole up like Nike did, call it minimalist, and suckers will buy it! High five!" I'd rather it be the former than the latter...but I'm not all that sure. It seems more like what happens in music all the time. You know, like with any band not named Nirvana or Pearl Jam that sprang from Seattle in the 90's, or that was based out of LA and not named Motley Crue in the 80s. "Well, this band is selling a ton of records. Go sign everyone that looks like them!" You end up with a bunch of copycat crap. These shoes aren't even Poison. They're Cinderella. *shudder*

We might expect more and more of this as the minimal and barefoot movement grows and gets more and more absored by big business. It will be both good and bad for us. More press, more information out there. But more bad information as companies rush to cash in without actually changing and as people see it as easy and jump in without looking with both feet (get it!?). Might even end up with*WARNING: Spur of the Moment Conspiricy Theory Ahead* more injuries due to misinformation and a glut of new, uninformed runners, which will allow some of the companies to pull a, "Ha! We told you it was bad for you!" move and go back to selling the same old same old stock pilling up in warehouses.

...Ok, that kind of got away from me a little at the end. But I stand beside my Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Motley Crue analogy. That works, damnit.
 
Hey!  I like Cinderella! 

Hey! I like Cinderella! ;-)

Now the problem with our thinking that people who will be turning to the Asics 33s and Nike Frees and getting hurt because they are stepping down without proper training is completely wrong. They aren't stepping down with these shoes, they're just stepping sideways. ;-)
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:Hey!  I

Barefoot TJ said:
Hey! I like Cinderella! ;-)



Yeah man Tom Keifer is a better songwriter than Nikki Sixx, and he can sing. It's kind of sad Cinderella got clumped together with bands like Warrant and Poison. The same thing happened with Tesla.
 
Hey!  I love all those

Hey! I love all those groups!

What about Mr. Big? Anybody like them?

I saw Mr. Big in concert. I was front and center. The stage was at my lungs. The crowd was insane. Everyone was pushing forward. I was being squashed. I couldn't breathe. I was being pushing into and under the stage. Then I saw this leg in front of me, so I grabbed it. It was the lead singer's (Eric Martin?)! He starts kicking his leg, trying to free himself, but I've got such a hold on him. I didn't want to get pushed under the stage, and it was either him or me. He ended up kicking me off his leg so hard, he went flying backwards into the curtain, quitar and all. He disappeared for a moment there, may have fallen on his ass. He refused to come back to the part of the stage where I was after that. He probably thought I was some nut. Aw, good times, good times. The 80s rocked!
 
Abide wrote:Barefoot TJ

Abide said:
Barefoot TJ said:
Hey! I like Cinderella! ;-)



Yeah man Tom Keifer is a better songwriter than Nikki Sixx, and he can sing. It's kind of sad Cinderella got clumped together with bands like Warrant and Poison. The same thing happened with Tesla.



Ok, then these shoes are Warrant. On tour with Bang Tango.
 
Jimmy Hart wrote:Reebok has

Jimmy Hart said:
Reebok has also jumped on the exact same wagon here with the Free copy as their attempt at minimal with the RealFlex running shoe. Same thing here with the thicker heel except they explain it away as being bad to run long distances bare on concrete and impossible to run downhill barefoot so you need the heel thickness!

Wow, that video has so many errors in it. First it makes claims about lower joint injury rates for barefoot running, which actually aren't supported yet even though I'm sure they will be eventually. Then it says you can't land on your forefoot going downhill, which is utterly wrong. People on this forum probably do it all the time.

..sigh...