In addition to have 4E width feet, I think Nike marketing sucks. I hate that they pay millions to rich athletes to hawk their brand when they pay crap in their factories.
New Balance (to my knowledge) is the only company who still produces (some) of it’s shoes in the US.
So not only do I get to buy American, I get to dissaprove of bullshit marketing dollars.
Nike build shoes for fashion, not for sport.
When Saucony’s logo says “loyal to the sport” I think it’s a dig at companies like Nike, who have strayed so far from what real athletes want in a shoe
That being said… Nike clothing is usually very good and fashionable.
The only pair of Nike shoes I own is a pair of track spikes from 7 years ago. Hard to mess up track spikes.
I train in several pairs of Shox and use Zoom Milers for races. As sneakers I wear Kukinis and Free’s. I’m a Nike Junkie.
Frank
It would be like someone working for Trek, having their car break down ten miles out, then deciding to walk to town rather than accept an offer of a Cervelo to ride. Of course, the point is moot if the seat on the Cervelo is too high. 
Isn’t Budweiser in Ft Collins?
I’ve been a nike sponsored athlete from '96, frommy days as a runner. There is a real culture of other brands as the enemy, particularly adidas. You just don;t wear another company’s product - especially adidias. It’s a funny company, they sell an idea rather than a product. When I started there the ‘f’ word was fashion - it aint like that any more!
That being said, they make some great shoes - not all of them mind you, but some great shoes.
I thought the citizen was far and away the best shoe I have ever run in.
Now I use the kantara for long miles, elites for quicker runs and the IM run, and one of their many flats for speedwork and shorter races.
I’m a Nike junkie too. Nike was neighborhood cool as a kid and evolved to my favorite brand. All my training and race gear is Nike. I am a bit disappointed w/ the availability of the ACG line…can’t find it anywhere locally.
Yeah it is, but I think the guy got pinched in a bar in Greeley which is pretty close to the Fort.
That makes sense. I used to commute from Ft Fun to Greeley. I graduated from UNC in 1998. I miss CO…kj
CU Boulder '99 for me and I have yet to leave.
Nike is a marketing, design, development, research and design company … true, we do not manufacture the consumer products out of the headquarters, that is done overseas … just as Adidas, Reebok, NB and others do.
I won’t (and can’t) accurately address the concerns on Labor, but if you would like more information, then I would go to:
http://www.nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=25
There is a lot of negative press out there about Nike and labor. Very much of it is ill-informed. Before you (or anyone) makes a decision to not wear Nike because of a labor issue (ie, cheap labor in a foreign country) go through your house and look at everything and where it is made. I think you will find that you might need to throw out quite a bit if that’s the issue …
I can’t speak for other companies, but Nike is constantly striving to make things better for it’s workers. It has and it will continue.
Dennis
Good enough. I’m not looking to get into a debate. I trust that you have done your due diligence and you have made up your mind on what you would like to do and I respect that.
Nike used to be a running shoe company. Then it morphed into a marketing company - they don’t actually make running shoes anymore. Its corporate behavior was atrocious, see
http://www.saigon.com/~nike/update.htm
for some history. They have cleaned up their act since then I believe.
At the Atlanta Olympics, they ran an ad “you don’t win silver, you lose gold”. At that Olympics, Hezekiel Sepeng won the first Olympic medal ever for a black South African, an historic moment of great joy for him and many others. The medal was silver…
Between the advertising and their behaviour, I haven’t bought Nikes in a decade. That said, I thought the Pegasus and Skylon were great running shoes…
You need to ask?
Ophra Winfrey has added the “Free” to the It-List of Christmas presents for this year (I fell out of my chair when my friend mentioned that).
No more Nikes for me again, never ever!
Hmm, not sure what’s wrong with Nike Free being one of Oprah’s “IT” items…maybe it is more of a problem with Oprah than Nike that you have. 
I for one am a Nike wearer. I’ve worn the Pegasus for years, and of course, I’ve tried other shoes, but I always come back and now stay with Nike. I also have the Free and it is an exceptional shoe IMO. Love that darn Free. The only problem that I had when 1st wearing Nike’s is that they do run a little bit shorter than their competitors, but sizing up 1/2-1 full size takes care of that problem.
Wow, you Nike guys are really taking a hit from a lot of folks. Sounds like a bit of a pile on.
I have been wearing the Air Structure Triax in a double E for years and prefer them over the Asics 2000 series. I think maybe in the past Nike modified their shoes too often for the wrong reasons (marketing?). But now, if a shoe gains a following, they seem to be less inclined in changing it. Hope this trend continues.
I have 5 pairs of 2004 Nike Air Structure Triax. 2 retired, 2 in use and 1 for the future. I loved them, so I bought three pairs at an outlet store last spring. I also like there running tops. I have flat feet and wear orthotics, so I bought a pair of Free’s to work on my arch strength. They hurt my feet something fierce to run in, so now they are my weight lifting shoes.
I have a friend who lived in the philippians for a couple of years. He said the people literally fought and killed over jobs at the Nike factories. They paid 3-4x what normal jobs did and they were secure jobs that lasted for years.
Ever seen the Onion article about NIke? They said they were going to stop making shoes and clothes and only make commercials.
I used Nike shoes faithfully for over 20 years. For the last 5 years or so I just could not find one I was comfy in. Everything just seemed out of whack, hard to describe. Moved to Asics about three months ago. Heaven. No leg problems since. They just seem to fit like a glove. I like Nike’s active wear and still wear a lot of that.
Nike made shoes (not all) in their own factories in New England up until 1986. The conditions in these domestic factories were worse at the time than they were in Asia 10 years later.
I don’t know about NB purchasing their own factories in Asia. I do know that they have shoes made in privately owned contract factories with the other larger companies.