Whats New………Karhu 2009
I recently had the pleasure of seeing the new Karhu line-up and have to say I am impressed with the design and functionality of their footwear. (Borrowing some terminology from Paul Perrone) Their philosophy is more of a “horizontal” thought process than a “vertical” thought process in the way they provide support. Karhu seems to promote the idea that we shouldn’t “control” the person’s foot mechanics but on the other hand should “guide” the foot, i.e. promoting more lateral release vs medial posting. Karhu is a company from Finland. They have a great history of producing running shoes for almost 100 years. Their primary technology that the shoes are built around is called “fulcrum”. The “fulcrum” is essentially a firmer layer of EVA sandwiched into the midsole of the shoes to promote forward momentum and improved rear to fore transition as well as to help guide the foot either straight down the line for neutral shoes or more toward the lateral side in support/stability shoes. Have to say I love the way they feel on the feet and for lack of a better word they are very “runnable”. They definitely have a very European look to the products and across the board the uppers are very unencumbered without extraneous overlays. Interesting Trivia which I wasn’t aware of before: Karhu was the original 3 stripe shoe (not Adidas) and when both companies showed up at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki with the same logo on the side of their shoes, Karhu ended up selling the rights to it to Adidas for “2 bottles of good whiskey and 1,600 Euros” (can you imagine a modern Board of Directors agreeing to something like that now!) All of this product is now available to ship.
Strong Fulcrum Ride: MSRP $140 This is a stability shoe that I would have to place in a mild range of pronation control (something like Brooks Infiniti). The fulcrum piece on this shoe is beefed up by the addition of a carbon fiber plate adding some midfoot support and torsional support to the platform. The fulcrum design of the stability shoes is made such that the lateral pod of the fulcrum is more distal (toward the toes) than the medial pod, thus as you come from heel strike to mid-stance the foot is guided more to the lateral side as the fulcrum is promoting the rear to fore motion. (hope that sort of makes sense) Midsole heights are 25/11 mens weight is 11.2, womens 9.4. This shoe just won Runners World Best Debut award and does feel really good on the foot. This shoe has a more tapered toe box than the Stable Ride so fits slimmer/more glove like.
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Stable Fulcrum Ride: MSRP $120 This is their more controlling/supportive of the 2 stability shoes. The fulcrum in this model is beefed up with a hytrel polycarbon piece that adds a little more support than in the Strong Ride and is more pronation controlling. 25/11 midsole heights, mens 11.5 oz, womens 10.0 This shoe has a more rounded toe box and more generous volume to the fit.
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Fast Fulcrum Ride: MSRP $130 midsole heights of 23/10 weighs in at only 11.1 for mens and 9.3 oz for womens. This is their more performance oriented light neutral shoe with the light neutral fulcrum design promoting forward motion without influencing medial/lateral motion.
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Fluid Fulcrum Ride MSRP $110 midsole heights are 25/11 with weight of 12.8 for mens and 10.9 for womens. This is the beefier neutral shoe with the neutral fulcrum. This is the shoe for the neutral runner looking for the most cushion.
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