Curios to hear people’s opinions/experience on using speed laces on a super shoe (carbon plate running shoes). I only use speed laces for Olympics distance and under anyway, but have never used them on a super shoe. To me it feels like these types of shoes need to be tight, but idk.
Well every pro uses them, as do FOP AGers. So it seems to work. As long as you can achieve heel lock with the speed laces, there’s no problem.
I’ve tried with and without. Heel lock was fine with speed laces. My main issue was that the Next% had a thin tongue that folded over easily and took time to flatten after sqeezing my foot in, so I switched back to regular laces. If she specific shoe has a gusseted tongue, 1pc construction, or thicker tongue, then I’d use speed laces. I liked speed laces on the 1pc 4% Flyknit and would definitely use them with the SC Elite v3. Recently got the Endo Pro 3, which has a thin tongue. With those, I’m not sure.
I raced this season with speed laces in my Puma Nitros with no issue. Will throw some in my Scott speed Carbon RCs too, but those didn’t come in until after my multisport season wrapped, so for my last couple of running races, I just used normal laces…
I was having issues with the top of my foot getting blisters when I put speed laces on my Alphaflys, but the mesh was tight enough that I just took them out and went with no laces. I’m planning on going with a different shoe when these ones die, but it does work well enough
- *I tried several super shoes and the issue was the tongue. They are super thin and hard to pull up quick enough for a spring or Oly distance race. Speed laces just made it worse. I thought about stitching the tongue to the top but it would have to be with an elastic stitch. I just could not figure how toe MagGyver it to work.
I have speed laces on my NB Fuel Cell Elite V2’s and my Saucony Endorphin Pro 3’s. No issues, both work fine. Haven’t tried them on my Vaporfly’s because the lacing on those is much more finnicky for me and I need the heel to be really locked down. But I’m about to retire them anyway - I like both the NB and Saucony better for all distances.
Personally I use lock-laces (in VaporFly’s) to get them fastened quickly in T2, and they are tight throughout the race. I tried elastic laces but that did not work at all for me as I find these giving too much stretch during the run and they complicate getting into the shoes. On the other hand I have seen several professional athletes using no laces at all in Nike AlphaFly’s on LD races, so maybe this is very personal.
I workout in Endorphin Speeds and use the Pros for duathlon duty. I just practiced using the speed laces at home a lot and the thin tongue thing became a non issue. Still faster than someone with regular laces no matter what happens.
And if the time per mile of a supershoe is to be believed, you’d gain the time back anyway if you fumble for 5 seconds extra per shoe.
I’m pretty sure I remember a workout one day I would ride outbound from my car in my speedlace equipped Giro bike shoes a mile, uturn, come back the mile and swap shoes and then run a quarter mile out and back and swap again ad nauseum for a workout.
I have Lock Laces in my Saucony Endorphin Pros, and they work great. Have used them in everything from sprint distance to full 140.6. One thing I will say about the thin upper and the tongue, is that it’s easier to get the shoes on with socks than without (foot slides in better). So it’s a choice between a few extra seconds to put socks on, or a few extra seconds fiddling with the shoe trying to get my foot in–for me, those choices are about equal in time, so I find myself wearing socks for the run a lot more than I used to.
Another vote for Lock Laces. Threaded them into my Adizero Pro2 in the weeks leading up to Penticton this summer and never took them out; they work for me.
I’ve adjusted my elastic laces on my Next% so they’re not as tight on my other mere mortal race shoes. I was getting some painful pressure points before loosening them up. Now all is good.
I ran out of T2 at Ironman WA two weeks ago and realised I hadn’t tightened my laces on my Nike Alphafly 2’s and the are so tight already on my feet that I was prepared to stop but they were fine. My toes were the least battered out of any IM I have ever done.
I raced a half Ironman and a standard last year in Nike Vaporfly’s with elastic laces. Lots of ‘roll’ in the shoes resulting in an injury due to stability issues, might have been better if I’d had them a little tighter but then I might not have got them on so easy. For Roth this year I raced in ASICS Metaspeed Sky and kept the original laces and actually took the time to tie them. I had no issues, the ASICS is probably a bit more stable but no doubt being ‘locked in’ more securely helped too.
How did the Metaspeeds compare to the Vaporflys in terms of the foam, bounce, etc?
Curios to hear people’s opinions/experience on using speed laces on a super shoe (carbon plate running shoes). I only use speed laces for Olympics distance and under anyway, but have never used them on a super shoe. To me it feels like these types of shoes need to be tight, but idk.
I’ve never once considered not using them. It’s the first thing in do when I get running shoes, super or not. They can get plenty tight if you like that, and they are much more comfortable, aside from the speed in T2.
IMHO the VF’s have slightly more spring and a softer feel than the ASICS, but the difference is marginal. The stability issue with the VF means I would now always reach for the ASICS in a medium or long distance Tri.
How did the Metaspeeds compare to the Vaporflys in terms of the foam, bounce, etc?
Depends on your stride, but Lionel claims that with lactate/HR data he found the Metaspeed to be more efficient for him.
I find the Metaspeed just as fast as the VF, while being more comfortable and stable.
I’m using Next% with elastic laces with no issues, over both full and half Ironman. Both Halves had a fair amount of off road. I spent some time making sure I got the right level of tension in the laces for a quick transition and firm hold on the foot.
Lace locks are a good option as other have said if you can not get the firmness of hold with quick transition with elastic laces.
I have used elastic laces on both the Vapor Fly and Alpha Fly (just as I would any other shoes) with no issues.
Curios to hear people’s opinions/experience on using speed laces on a super shoe (carbon plate running shoes). I only use speed laces for Olympics distance and under anyway, but have never used them on a super shoe. To me it feels like these types of shoes need to be tight, but idk.
I have used them in all my super shoes… Vaporfly, Asics Metaspeed, Endorphin Pro and Alphafly. The Alphafly has the solid upper with intergrated tongue so speed laces aren’t a huge change. The Enorphin Pro has an integrated tongue which makes speed laces not so terrible. The Vaporfly is a bit thin for me and hard for me (wide foot) to get on even with speed laces… but I really like them. Metaspeed’s are my go to and now the tongue does try to fold up on me.
I’d really like for some of these shoes to come up with a tri model… gussetted tongue, grab on heel and maybe front of tongue.
I digress yes I use speed laces with super shoes and they are decently fitted. Maybe not as locked down as traditional laces but good enough IMO.