All the cheat-shoe apologists coming out of the woodwork. They’ll deny the advantage as long as they can wear cheat-shoes in every race. If they were ever made illegal, you’d see grown men at every level crying. If they don’t work stop spending money on them.
They are only slightly beneficial on road surfaces. They do not help on trail or grass or track surfaces.
Anyone who thinks they help on any surface besides a hard concrete road is out of their mind.
Anyone who has put on a pair of super shoes and walked 10 ft. in them knows that they work... Maybe they don't work for walk/joggers or terrible shufflers, and that could be your issue.
Adidas now has a trail pair which have won numerous major ultra/mountain races.
There are countless research studies and whole labs (like the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab) dedicated towards understanding the science behind advanced footwear technology (AKA "supershoes"). Just because you/this person doesn't understand, doesn't mean there's no science behind them.
If you talk to the people at the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab, you'll find that they too aren't sure how supershoes works. Of course it's not correct to say that they have "no idea" how they work, but they don't understand it. Wouter, who heads the lab, did a study a few years ago using a table saw to slice right through the carbon plate of a Vaporfly in six places. Amazingly, that basically didn't affect the running economy values of the shoe! That completely undermines the explanations involving longitudinal bending stiffness. And yet the shoes don't work without a carbon fiber plate.
Lots of people have various theories about how the shoes work, and many of those theories probably have a kernel of truth. But the fact is that no one is entirely sure why they work so well.
If you talk to the people at the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab, you'll find that they too aren't sure how supershoes works. Of course it's not correct to say that they have "no idea" how they work, but they don't understand it. Wouter, who heads the lab, did a study a few years ago using a table saw to slice right through the carbon plate of a Vaporfly in six places. Amazingly, that basically didn't affect the running economy values of the shoe! That completely undermines the explanations involving longitudinal bending stiffness. And yet the shoes don't work without a carbon fiber plate.
Lots of people have various theories about how the shoes work, and many of those theories probably have a kernel of truth. But the fact is that no one is entirely sure why they work so well.
Most lay people both underestimate and overestimate how much scientists do understand and don’t understand about their subject matter. Only someone with decent research experience can appreciate that dichotomy.
Why do so many tank on this topic? SHOES are an advantage over the natural way of running, which would be without shoes. When rubber came along for the soles of the shoes as well as lighter materials, the shoes became more advanced and provided benefit over previous shoes that didn't use these materials. Shoes have now taken ANOTHER advancement in technology. But this one is bad? Now, if the "unfairness" is tied to availability, I would tend to agree that all athletes should have equal access to the tech. But I wholeheartedly disagree that it's an advantage that shouldn't be allowed. If it is, then get rid of all shoes.
What if it is proven that the same exact shoe gives one pro a 2% benefit, but gives another pro a 10% benefit?
There are countless research studies and whole labs (like the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab) dedicated towards understanding the science behind advanced footwear technology (AKA "supershoes"). Just because you/this person doesn't understand, doesn't mean there's no science behind them.
If you talk to the people at the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab, you'll find that they too aren't sure how supershoes works. Of course it's not correct to say that they have "no idea" how they work, but they don't understand it. Wouter, who heads the lab, did a study a few years ago using a table saw to slice right through the carbon plate of a Vaporfly in six places. Amazingly, that basically didn't affect the running economy values of the shoe! That completely undermines the explanations involving longitudinal bending stiffness. And yet the shoes don't work without a carbon fiber plate.
Lots of people have various theories about how the shoes work, and many of those theories probably have a kernel of truth. But the fact is that no one is entirely sure why they work so well.
Someone at Nike certainly understands how they work.