Hey Tom,
I've tried them and they felt really good at the store running around in them.

After one month, they were the shoes from hell.

Do not even think about it. Piece of marketing crap.
ymmv,

Spencer

bout a year ago a fella came in wearing a pair in 9.5, my size. I was like, "Say, may I try those?"

i ran 1/2 a block. They felt rather odd- as though the width of the heel section under the springs forced my foot into an unnatural angle. Very strange.

Interesting concept though.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Yes, I have the Shox FSM, the one that's supposed to be a "runners" shoe. It's really comfortable to wear around, but I don't really like running in it (heel height, little heavy). It's not that it's a bad shoe at all, for me it's just not as good as my Mizuno's and Asics for training. It's been relegated to being my gym/workout/casual shoe.

I have the Shox TL. They weigh 16.3 oz in size 12! They are HUGE and not as comfortable as advertised. They certainly aren't worth the $150 I've seen them advertised for. I got mine cheap, cheap, cheap so I thought I'd try them. If anyone wants mine, send me $75 and they are yours. :)

I'm going back to Asics Nimbus.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

My wife has had about 10 pair by now, the Shox TL with the little bumpers front and back. She loves them, runs about 6 miles per day plus teaches kickboxing with them. I tried a pair, they were not bad..not as soft as a pure EVA midsole but did seem to last a little longer. I went back to my Mizuno Wave Creations though. I'm about 195 and need a pretty durable midsole.

Every brand has their "gimmick".

I tried running in them twice. I did a 25k in the first generation shox that came out, the black and gray ones. They were heavy. I bought another pair a year later and didn't like those as well. They are now for show, my GF owns lots of pairs of them, but they are all for show, she doesn't run in any of them. I don't like the feel of them or the high profile. I feel better closer to the ground.

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Olen

LOL....those are the shoes that the "weightlifters" wear at the club to pretend they are runners.

I wore a pair of Kukinis at the club and 85% of the people asked where they could get a pair....

I did try a pair on and felt pretty good, although they are VERY heavy shoes.

As an injury prone runner I gave the Shox TLs a shot. They did ok for about 150 miles but the rear piller on my right outside side is already starting to be compressed. I'm not a really big guy either. I'd expect a lot better for the $150 I paid for them.

I won't buy another pair.

use em...love em...and bought 4 more pairs when they went on sale here a little while ago.



i started off with the original r4's when they first came out...my ex worked @ a running store so got me 40% off, and they looked cool...fit well...and i'm heavy, so cusioned well.

after that, bought the r4+ then the NZ's for racing. they discontinued the r4, so i bought the turbo, which i liked so much i stocked up for the next couple seasons, and then kept the NZ's for racing.



i weigh in @ 215 right now, and have had minimal joint issues with them...they last longer, and if you buy them on sale, cost about the same (or less) than most other shoes....that and they look pretty cool if you ask me. (esp. my silver metallic and dark blue racing ones...or the metallic silver/red ones that i just got ;) )

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

I do.
I train in them and I race in them. The "NZ" model is rather flat, there are lots of them on ebay rather cheap.

regards,

Frank

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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain.

I'm a mid to fore foot striker so I find all that shock crap just so much superfluous weight. The best thing that can be said about these shoes is that they are durable. But so is a dump truck.

I'd avoid buying them from Ebay. Nike shoes are widely copied in China. Sometimes they are actually made from the same molds as the legitimate Nikes, but even then they use inferior adhesives. They are built for looks, not for runners. I've heard they can have a copy of any shoe within a week and sell them for $5/pair. Even if you could tell me they were 100% the same, I wouldn't buy them...bottom line is it's theft. Many of the Ebay shoes coming from China have $35 shipping fees, and there are many reports of then taking money and not shipping anything.

Same thing applies to buying them on travel to Asia. Unless you are buying from a high end department store, chances are you are getting fakes.

I've trained in them and liked them. While I'me not currently using them, I will use them again probably. They seem to last quite a bit longer then EVA midsoles. The feel is very different than normal running shoes. Once I got past the goofy appearance and feeling that I was part of a fad, I found them to be very durable and the difference from normal running shoes was fine.

Tom,

I am pretty convinced that really expensive running shoes (the $150 Nike shox, for example) are fashion and boutique shoes and a money maker, but not the best running shoes. Maybe geared toward kids and young adults who covet fancy trainers, but don't use them.

Of all my running friends, many much faster than me (former NCAA Div. 1 guys, Oly trials qualifiers) I don't know of any who use super expensive shoes. They are much more likely to use $70 to $100 adidas, asics, Nikes, NB etc. Never $150 shoes. Plus they burn through a pair a month.

But it got me thinking, do some of those guys have shoes so special, they are specially made and not sold mass market? I know alpine race skis are that way. -TB

If you make it past the cover of the October Runners World, there's a picture on the last page of Michael Waltrip (the NASCAR driver) wearing them. He's the "I'm a Runner" interviewee. I wonder if they're fireproof.

Those Shox shoes always make me think of the Seinfeld episode where George has to sell those funky basketball shoes.

instead of buying them on Ebay, you can visit a nike outlet if you have one close by and find shox along with all nike shoes at 50%. I mean all shoes, not old shoes. If you live close to a Nike outlet, you have a goldmine close by.

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Olen

I've been using the NZ for awhile as a trainer, and I like it. I mostly like the fit (I have a narrow foot and like a shoe that fits snugly around my arches, so my foot doesn't slide around), and not being much of a heel striker the funny shape of the rear sole doesn't come into play. At around 145 and a neutral runner, I like a well cushioned, fairly lightweight trainer for putting in the long miles. The Shox NZ just seems to work for me. I wouldn't race in it...I prefer my Mizuno Phantoms for all distances, but it's a decent trainer, especially if it's on sale.

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________________________________________________________________________
"that which does not destroy me will only make me stronger" Frederick Nietzsche
andrew peabody
http://BREAKAWAYMULTISPORT.COM

Never tried them, but have tried several other Nike models and been so extremely unimpressed. Shoddy workmanship, poor materials, useless design gimmicks. It's not just the "some shoes just don't work for some people" thing...IMO Nike has become a hugely diversified marketing-driven company with no true interest in the sport of running or the needs of more-than-casual runners. They use the latest NBA star to sell crappy b-ball shoes to the kids and they use guys like Lance to sell crappy shoes to the mall crowd (however, I am impressed that they figured out how to use a bicyclist to sell non-bike footwear). Too bad for a company which started as a running shoe company, manufacturing Bill Bowerman's novel shoe designs. At any serious 10k or Oly in my neighborhood, less than 5% of the shoes in the field are Nikes.

tb is right...with careful research, almost anybody can come up with their own great training or racing shoe for $70.

A lot of nike shoes are too expensive and, in the case of the shox, terrible to run in. But when it comes to racing flats, lightweight trainers, and track spikes I will only wear nikes, every other brand I have tried just doesn't feel right, I really want a pair of the nike free's or nike mayflys for racing no other company makes shoes anywhere close to that light.

No doubt, Nike has lost market share among "serious" athletes and runners.

Thanks all for the insight on the Shox shoes. -Seems to be a concensus.

I have owned and had great luck with some Nike shoes. I don't happen to be running in them at the moment though. As I mentioned, I have those expensive Asics, and they are very good. My racing shoes are Saucony Fasttwitch Endurance. Now that I am a svelte 155 lbs (after my 81 miles of riding today) I feel like I can actually benefit from lighter shoes in a race.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

It seems that occasionally people on the forum ask me for shoe advice so I'll chime in.

Use them, yes and no. I'm a nuetral runner, 150lbs, maybe a touch of pronation control if I'm not using my orthotics.

I had a pair of ShoxZs and loved them to a point. Great cushioning, smooth smooth ride but if you are prone to rolling ankles as I am, watch the hell out because you'll go down quick. I rolled my ankle every other run but hey it never really screws me up so I kept running in them. Even considered using them for IM kona. Great upper, smooth ride, great cushioning. NOT for people needing motion control, severe supinators or pronators, trailrunners.

I have a pair of SHOX TL shoes as well. Pure crap, funky look but not a smooth ride at all. Maybe if I gained some weight these would work better.

The new shox are nice, probably not much better than offerings by other brands and even other nike non-shox shoes. I also wouldn't reccomend them for anyone with major stability needs. But if you're a relatively nuetral runner, maybe a slight overpronator for some models, you may like or even love the shox.

Nike has lost a lot of hardcore runners, BUT if you know what you are looking for Nike has some of THE BEST SHOES out there. They push limits and screw up 50% of the time, get it right 45% of the time and 5% of the time come up with something that changes the whole market. Anyone tried the Nike Zoom Elites, thier awesome racing shoes, swift vapors or zoom milers?

I sell shoes to a lot of people and Nike probably gets a smaller share than most, but I love them and know a lot of other people who do as well.

I would never look at Nike as a goldmine...their shoes are crap, IMO. Sports clothes are ok, but they'd have to be pretty damn cheap for me to buy them.

Tai, I find it hard to praise a shoe selling company who gets it right only 45% of the time. IMO, that's a pathetic and meek success ratio. OTOH, what they do get right 99% of the time is marketing. Real runners, et al know this--that's why most hard core athletes don't rely on Nike. With each new design, (gimmik, if you will), there is a 55%+ gamble that the product is pure crap. In today's market a $150.00+ gamble is just not worth it, especially when there is a more solid option that is 99.9% right on (Asic, NB, etc). Let's face it--when you're a runner, all you have is your shoes. Screw that up, and well...you're screwed!

Nike is best left to those who are branding/fashion victims.

kittycat