Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

600 Mile Threshold and Going Strong

So is $160 for a pair of running shoes expensive? On first thought yes, but it depends right?

The Terra Plana Evo's I purchased have just exceeded the 600 mile mark and they are still going strong. To put that in perspective, when I used traditional running shoes, I had to replace them every 250 miles and I spent about $100 on average per pair. So I spent $240 for 600 miles in traditional running shoes vs. $160 for 600 miles in the Evo's. Plus, the economics get better which each additional mile I log in the Evo's.

The beauty of true minimalist running shoes is they are very basic with a simple rubber sole so there's not much to wear out. They don't have the unnecessary marshmallow bottoms or waffle like constructions that wear unevenly.

If you think about rubber tires on a car, you can get 24,000 miles so a basic sole construction is very durable. For minimalist shoes, like the Evo, it's the upper that will eventually tear away from the sole but I expect to get up to 1,000 miles before that happens.

This is the secret that shoe companies don't want you to know. The have a business model that assumes you will replace a shoe every 250-300 miles and most folks continue to fund that model, so it works. Not me though. All running shoes, at a minimum, should handle 500 miles and many should last up to 1,000 miles.

So, I got a bargain. Many laughed when I spent the $160. Looks like the laugh is on them.

HHH

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