9 replies to this topic

[FreeDickland]

I am increasingly concerned at the apparent colour discrimination between the different categories of running shoes.

Cushioned shoes - from ALL manufacturers - are clearly the "prettiest" coming in vibrant fashionable colours; heavily structured motion control shoes are usually in dingy unexciting colours and those wearing the median support shoes (Asics 2' series, Brooks Adrenaline etc.) used by vast majority of runners are made in somewhat nondescript colours.

What does this say about the shoe designers/marketers understanding of who runs and why we are out there, wind, rain, hot and/or cold? Whilst our shoes may be both our tools and extensions of our identity as runners the colours appear selected and assigned on the basis of some obscurely bizarre understanding that our shoe requirements reflect our colour preferences and ? our personalities.

A person who requires heavy motion control and structural support may well prefer a light pastel coloured shoe just as a a light footed person whose feet barely touch the ground, let alone pronate may passionately wish for a khaki or olive shoe. Why are we middle of the road runners (mild mannered pronators) confined to middle of the road colour selection?

Whilst the easy answer is to get out there and run them into the dirt, and mud and slush the primary problem remains.

Surely I am not alone in this ?

[chilliman]

As a cushioned shoe runner, I have never bought shoes on how they look. Sometimes I have cringed buying the new release of an old faithful model where the colour of the shoe has dramatically changed. I do know however that a week later after hitting the trails they all look the same.

[Colin]

Dunno what you are referring to mate

The two most popular cushioned shoes, the Pegasus (rated International RW 2006 best shoe) and the Nimbus look like very dorky but functional shoes to me.

[wombatoutofhell]

go to your nearest adidas performance centre-they'll make shoes to suit you in any colour combination you choose-they'll even put your name on one of the stripes!
Coolrunning review here
Australian Website here

[chilliman]

Colin, on Jul 7 2007, 12:37 PM, said:

and the Nimbus look like very dorky but functional shoes to me.

Colin, you just reminded me of the exception to my rule above, the one pair of Nimbus I have, the "glow in the dark bright blue model", two releases ago can't be dulled by anything. They now light up my cupboard whilst looking for other shoes

[deadcat]

i was really surprised by how similar my adidas adistar control look to the new kayano's.. i guess it's just fashion/style whatever.. this season all the shoes of a certain type are one colour and the next they're different.. but still all the same, if you know what i mean..

[Bellthorpe]

FreeDickland, on Jul 7 2007, 10:54 AM, said:

Surely I am not alone in this

I think you are!

[runningaway]

My Brooks Adrenaline GTS6 were a lurid hot pink- I wish they were dingy and dull- I was worried that the GTS7 would have sequins.

[ads]

Dude, I think you need to take this to the UN...they may be better equipped to deal with this moral outrage than us humble Forumites

[Stu Mac]

FreeDickland, on Jul 7 2007, 10:54 AM, said:

Surely I am not alone in this ?

Shoes are shoes really, as a general rule, they all look very similar, except some racing shoes.