Spira shoes: fact or crap?

July 23, 2008 7:06 AM

Spira running shoes: horseshit?

I'm looking for personal experiences running with them, particularly running marathon distance, but I'll take any solid data on them. Are they snake oil, or good shoes for running?

posted by middleclasstool to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

I can give you this to help you assess the probability that they are or are not snake oil: I asked a friend who designs for Nike, "how many of those contraptions added to the shoes actually do anything?" The answer: "about half."
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:45 AM on July 23, 2008

Their site says that "87% - 96% of the energy is returned from the WaveSpring™." That sounds like crap to me. It'd be like a pair of moon shoes. If it's true, though, I want them.
posted by cmoj at 8:06 AM on July 23, 2008

If I run on a pair of stiff enough springs I bet I can get more than 97% of the impact energy returned... but it also means that some of the impact that should propel me forward is being absorbed into the shoe and then returned in that way - under my foot - whcih is going to make distance running more difficult.

In general what makes a nice walking shoe makes a crappy running shoe.

No magic formulas here.
posted by three blind mice at 9:46 AM on July 23, 2008