Newton running shoes under question
February 23rd, 2008 by nikola
A friend of mine was totally in love with these new shoes - obviously the marketing worked and these shoes were a brand new accessory for her. They gave her that extra interest in training and were quite an entertainment. I ran behind her one day and she was running funny, on her toes, and eventually, when she forgot or got tired, she started running in her regular foot strike. I was very confused by her stride as it seamed she was trying very hard to do something which did not seam natural to her yet was enforced by Newton running shoe (newtonrunning.com) advertising. And this makes me worried.
In a world which suffers from an extreme lack of regulation and in which it is very easy to advertise magic weight-loss pills (it is estimated that 60% of weight-loss advertising is a complete lie - USA Federal Trade Commission report - www.ftc.gov) and only god knows how many other bogus magical products, a product like Newton running shoe surely makes me wonder.
Triathlon especially has this aura of equipment obsession. Triathletes often tend to buy equipment and believe it will fix their problems - this relationship to products is similar to the belief that eating rhino horn will guarantee a larger penis erection, but is of great benefit of a super fast growing number of manufacturers that fight for the consumer attention with more and more bogus claims.
I never tried Newton running shoes and I am not saying they might not work.
But I am super sceptical that they do work and I will not buy them myself - that’s for sure.
I really do not believe someone will invent a shoe that radically changes the way humans have been doing something for such a long time. It is not impossible, but it is highly unlikely. It is more likely that this is a marketing gimmick that can end up injuring a lot of people, or at least taking their money for no real benefit.
It is very hard to trust professional athletes when it comes to equipment. After all they are paid to use it. Also the shoe marketing is focusing on a less focused and less specialized triathlon market, opposed to a more sceptical running market.
If you have any experiences with these shoes please comment.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:26 am
I have just sent am e-mail to Newton Running Co. Customer Support.
Here is the report :
***
Hello,
I´ve purchased a pair of Newton Gravity Running Shoes in February and I am very upset about the durability of the product .
I chose the Gravity because I tought they would last longer (+ miles), as they have more rubber on the outsole, but the Forefoot Active Membrane System of the “left” shoe failed after only 200 miles !
I am not a heavy runner (145 pounds) and I´ve used the shoes mostly for trainning on paved roads, so I was very surprised when I discovered the problematic leak …
I hope it is only an isolated case, because it is very disappointing, specially for people like me, that live in other countries (I am from Brazil ! ) and wanted the shoe to have a taste of the latest technology just to find out it is not so good …
I am afraid I won´t buy shoes from Newton again, and fellow brazilian triatheles will also think twice after my bad experience .
Please take my report under consideration when developing a more resistant membrane material to avoid situations like this.
You can contact me by e-mail (ganetto@hotmail.com) for further informations, details and discussions about the subject.
Tanks,
Gustavo Ayres Netto (Xterra World´s - Top 10 Age Grouper) .
***
I will post the reply as soon as possible .
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:12 am
Gustavo, I found one or two more complains similar to yours on forums.
This is a problem of durability and I do not know how related it is what I am worried about - that their wish to create a marketing gimmick so they stand out is bigger than making a safe and proper product.
Newton is hardly alone in this. Cervelo themselves say that their most aerodynamic bicycle is not on sale because people did not like the way it looks.
The main goal of companies with products is to create attractive brands and products, as for safety and real results they just comply with the basic rules which are usually super loose. Even in pharma industry you have problems, so you can image the amount of marketing bullshit that happens in triathlon industry.
Some products do work but I would guess that it is only 10% of the stuff that makes sense, and usually only the stuff that has been around for a long time.
It is possible that Newton shoes will work out eventually but so far there seems to be no proof of it being useful and safe. Few athletes are paid to use them and there is a marketing campaign for this strange product. People get excited as they always want to have something new, something different so they feel different, but eventually most of these kind of products are pure marketing with no real value that helps the results.