Best carbon plated running shoes for sockless triathlon racing?

Triathlon Forum
1

I have the Hoka Carbon X and really like it but for me it does not seem to be a good choice for triathlon racing without socks.

How about Brooks Hyperion Elite 2? I’m willing to spend a reasonably ridiculous amount of money on the right shoe but trial and error
at $200 or more is a bit much. I should probably add that I’m probably not doing anything longer than sprint distance events.

2

Carbon X messed my feet up good on my trial sockless run! I’ve bought the new On cloudflash as Ons have always seemed to work sockless for me, and they can be my sprint/olympic tri shoes as well as my short run race shoes with carbon X’s as my longer run race shoes and 70.3 plus tri race shoes

3

So far endorphin working in our hot conditions (33++ c) sweaty feet seems ok even I can’t wear kinvara no socks for long the endorphins seem pretty good. Note I have the speed not the pro but other than heel cup they seem very similar in the fit and liner.

4

I found the original nike 4% to be super good sockless
.

5

I have them almost all since i like to test running shoes.
I can wear sockless the saucony speed and endorphin, new balance fuelcell tc, energy streak and the fuelcell rc elite, hoka carbon x and carbon rocket.
Also in the new adidas adizero adios pro.

So quite some that work well.

Jeroen

6

if you are going to cheat go all out. rollerblades should work fine sockless too.

7

Nah, now, look, rollerblading is something that isn’t in my league.
But runningshoes…yes, i love them so i buy them, a lot :wink:

Jeroen

8

There are plus - minuses of every one of the shoes. It all depends on the shape of your foot and the overall fit of the shoe. Going sock-less depending on the length of the run you may want to alter the size of the shoe. Then there is the ease of putting it on. So here’s my view:

  1. Attached tongues - Once on they tend to work better but getting them on is harder. I’m confident I’d catch my pinky toe on the Saucony Endorphin Pro tongue. I like the tongue on both NB shoes. They are also both going to be very breathable.
  2. Shoe Length and Space - I could go barefoot in the Endorphin Pro no problem. For the NB RC I would need to go down a 1/2 size but for the Elite I would use my standard size. For the Nike Next % and Alpha Next % I’d go down a 1/2 size. The Flyknit 4% worked great barefoot (hard to get on) but that’s because it ran about 1/4 size short.

The others:
Brooks Hyperion Elite 2 - The overall shape and tongue construction looks great. I’m not sure what the backing is on that upper. It doesn’t look like it’s a smooth interior but I could be wrong.

Adidas Adizero - If it fits your foot really well it till work great. Any movement you have in the shoe will cause problems.

Hoka One One Rocket X - It looks like it has the same tongue construction as the Carbon X which I think is part of the problem with the Carbon X. I have not put the shoe on so understand I’m simply putting my visual construction hat on.

9

I have the Hoka Carbon X and really like it but for me it does not seem to be a good choice for triathlon racing without socks.

How about Brooks Hyperion Elite 2? I’m willing to spend a reasonably ridiculous amount of money on the right shoe but trial and error
at $200 or more is a bit much. I should probably add that I’m probably not doing anything longer than sprint distance events.

Have you tried the carbon X SPE? Sock like one piece upper / no tongue. Much better that regular model.

10

thanks, that looks pretty interesting.

11

Nike Next % work great for me without socks. I LOVE the upper on those shoes. Not the fastest to put on because you have to be careful with the tongue.

12

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage

13

Huh? Have no idea what you are talking about (or why).

14

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage

This is what I was able to dig up regarding carbon plate running shoes pertaining to the sport of triathlon. I used Google to find this, hope that’s not cheating…
What do the new shoe rules say?

The new rule, to take effect immediately, requires that running shoes have a maximum midsole thickness of 40mm and no more than one stiff carbon plate. This rule appears to grandfather in the Nike Vaporfly Next%s, which has been a popular shoe of choice among elite marathoners and many top triathletes.

15

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage

Must be a let’s run poster…do you really save that much time not putting socks on?

I guess depending on the distance I would think the comfort of socks would make up for the 5 seconds to put them on. But that’s just me.

16

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage

What kind of bike do you ride?

17

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage

I believe it is against forum rules to call carbon plated shoes or the athletes that wear them “cheaters”.

18

Since you say you do sprint distance races I’ll mention one that hasn’t been listed.

ASICS MetaRacer.

Not as high stack height as others, great midsole foam and plate. I really like it for shorter stuff, especially if the course has twists and turns.

19

well. at least there karma to using these cheater shoes. there are tons of people with achilles problems now after usage
Are they “cheater shoes” because they’re faster than all the shoes? Harder to get than other shoes? Don’t work for you so not happy with others with advantage? Too expensive? Because they’re NIKE?

I Thought calling the OG vaporfly cheater shoes was dumb too but since they were the only ones at the time I could see maybe unfair, but not for anyone not getting paid to wear a certain brand. But now that every other brand has had 3 years to develop a shoe to compete but haven’t been able come up with anything as good yet can’t even call it unfair. But not cheating at all.

20

I wear the endorphins pros myself sockless. I never had a blister issue yet. This is my main go to shoe for now.