Small insignificant rant: For the first time in my life, I legitimately wore out a pair of running shoes and went to the running store to get a replacement pair. Apparently, Nike felt the need to come out with the Vomero +2, which fits totally different than the original Vomero. I felt bad because I ran the kid helping me back to try on a billion different shoes until I came to the conclusion that none of them fit right. The temporary fix is obviously buying from Eastbay or other internet sellers, but shouldn’t the new version at least somewhat resemble the shoe it is replacing?
Same thing happened to me with Asciis Gel Cumulus III. I was so sad when they came out with the IV. However, I managed to scoop up 3 pairs from various places and ended up running through all of them before I had to find a new shoe. I bet you can still find the old Vomero’s out there.
Well,for what it is worth, I have gone through three style “upgrades” from Saucony, and the move has been painless. They seem to be pretty consistent within a style.
I feel your pain. Brooks Adrenaline have been pretty much a standard for many years. I’ve owned 4 or 5 pairs. This year they changed the sole to some ‘upgraded’ sole that makes it feel like there’s a pebble stuck in the bottom of the shoe hitting the ball of my foot. Totally sucks.
I have the same problem. I bought the same NB shoe for 8 years and now I am still looking for a good replacement shoe. The sad thing is the shoes that I am liking the best now aren’t even NB so they lost a very loyal customer. Probably not what they had intended…
It really does seem to be an Asics issue, doesn’t it? My hudband still has three pairs of Cumulus VIIs in the closet, and is worried about what he’s going to do when they’re fried since they’re the shoe that cured his chronic hip pain, and nothing else he’s tried since then has worked out so brilliantly.
What did you find to be so different between the VII and the VIII?
I’ve used both and honestly they feel pretty much the same to me. The 9 I could see taking issue with, but I’d sincerely like to know what I’m missing in the previous changeover.
The only difference I noticed was that my gut feel was that the VII was a bit “cushier” but I chalked that up to it being a new pair versus an old VIII (weird to go backwards, but I bought the VIII at full retail and found a pair of VIIs for cheap later on). I’ll have to see how I feel going back to the VIIIs when I put on my new ones and start breaking them in.
I did feel almost lazy in my form in the VIIs, they’re very forgiving shoes.
New Balance did it to me with the 901 to the 902. I bought the 902 this year expecting the same out of the box fit and comfort. Nada, 902 required a couple weeks af break in and doesn’t feel half as nice. I won’t buy another pair after i wear these out. Downside to that is i am back to trying to find a shoe I like, this really sucks for me since i almost always have to order shoes due to my little bitty wide duck feet. (I wear a 7.5EE)
I HATE that. and it happens all the time with Nike. I visit a warehouse store in the US and buy 6 pairs of a shoes i’'m fond of but I realize there will be an end. so frustrating, time consuming, and anxiety porducing!
First (and last) run, I had to stop after 6 miles and couldn’t run for 10 days due to soreness.
My guess is that depending on your foot and running style, a small change can have major impact for one runner but mean little to another.
I second that less forefoot support. Cumulus VII was the perfect shoe for me. I went through 2 pair before I couldn’t find them anymore. Thing is, the same thing happened between Cumulus III and IV, I think it was. If you find one you like you better buy a few pair!!!
Yeah Mizuno did that with my favorite shoe, and really narrowed up the toe box, and also cut down on the toe box height drastically. I immediately got black toenails. Fortunately they got enough bad feedback that the next generation fixed it. 4 generations on it still had enough space, then they decided to disco it…grrrrr…
I was going great with the Mizuno Wave Mercury for many years, then they up and discontinued it in favor of the Wave Inspire. The Inspire sucked for me. I even called Mizuno and they told me the Inspire was the same shoe as the Mercury except for a new last, improved heel plate, and shallower toe box. How does that translate to “same shoe”?
I’m now using the Asics 2120, but not really happy since they feel kind of heavy and clunky. I want my Mercury’s back!
I used to own specialty running stores and had opportunity to attend a small dealers meeting at Nike HQ in Oregon back in '99. The fact that Nike changes models EVERY QUARTER was the #1 complaint among dealers as it meant repeat customers (the lifeblood of a specialty store) could rarely, if ever, get a model that was similar to the shoe they liked.
That was the inspiration of the “Bowerman Line”, a series of heritage shoes that would have some continuity from season to season. There’s a reason asics is the #1 brand sold in specialty shops. asics doesn’t change a model too much when they have a solid selling model. Look at the Kayano, DS-Trainer, 2000-2100 series, Cumulus, etc.
As someone who knows your pain my suggestion is to buy multiple pair of a shoe that fits you well because all shoe companies “update” models in the spring/fall (except Nike who does it 4x a year) and the update may not be to your liking. Online retailers will often closeout old models at deep discounts so they don’t have to carry over aged inventory. Eastbay, holabird sports, roadrunner sports, zappos, and sportsbasement are just a few where you can find good deals sometimes. I found some asics racing flats on closeout for $29 and bought all 3 pair that were in my size.
Sorry, i know that didn’t help.