Comments on: Brooks Running Pure Project: Brooks to Introduce a New Line of Minimalist Shoes

By: Dom

Dom — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Agree - competition is a good thing.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Alex.

yes, it's a tough justicication to make, isn't it :)

By: Dave K

Dave K — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This type of thing reminds me of all the large companies that have been destroying the environment and are now putting out the message that they are "saving" the environment and need your money in order to do so. For decades the runners world cabal has been preaching that form doesn't matter and that tinkering with form will do more harm than good. The shoe companies fell right in line with this.

To be honest a shoe company is the last place I'd go to for advice on running form.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Paul.

I agree - thisis why I was happy with the announcement.

Pete

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I checked out some of the other pictures of Scott Jurek's blue Brooks' on Anton's site, and I'm not sure they are all that minimalistic. Reduced, ala the Kinvara, yes. They seem to have a Green Silence style sole that is definitely thicker than say the NB Minimus Road. Still, they look pretty cool. I imagine Scott Jurek is probably Brook's first and best choice for testing anything new, but I have never heard him say anything about using minimalist shoes. Interesting and intriguing. I can't wait to see what Brooks throws into the mix.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Brooks entering the minimalist market can only be good news, Wether they ultimately go with near barefoot like merrel or a reduced traditional trainer like sauconny is ultimately Immaterial, We will still have more variety, greater choice, and more competition, which cant be a bad thing.

By: ZakB

ZakB — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to ZakB.

...by the way, reminder that I was a former ID member and am now a Brooks Fanatics member, but there is no longer an exclusivity agreement with Fanatics as there was with ID, so Brooks will need to come up with the right product to keep my business just like anyone else...that is why I have been trying every other new option under the sun lately, and enjoying the wide variety of approaches out there on the market already this year, it is a great time to be a runner, I think!

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If I remember right, Nike completed some similarly interesting verbal maneuvers with its announcement – and continued promotion of – the Free line. It emphasized the lower-leg strengthening benefits of running “barefoot”, but tried desperately hard not to say that traditional trainers might do the opposite.

By: Patton

Patton — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My hope with this product is that it will continue to reinforce the role of efficient form and technique in running. By focusing on the things we can control (form, breathing, gait) we become less dependent on what we can't. This seems to be a very different energy than the blog post from CEO Jim Weber on 1/25 of last year.

Where I am excited is that this is going to expose more people to this concept and hopefully they share the data used to create Ideal Alignment. I think the success of this strategy will come from how committed Brooks is to this concept. If they are dabbling as a way to capitalize on what they believe to be is a fading trend, then the line and perhaps Brooks may burn out. If they are ready to take a logic and evidence based approach to running, than this could be a huge catalyst for Brooks and a generation of runners to create better running experiences.

By: Sam Winebaum

Sam Winebaum — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

While the resulting shoes may turn out to be great the Pure Project post, matrix, and the language makes me wonder if the audience is their own management, retailers reluctant to move away from the grand 3 type of shoe counsel to consumers and to what ultimately should be lower price points as eventually less material weight and assembly equals lower costs ( look at a tear down of the iPad 2 to see this in action, and finally data and buzz words for the running mainstream press when it comes to review time for the new line.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Jim Moore.

Apparently I had some trouble with simple counting today, thanks for the correction!

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with the snarky reaction to the ad, but it's got to be hard for a shoe company to come up with good sales pitches for products that are hurting and sidelining thousands of runners every year.

"At least your feet will look cool as we slowly destroy them."