A rep called yesterday and asked if I could see her that afternoon. I said "sure". She wanted to show me the new shoe line she picked up. The brand is Inov-8. They are very technical trail shoes designed in the UK. They felt really good!
The company takes a minimalist approach to shoes. No unnecessary stuff on the uppers, very low profile midsoles, very little in the way of stability devices and very light (for trail).
They were almost like wearing a racing flat. The first couple of runs should probably be short, to allow the calves and achilles to get used to the lower heel.
We share many of the same ideas when it comes to running shoes and running so I ordered a pair to try and I will let you know how they are after I get some miles on them.
If you do a lot of hilly and/or technical trails, I would try a pair on and see how they feel.
http://inov-8.com/
posted by Scott @ 9:56 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Do you get to test all the sneakers before you buy them? What a great job!!
I do take all of them out for a quick spin outside (it's good to be sample size!). If the company is saying "this is our version of X shoe", I'll put an X shoe on one foot and their shoe on the other to see of they stack up. I try on every shoe to see how it stacks up to the others. I even try on the women's shoes (o.k. maybe because it makes me feel pretty, but that is for another post!)
Before we bring in any brand, someone at the store (sometimes more than one) has to get a pair for an extended test. We do the same thing if it is a new shoe that the companies are pushing. We prefer not making our customers the guinea pigs.
Fortunately, at our store we have all three foot types covered and that will dictate who gets a sample shoe for testing.
While it sounds great (and usually is) sometimes you get a shoe that feels good until you run on it! It can occasionally put you out of commission for a bit. I had an older Pearl Izumi that felt fine until this weird forefoot fit issue came up and it bruised the top of my foot. I even had trouble having any shoes on. I had to miss 2 weeks of running!
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