The Greatest Running Shoe Never Sold

[grandpa jones]

<span style="font-weight: bold;">

Curious about Hann’s supershoe, I took a few turns around his cul-de-sac
in the upscale suburb of Wheaton, Ill., with a test pair. I was
surprised to see lots of EVA. Hann argues that some foam is needed to
hold the carbon fiber in place, but that it doesn’t cushion the shoe.
The sneakers didn’t exactly feel like they were injected with
gravity-defying Flubber, but there was something different about them.
Even though they weren’t especially light, they felt light—like floating
on little trampolines.

http://www.businessweek.c...never-sold-01122012.html
</span>

 

[DerHntr]

the newbies to the world of running are always looking for an edge and hence there would be a pretty large market they could tap into. All you have to do is look at the five fingers from Vibram to see that people will try anything, no matter how silly it may look, to get an edge. Of course, the product has to also work well for it to really pick up steam like the Vibrams.

 

[grandpa jones]

. ... A marketing edge will sell shoes.

But a definable performance edge will change the shoe business. According to the research, marathon runners who used Han's shoes consumed an average of 2.2% less oxygen. They said, "<span style="text-decoration: underline;">That may not sound like a lot, but it pointed to a significant reduction in energy when running long distances</span>"

 

[DerHntr]

they would have handled the inventor better and not let this slip through their hands. Now I say this knowing that companies like IBM thought that there would never be a large market for personal computers. So they do make mistakes of course.

The thing about that research is we don't know if it was good research, how many marathoners were used in the study, etc.