40 replies to this topic

[BEN-HUR]

New Balance seems to have now seriously cottoned on to the idea that minimalist footwear & the designs thereof is something worthy of research & developing for future running shoes. Nike up till now has been the forerunners in this direction as far as the major shoe companies are concerned (but seem to have stagnated). I am glad that New Balance has taken this direction as it is certainly a step in the right direction for runners wanting more of a choice in specifically designed minimalist footwear.

The NB Minimus shoes will be available in March 2011 & from the description & look of the concept thus far, the shoe looks to have addressed some of my main concerns I have with the majority of conventional running shoes on the shelves.
This being:

- Midsole thickness.
- Heel to forefoot pitch i.e. heel thickness (height) to forefoot thickness (height).
- Stiffness.
- Bulk & weight of the shoe.
- Conformity (shape) to the foot i.e. forefoot.

Most of the above factors contribute to adverse gait & footstrike tendencies as well as contributing to potentially adverse forces directed to the lower limb (i.e. excess eccentric loading forces received from heavy heel striking) which can then contribute to injury.

The following website may be of interest regarding the NB Minimus collection.

Quote

NB Minimus is a barefoot-inspired line of shoes created specifically for runners seeking a truly minimalist experience. It’s a cross-category collection, including road running, trail running, and wellness shoes. By 'wellness' we mean shoes designed for people seeking a more natural stance throughout the day, even when they're not exercising.

Quote

With NB Minimus, the idea is to balance this desire to deliver a "closer to barefoot" experience with the realities of the terrain on which people are running today, and the fact that most of us have been raised in shoes. With that in mind, for NB Minimus we developed a new, more anatomically-correct last, along with midsole heights specifically-engineered to deliver more natural movement, and better form. People will also notice that the uppers are a lot thinner, which helps reduce weight. The increased ground feel was accomplished by employing thin, flexible midsoles, and eliminating the inserts.

[slowmo]

Thanks for this Ben-Hur, very interesting. I'm sure New Balance is correct that a market exists for shoes combining aspects of minimal footwear with an upper that looks like a standard shoe.

I wonder if they will be able to resist "tech-ing" it up over time - especially if other manufacturers move into the same niche (I have the same concern about VFFs).

As an aside: I've read about DIY minimalist shoes where people have removed the outer and mid sole from standard shoes (usually an old pair) and glued on a flat sole made from the same Vibram material that I use for huarache sandals.

slowmo

Edited by slowmo, 09 August 2010 - 08:42 PM.

[WetWeek]

I remember when I started running in the 1970s - in Dunlop Volleys......

Back to the future?

[DontStop]

This is good.

The more genuine innovation in the category, the better it'll be for all of us. I'm surprised the other guys let Nike get away with owning this territory for so long.

[BEN-HUR]

slowmo, on Aug 9 2010, 08:41 PM, said:

Thanks for this Ben-Hur, very interesting. I'm sure New Balance is correct that a market exists for shoes combining aspects of minimal footwear with an upper that looks like a standard shoe.

I feel the market certainly exists... it's just the general public need to learn the reasons why aspects of the conventional running shoe may not be conducive for their running. They need to unlearn what they have learnt (from shoe companies, magazines etc...) in relation to running shoes needing to have a certain degree of support & cushioning. I don't think it's going to be easy... for want of a better analogy; it will be like weening a baby off its dummy or security blanky.

slowmo, on Aug 9 2010, 08:41 PM, said:

I wonder if they will be able to resist "tech-ing" it up over time - especially if other manufacturers move into the same niche (I have the same concern about VFFs).

Hmmm, a valid concern. You see we now live in a technological world; technology is advancing at an alarming rate. The advancement of technology is nearly always conducive to our wellbeing. However, in the running shoe industry we have a problem... it seems the opposite could be true (at least from the current prospective i.e. changing lower limb function).  I feel we need to go back to basics... making a running shoe simple again. I think technology is important in the footwear industry but not in the area of trying to adjust how the foot/lower limb functions (via a bulky/stiff shoe)... it just isn't an effective process. Research & technology should be targeted towards the understanding of how a variety of different foot/lower limb types function whilst running in combination with footwear/designs which help address a variety of these needs. The bottom line is that the shoe has to enable natural foot/lower limb function whilst addressing any adverse forces the individual's lower limb structure/function attracts. For example, a material may be made in the future which changes/adapts to the ground reaction forces (some sort of smart material which has a memory) the individual runners attracts i.e. the material acts differently to running down hill as opposed to running on the flat.  

slowmo, on Aug 9 2010, 08:41 PM, said:

As an aside: I've read about DIY minimalist shoes where people have removed the outer and mid sole from standard shoes (usually an old pair) and glued on a flat sole made from the same Vibram material that I use for huarache sandals.

slowmo

I can see this happening more in the future (for those inclined to put the effort in) if there isn't a greater variety of minimalist type shoes on the market. In fact we shouldn't really be calling them minimalist shoes. It's just they are by definition minimalist in nature compared to the general trend running shoes have been heading since the early 1980's. It has been this reason why the barefoot movement has got off the ground & running due to the apparent poor ability that today’s running shoes have had in reducing injury rates (but this is another issue in itself).

DontStop, on Aug 10 2010, 10:20 AM, said:

This is good.

The more genuine innovation in the category, the better it'll be for all of us. I'm surprised the other guys let Nike get away with owning this territory for so long.

True. I too have wondered why Nike pretty much had the market all to themselves (out of the major running shoe companies) for the past 6 years. More shoe companies should have at least done more minimalist shoe research & development before now.

I feel one of the problems is (& one that Nike have had to consider) is that if research is indicating that certain shoe characteristics are not conducive for lower limb function/performance then what does that say about the rest of their shoe range which have these very characteristics. Does going down the minimalist track now voids the other shoe models to some degree? Would not the simple fact that a minimalist type shoe by its nature reduces the need for a variety of different shoe models in the market? Would this affect their financial health? I'm not exactly sure where this could lead but the concept of a minimalist type shoe is certainly a paradigm shift away from the marketing hype that have surrounded shoes that fit into the 'control/ support' category of running shoes.

[FreeDickland]

Back to the Future or Forwards to the Past????

Seems timely for ASICS to reintroduce their G9 and Bostons from the late 60's early 70's (the company was then known as Tiger and both these were minimalist shoes with minimum differential between heel & forefoot height and light "support free" uppers) ?????

[FreeDickland]

PS: - We still got injured - about as frequently as happens now - but we did not blame the shoes,,,,,,,,

[DontStop]

BEN-HUR, on Aug 11 2010, 09:58 PM, said:

True. I too have wondered why Nike pretty much had the market all to themselves (out of the major running shoe companies) for the past 6 years. More shoe companies should have at least done more minimalist shoe research & development before now.

I feel one of the problems is (& one that Nike have had to consider) is that if research is indicating that certain shoe characteristics are not conducive for lower limb function/performance then what does that say about the rest of their shoe range which have these very characteristics. Does going down the minimalist track now voids the other shoe models to some degree? Would not the simple fact that a minimalist type shoe by its nature reduces the need for a variety of different shoe models in the market? Would this affect their financial health? I'm not exactly sure where this could lead but the concept of a minimalist type shoe is certainly a paradigm shift away from the marketing hype that have surrounded shoes that fit into the 'control/ support' category of running shoes.

It's incredibly difficult to market anything that is counter-intuitive. To say to a 100kg runner that he/she would actually be better off with less cushioning than more, is a really tough sell. To say to someone who's been told they have structural weaknesses that they'd be better off with less support, not more, is just as hard.

That'll be the problem with mainstreaming minimalist shoes. I suspect the most likely outcome will be that these minimalist designs will most likely inform future design of mainstream shoes, and gradually cause subtle  changes over time. A bit like Formula 1 cars influence the development of road cars... the extremes aren't sold to market, but they serve to improve the mainstream models.

A gradual approach makes more sense than anything, both from a marketing point of view, but also from the practical aspects of people adapting to more minimalist designs.

It'll be interesting to see where NB go with this. They've always been reasonably purist as a company, so they'll probably adopt a slightly different strategy than Nike has.

[bigredsky]

Much of the discussion in this thread makes me think of cameras & "megapixel marketing". It's only been in the last year or two that some manufacturers have been brave enough to release models with 'lower' or identical mp specs to the models they replace - and thus admit that they've reached a level where 'less is more'. Usually only on models targeted to people who actually understand why, but still, it's an impressive start....

[CCor]

here is a link to see the NB minimus.
http://harkevents.com/home.html/?p=635

I like.

[Getafix]

ccor4981, on Sep 6 2010, 07:21 AM, said:

here is a link to see the NB minimus.
http://harkevents.com/home.html/?p=635

I like.

I love the trail version! There's also a road version:



More pictures here:
http://vagrantsneake...2011/#more-5757

[BEN-HUR]

Welcome to CoolRunning Getafix.

Do you have a pair of the above shoes? If so, how do you find them?

It would seem they will not be on the market in Australia for about another 6 months (March 2011). It would be good to check them out up close & see how they compare to the Nike Free.

[CCor]

a Vid on the NB minimus

[BEN-HUR]

ccor4981, on Sep 12 2010, 09:04 PM, said:

a Vid on the NB minimus

Thanks 'ccor4981' - nice video   . The shoes look to function well.

Made me want to grow my hair, grow a beard & head to the forest trails   .

[WetWeek]

Seems Adidas are on the bandwagon too.  I saw a pair in Rebel's window today which looked suspiciously like the Adidas response to Nike's Free Run+.  Very similar grooved sole and hyper-flexibility (if the accompanying poster is anything to go by)

Edit:  Walked past the display again today - they're called Adidas Fluid:  http://www.adidas.co.....90321214=null

Edited by WetWeek, 19 September 2010 - 05:23 PM.

[Getafix]

BEN-HUR, on Sep 12 2010, 08:39 PM, said:

Welcome to CoolRunning Getafix.

Do you have a pair of the above shoes? If so, how do you find them?

It would seem they will not be on the market in Australia for about another 6 months (March 2011). It would be good to check them out up close & see how they compare to the Nike Free.

Hi BEN-HUR! I don't have them - I came across the Minimus in several running/shoe websites. There are loads of attention on the trail version...alas I can't seem to be able to get more info on the road version.  

I've tried the Nike Free 5.0 in the shop and it doesn't remind me of barefoot running at all as there's too much heel cushioning.

p.s. I'm wearing the Vivo Evo and I'm a beginner runner (have had experience running barefoot as a teen though)

[slowmo]

This has inspired me to retro-fit (retro-unfit ?) the pair of NB 702s that I haven't worn since I kicked the running shoe habit. I'm going to try to remove the outer- and mid-soles and glue on some of the 5mm Vibram Gemma soling that I've used for huaraches.

If I manage to do it without destroying the uppers I'll post some pics

slowmo

[AJS]

FreeDickland, on Aug 11 2010, 11:39 PM, said:

Back to the Future or Forwards to the Past????

Seems timely for ASICS to reintroduce their G9 and Bostons from the late 60's early 70's (the company was then known as Tiger and both these were minimalist shoes with minimum differential between heel & forefoot height and light "support free" uppers) ?????

Are these the G9's?  Everyone ran in these in the mid 70's.  I only recall them as being blue though.  I can remember saving up for a pair - everyone who was faster than me had a pair so I figured that was the answer.  Ran every distance you could think of in them and they were great in the sandhills around Swanbourne.  Complete_Book_of_Running.jpg   14.91K   42 downloads

[WetWeek]

WetWeek, on Aug 9 2010, 09:26 PM, said:

I remember when I started running in the 1970s - in Dunlop Volleys......

Back to the future?

Out of interest I picked up a pair of Dunlop Volleys (first time in 30 years!) to compare to the Nike Free Run+ I was wearing at the time.  The Dunlops are more flexible in every direction than the Nikes, have a much lower heel-to-forefoot ratio, have minimal support from the uppers but did weigh a bit more.  OK, the Dunlops don't have the swish, the pretty colours or the benefit of Nike's (ahem) "marketing", but they're $20-odd compared to $160-odd!!

Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but if the aim of these minimalist shoes is a low heel-to-toe ratio and minimal support, wouldn't the Volley be a legitimate alternative to the Nikes et al?

[RobHall]

look what I got today!!!  When compared with the Free 3.0

opinion;
-Wider forefoot
-less flexible
-pattern means more lateral stability but still diagonally and longditudinally flexible (my big issue was the lateral flexing on the edges of the free run and 3.0)
-Heavier
-More cushioned
-thinner
-more support closer to the forefoot, less in the arch near the heel

But best of all, they are bright red.  We will see how they go over the coming weeks and months once

Attached Files

•  shoes.jpg   263.48K   106 downloads

[WetWeek]

Bomber shoes!  

I wish I'd seen those before getting the Free Run+ as the hump under the arch area drives me nuts.  Sounds like the Adidas would suit me better.

[RobHall]

its the stupid pod thing.  I took out the plastic flange and after a couple of days they felt better.  I would prefer more arch, in fact if I could get a shoe that was basically just the arch, that would be best.

[FreeDickland]

Are these the G9's? Everyone ran in these in the mid 70's. I only recall them as being blue though. I can remember saving up for a pair - everyone who was faster than me had a pair so I figured that was the answer. Ran every distance you could think of in them and they were great in the sandhills around Swanbourne.
Reduced 67%

300 x 300 (14.91K)

Certainly are G9s - did come in red but I missed out on that colour as I failed to time my wear out & replace cycle to the red ones being in the Brissy shops

[BEN-HUR]

WetWeek, on Sep 21 2010, 01:00 PM, said:

Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but if the aim of these minimalist shoes is a low heel-to-toe ratio and minimal support, wouldn't the Volley be a legitimate alternative to the Nikes et al?

Quite a good question actually. I must admit that I have never worn a pair of Volleys thus I don't have the experience to say. However, I would suspect that the Frees would probably feel more comfortable in the long run. I might pop into Big W or K Mart soon & try a pair of Volleys on.

I feel Dunlop have missed out big time in the window of opportunity over the past few years with the growing awareness of minimalist running shoes. Surely they knew what was happening in the shoe market & running scene. After all, their shoes were often cited when the topic came up in the media. If I was in charge of the company I would have jumped at the chance to raise the volley out of the proverbial footwear retirement village (or grave yard) & into the spot light again. A rebirth that could have possibly made them thousands.  They just had to make a TV commercial with some fast looking runners training in their volleys as well as a magazine add.  I could have written some appealing slogan & weeded in a bit of reasoning into going back to the volley & I’m sure more people would have been won over   .

Now, there could well be a trend (in fact I predict it) that all the major shoe companies will bring out some type of minimalist range. This will be a fortunate thing for us runners as we will then have more of a selection to choose from (particularly based on our different foot shapes).

[walker1st]

before you buy Volleys, take insoles out and examine the inside of the shoe, lots of stalktites and stalagnites from leaking rubber during process, makes impossible to use Volleys without insoles, whcih is big minus for minimalsit shoe.
the back edge of the heel is shaped strangely and that maks it not suitable for racewalking.

examine also teh shape oftehtoebox.

Volleys have on the bottom strange structure of milions of tiny ribs, which could compress in twist fasion and create probs while running on the road, I would suggest to sandpaper it off completely, but have never tried this - do not have woodworks tools.

the quality is very pathetic could not be compared with original Volleys concept as manufactured ages ago in Czech rep in treh very same factory where Zatopek was working for few years.

I wish I had few pairs ofteh same quality and design as I had decades ago back in europe.

I use Volleys here 2 size bigger with 2 pair ofsocks in winter when is raing or after rain and grass is completely wet and soaked soil and I wantto run on grass oval, so the double thick socks will prevent the feet from freezing for about an 1 hour

there are also false Volleys on the market with nearoww toebox targetting teh fashion shoppers in differnt colours, I have looked at those shoes manytimes but never had teh urge to buy them


Volleys would be great concep only ifthey were made properly, also I think, that teh sole is actualy lot thicker than it used to be, that Volleys partialy went the cushioningway.

[DontStop]

BEN-HUR, on Sep 22 2010, 01:28 AM, said:

I feel Dunlop have missed out big time in the window of opportunity over the past few years with the growing awareness of minimalist running shoes. Surely they knew what was happening in the shoe market & running scene. After all, their shoes were often cited when the topic came up in the media.

If you knew what an absolute rabble of an organisation Pac Brands has turned into... a complete and utter shambles of a place... then you wouldn't be surprised at all that they didn't see this coming. One of the most dysfunctional organisations I've ever been exposed to.

Not only would they not have a clue, they wouldn't have the resources to do anything about it if they did.

[chrizz84]

BEN-HUR, on Aug 9 2010, 12:19 PM, said:

New Balance seems to have now seriously cottoned on to the idea that minimalist footwear & the designs thereof is something worthy of research & developing for future running shoes. Nike up till now has been the forerunners in this direction as far as the major shoe companies are concerned (but seem to have stagnated). I am glad that New Balance has taken this direction as it is certainly a step in the right direction for runners wanting more of a choice in specifically designed minimalist footwear.

The NB Minimus shoes will be available in March 2011 & from the description & look of the concept thus far, the shoe looks to have addressed some of my main concerns I have with the majority of conventional running shoes on the shelves.
This being:

- Midsole thickness.
- Heel to forefoot pitch i.e. heel thickness (height) to forefoot thickness (height).
- Stiffness.
- Bulk & weight of the shoe.
- Conformity (shape) to the foot i.e. forefoot.

Most of the above factors contribute to adverse gait & footstrike tendencies as well as contributing to potentially adverse forces directed to the lower limb (i.e. excess eccentric loading forces received from heavy heel striking) which can then contribute to injury.

The following website may be of interest regarding the NB Minimus collection.

this is just my problem at the moment just spent heaps on a pair of kayano ran in them 3 times and never again piece of crap! heavy ,stiff,and the shape and form wrecked my foot and am now going to have to take a week off running thanks asics.

[walker1st]

chrizz84, on Sep 22 2010, 01:49 PM, said:

this is just my problem at the moment just spent heaps on a pair of kayano ran in them 3 times and never again piece of crap! heavy ,stiff,and the shape and form wrecked my foot and am now going to have to take a week off running thanks asics.

just take them to court and start the ball rolling, somebody needs to be the first one

[RobHall]

I wear dunlop volleys (steel capped for work) as they are super flat and have lots of feel.  Only Lisa Spink is cool enough to run in them.  I tried to run in them but the toe box is too small and the rubber toe sort of cuts into the top of my foot.  

Kayano's are so structured that they forced my wifes foot to do some bizare movement and popped out her plantaris or popliteus.  And now she has that problem all the time.  The nimbus was pretty much responsible for collapsing my arch, so I went to the GT series and they felt great at the start but repeated ITB issues and calf problems saw them get retired.

Go get some adidas fluid trainers, it would be great is someone that can actually run at the moment gave some feedback about them

[chrizz84]

Kayano's are so structured that they forced my wifes foot to do some bizare movement and popped out her plantaris or popliteus.  And now she has that problem all the time.  The nimbus was pretty much responsible for collapsing my arch, so I went to the GT series and they felt great at the start but repeated ITB issues and calf problems saw them get retired.

this is exactly what they did soooo angry!so she isnt the only one

[RobHall]

ok all, first run done in the adidas fluid trainer and my opinion is.....................well when compared to a free, a free feels like you are running on foam and a fluid trainer feels like you are running on rubber.  hard to say if they are better or worse, probably just different, a lot more solid and structured but still flat.  no where near as much arch, way more room in the forefoot.  Not as much feel as the 5.0 free but given that I keep breaking my feet, I am happy to just have a flat shoe that is comfortable to run in......as much as running 12km with soft tissue damage in the foot can be.

You can heel strike in them to, so you can have little 'rests' between fast bits

[DiscoStu]

DontStop, on Sep 21 2010, 08:09 PM, said:

If you knew what an absolute rabble of an organisation Pac Brands has turned into... a complete and utter shambles of a place... then you wouldn't be surprised at all that they didn't see this coming. One of the most dysfunctional organisations I've ever been exposed to.

Not only would they not have a clue, they wouldn't have the resources to do anything about it if they did.

Yeah it does not surprise me one bit, how many factories do they have left in aus now, i think they used to have a dozen and now a couple maybe.

It's the same old story, these are really old companies, the guys who started out sweeping the floors and opening the mail 50 years ago have slowly worked their way up to become senior managers of these companies, except they are completely incompetent. The lucky country, my arse!!!

[walker1st]

http://www.gearfuse....-for-the-beach/

[zachc]

I've been running in the terraplana evo's for a few months now - initially just to try the 'barefoot' experiment - but i'm hooked now and think they are fantastic. I've seen a few reviews and articles from around the time they were released but nothing recently. Anyone else running in them? There seems to be a ton of publicity around the nb minimus - is this principally because NB is a well established shoe company moving towards a minimalist approach, or is there any reason why the minimus would be a better choice than the evo? Interested to hear your thoughts.

[BEN-HUR]

The following is another shoe design concept which is worth adding to this thread. Without holding it & running in it, it is hard to provide much of an opinion. However, the concept does at least look interesting as I would imagine it would help reduce/decrease metabolic cost (i.e. reduce oxygen consumption/muscle activity via the 'spring' effect) – which is handy for a race environment. Having said this, increase weight would also increase metabolic cost & this concept (added to current running shoes on the market) does look to add a reasonable amount of weight to the shoe i.e. the “force plate”, extra midsole material. However the website does state that the ultimately intended weight of the shoe will be 220-295 grams. A bit hard to imagine considering my size 11.5 Nike Free 3.0 weighs just on 201 grams. Anyway here is the info. including a video which has Dave Moorcroft assessing the shoe.

Press Release:
Heelless running shoe is put through European paces.
A NEW concept in running shoes developed in conjunction with researchers at Staffordshire University has been put through its paces in Europe.

Quote

A NEW concept in running shoes developed in conjunction with researchers at Staffordshire University has been put through its paces in Europe.

Staffordshire University was a key partner in the European funded project to design and develop a heelless running shoe and to investigate the effect of such a shoe on running.

The University helped to secure developmental funding after working with chartered physiotherapist Adri Hartveld and his Stoke-on-Trent company Healus Technology who prototyped the concept.

Professor of Clinical Biomechanics, Nachi Chockalingam said: “Staffordshire University led the mathematical and experimental modelling of the shoe which has sparked a lot of interest in Europe.

“The two year project culminated with an exercise to determine how the shoes performed under marathon conditions – and the story was covered by a Dutch television station as well as in the national papers.”

“This is a prime example of how Universities can work with business to develop and test products which may have applications in our daily lives.”

Staffordshire University will now be moving to the next stage and testing the heelless running shoe out with women.

Keen to establish itself as a leader in the field of running research, Staffordshire University is also looking for runners to volunteer to take part in a number of other research projects.

Professor Chocalingam added: “We are looking to develop some base-line research in running and running styles and we would like willing participants to contact us by emailing runningresearch(at)staffs(dot)ac(dot)uk.”

Staffordshire University offers a number of postgraduate courses in Clinical Biomechanics which are delivered by practicing clinicians in fully equipped laboratories using the latest technology.

Here is the website: http://www.healus.co.uk/running.html

zachc, on Oct 8 2010, 10:42 PM, said:

I've been running in the terraplana evo's for a few months now - initially just to try the 'barefoot' experiment - but i'm hooked now and think they are fantastic. I've seen a few reviews and articles from around the time they were released but nothing recently. Anyone else running in them? There seems to be a ton of publicity around the nb minimus - is this principally because NB is a well established shoe company moving towards a minimalist approach, or is there any reason why the minimus would be a better choice than the evo? Interested to hear your thoughts.

Haven't ran in the Terraplana evo's, so couldn't say. Have been thinking of trying a pair soon though.

Edited by BEN-HUR, 11 October 2010 - 09:45 PM.

[WetWeek]

Fascinating video - thanks for posting.  Looks counter-intuitive in that I'd expect a heel-less shoe would increase strain on the calves and achilles because those regions are not supported.  From the slow-mo, it appears that the shoe encourages a flat, midfoot strike.  I guess the proof is in the running.  Will be very interesting to see if this reaches the market and if so, which manufacturers might adopt it.

[WetWeek]

A fascinating article on the future direction of running shoes, which is further food for thought: http://www.runnerswo...6X7X8-9,00.html


In particular this extract strikes a chord with me (pun intended):

Much of his current research, though, is focused on the "soft-tissue vibrations" in the body. Nigg argues that understanding vibrations—such as the ones that shoot through our legs when our feet whack the blacktop—is the key to performance and may even lead to injury prevention. Every runner has a unique frequency generated by their muscles, called a resonance frequency. It depends on the unique type and size of muscles in your legs. When the vibrations from running come close to a person's unique resonance frequency, you feel discomfort. To check the kind of vibrations in runners, Nigg tapes electrodes to their legs while they are running. These painless sensors measure tiny electrical currents the muscle cells make when activated. Using higher math formulas called wavelet filters, he gets a useful picture of which muscles are firing and when—and what type of shoe would be ideal for an individual.

Since 2000, Nigg has placed electrodes on more than 1,000 runners, most recruited from the University of Calgary's sports teams and running clubs in the area. Some were rail-thin distance runners, others had the muscular carriage of sprinters or soccer stars. The upshot? Nigg has found that some runners' bodies are in tune with firmer shoes because they provide a high-frequency signal to the body, and other runners are in tune with softer shoes, which provide a low-frequency signal. If a shoe hits your natural resonance frequency, you feel uncomfortable after a few miles—and if you persist in wearing it, your muscles become overworked trying to counteract the nettlesome signals.

Edited by WetWeek, 15 October 2010 - 03:04 PM.

[LongDistancePictures]

NB Minimus review on iRunFar.com.

[Zed]

A bit late to this thread, apologies.

I did the Jabulani Challenge in my new MT10's yesterday.

These shoes may just strike the right balance (no pun intended) for me.

My problem so far is that while I want a drop as close as possible to zero, to try and mimic the barefoot experience, I haven't found anything with a thick enough sole to protect my western soles (KSO's not quite there).

The MT10 worked for me.

I hear there is a MT20 soon ocming which goes from 4mm to 0mm?

Look forward to that.

[southy]

I bought the NB WT101 while in the states a few months ago. I love 'em. They have a very slight heel toe difference , low enough to still allow a midfooter to run fast in them, good strong lugs on outer sole for grip while racing on trails , very light in weight, nice broad toe box, and a bit of protection under the metatarsals to protect from stone bruising. I have bony metatarsals and frequently get bruised metatarsals so they are a perfect compromise for me.
Basically I really loved my NB 790s but they wore out and the model was discontinued. This was the nearest thing I could find & they are great. I think these are better even, same weight, same profile (heel to toe) but a bit more protection in the metarsals.

[Curreo]

New Balance Minimus MT20 mens size 12 2E for sale, see here:

http://www.coolrunni...=0