In terms of speed, you don't present yourself as wanting to focus on time/speed/performance, so, no, they won't help. In terms of comfort, the price tag doesn't justify. They wouldn't injure you, but there are gains elsewhere that would be the needed before you ever really entered the realm of benefitting from carbon plated shoes. Triathlon has a way of separating a man from his money though 🙂.

Hoka has up to a 60 day return policy if you're a member. Otherwise 30 days. They can be used.

Just go by a pair of Cielo X1 or Rocket X2s and see for yourself.

The Cielo X1 really feels like you're running on tall springs at first. It's fun to run in them, but they definite feel almost comical.

The Rocket X2 feels way more natural. If you can afford it, I say get the Rocket X2 and make them your race day only shoe and just have something special for race day. Even if your goal isn't to go super fast, you'll almost certainly feel less fatigued running in them and your time will increase. No worries on that shoe of you getting injured.

The reason why I'm picking these is I feel they are more durable than the (Better imo) Nike options. Nike is faster, but I feel the foam a little less durable. Asics and Hoka are maybe marginally less faster than Nike, but if so very minutely. Asics and Hoka I feel are usually more stable than Nike. But Hoka has the better return policy compared to Asics.

My brother had some horrendous injury problems when he started running in them. He was an idiot and just switched to them without any phasing in.

[quote Road_to_140.6.....
Will i benefit anything?
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Will carbon shoe add anything to me?
Heard that carbon shoes can ruin your feet[/quote]
All the research shows that as one gets slower and slower the carbon plated shoes benefit you less and less and in some studies 20% of the people were slower in carbon plated shoes.

You might want to try something like the Saucony endorphin speed that has a tpu or nylon plate. Some runners seem to get more benefit from these than the carbon plated shoes.

the carbon shoes probably won't hurt your feet. the plate is mainly used to stabilize the shoe since the foam tends to be very squishy and pliable, especially side to side

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

this is my gripe with carbon shoes. people look to buy speed instead of training properly...

Synthetic i was kust asking. I dont care anout speed. I just wonder if i colud benefit any. No wories here.

 


I find Nike Vaporfly's (which have carbon plate) leave my legs feeling less beat up after long runs. No idea if I'm really any faster in them. But less soreness after the run makes them worth it to me.

As others have said, some companies like Hoka and Nike have good return policies. Try a pair and see if you like them.

Yes, supershoes will generally be faster regardless of your running pace. It's less about the carbon plate; roughly 75% of the benefit of these shoes is the energy return in the foam. Accordingly, you may want to get one of the "supertrainers" like the Saucony Endorphin Speed or the ASICS Superblast.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I realise that this may go against conventional wisdom, but here's my personal experience with carbon plate shoes. I bought a pair of Puma Deviate Nitro shoes (first version) in Dec 2022. The reason was they were the cheapest carbon plate shoes on the market and I wanted to try them because of joint problems in my feet and I figured the stiff plate would alleviate the problem. It did.

Loved them from the first run. Ran through most of 2023 with them, then bought a pair of the same shoes Nitro Elite 2 in August (23). Still alternated with the both pairs (the newer version is way better to run in, but both were great). My results were no injuries, no black toe, no muscle or joint problems and at my age (76) those are a constant companion. It culminated in training weeks in excess of 70k, more than I have ever run in 30 years of doing Tri.

My one injury is a black toe suffered when I took notice of Slowtwitch wisdom to go back to training in "ordinary shoes" in my case Hoka (something or other). One week and one black toe later I went back to the Puma's. I'm a 1:80 height 80 kilo weight septuagenarian who never wins the run part and never will. My last 10k was a smidge under 60 minutes (and that was downhill). My training speed is 9kph on average (6:40). I'm not faster in them, but certainly happier. Because the next day I can run in them again.

The original shoes I gave to a friend to try out as they to had doubts about carbon plate. These shoes have done well in excess of a 1000km and the uppers are trashed, but they have hardly any wear on the tread. The friend remarked he felt "faster"

Go for it.

lets not lie to ourselves. everyone care about speed. there are cut off times to be met. 497 did not meet the cut off at boston this year: https://www.runnersworld.com/...hour-results-cutoff/

by and large this is why swimming was so good back in the day before they invented faster suits in the 90s and then wetsuits in the triathlon side of things. all you had was a google bathers and the clock. times have changed.

I'm slow and old and I train in Nike Vaporflys. I love them. I find them very bouncy/cushiony. I got them on sale and they are worth every penny. Saying the price tag "doesn't justify" is a head scratcher. It all depends on what you have and what you value. Elon doesn't really differentiate between $100 and $300. I am shocked by what people will pay for a fancy meal or a night in a high-end hotel, I would rather have my Vaporflys.

The speed gain is real, I've posted about it a lot in the past. It doesn't work for everyone, for most, the supershoes are faster, meaningfully.

I've put over 500 miles on my Alphafly1. No ill effects. The upper is getting really trashed, with multiple holes now, but it's definitely still a fast shoe, even if it's not as awesome as day one. (It's just as fast for me as my race-day barely used AF2, so I can compare)

To put in perspective, I just got a pair of the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4's (I've previously used Speed 1s which I thought were great). These shoes have been getting all raves with online reviews for an all-rounder type shoe. The Alphafly1 absolutely blows this shoe out of the water on speed and bounce. It's not even close - I thought my my new Speed4 was broken at first! I've since made myself acclimate to the Speed4s and they feel better now (mainly because AF3's are sold out!) but the AF1 is a way faster shoe and also absolutely lets you run more miles given the energy-saving effect (which I particularly notice now having run for so long in AF1s.)

This short video isn't a running motion, but when I saw this, I instantly thought that this is EXACTLY the difference I feel between the Nike AF vs the Speed4 (which has a nylon plate, so still got some rebound!)

Carbon vs noncarbon flex/bounce

Quote:

by and large this is why swimming was so good back in the day before they invented faster suits in the 90s and then wetsuits in the triathlon side of things. all you had was a google bathers and the clock. times have changed.

And moustaches.

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That itch on your head is not from my rationale. The question is about carbon shoes, not bouncy, cushioned shoes. There are other, more affordable shoes that accomplish that. This man is running 7+min per km, 11:40 per mile. My response is right on point. The carbon plates will not add speed at those paces, therefore, purchasing them would be giving value ($) for nothing in return. That, by most men's standards, "does not justify."

Yes, I'm defending my advice, but I'm not defensive. I'm not here to argue.

I train at around 11 min per mile pace with my Hoka Bondis. When I put on my AlphaFly I can run ~4hr marathon. Good enough to qualify for Boston the last three years. No way I could BQ without them.

OMG you guys, another bot post, this is getting ridiculous. IF I didnt know any better, I would say that half the Nigerian population is now doing triathlon..Me thinks the moderators need to tighten up the questions before allowing obvious spammers to come in here to play how many bites can I get....Going on over in the LV too...