Increasing costs of running shoes.

ThisRegard

I've always worn support shoes and they were usually a little more expensive than neutral, especially if you look at Kayanos.

In another thread I saw someone mention how expensive these are and I checked a couple of places, €180-€190 for the current version, Kinsei 6 at €200, Adrenalines around €140. Neutral shoes are also creeping up in price, as to are trail shoes, which were always cheaper than road shoes.

So what's up with this, any rhyme or reason to what at first glance appears to be price inflation, are manufacturing costs or raw materials increasing?

adrian522

I think you can generally find well priced shoes online as long as you are not after the latest version.

Typically theprevious version of shoes can be picked up for a quite a bit cheaper.

Pricespy.co.uk is usually a good place to start.

e.g.

http://pricespy.co.uk/#rparams=ss=Kayano

ThisRegard

Absolutely, I haven't bought a 'current' model in over two years at least, I usually pick up a discounted previous seasons model and store it away until needed.

I actually haven't worn Kayanos, or any Asics, in years, due to their price and Asics inability to prevent a hole appearing on the toe as soon as they see a foot heading towards them.

corny

Giffen goods are shoes. The higher they hike up the price the more people believe there's actually a difference between models of shoes. Creates the illusion of a luxury good.

Find it hard to believe how taken in people are by this stuff. Bit like Gillette blades, or some perfumes, or Beats headphones they're the worst.

nhunter100

Ascics seem to be the runner to have, personally I can't stand them. Love my Adidas, Nikes and Saucony none of which cost me than 70 euro. Have a pair of trail Adidas I think Kandias not sure I know they only cost 30 euro but felt fine during the 2 50km mountain runs I did last year. Sportshoe.com is a good English site to check out sometimes a bargin can be had.

Utdfan20titles

Great shoes in lidl for 20euro every so often

average_runner

Keep an eye on upandrunning as they do deals of 2 for 1.

Sweatshop is good, got my Brooks launch for 30 sterling, bought three pairs.

nhunter100

Utdfan20titles wrote:

Great shoes in lidl for 20euro every so often

I'm sure they look great but how do they hold up to a couple of hundred miles of running?

Utdfan20titles

nhunter100 wrote: »

I'm sure they look great but how do they hold up to a couple of hundred miles of running?

I've never run a couple of hundred miles only half marathon so far

nhunter100

Utdfan20titles wrote:

I've never run a couple of hundred miles only half marathon so far

I assume you have trained towards the half marathon, it involves more than just the 13.1 on the day. Not picking a fight but I doubt the research or development has gone into the 20 Euro shoes for sale in lidl. Whilst Adidas Nike etc may seem overpriced in comparison there is a reason. Of course then there is a further brand premium added on.

lenihankevin

Bought a pair of kayanos last Xmas after some v limited research online. Had a few vouchers and bought the previous model shoe so ended up costing me 5 euro. No probs with sore shins since I got them. (Wouldn't pay full price for new ones though..mad prices!!)

glacial_pace71

SportsDirect will be opening soon in the old Boyers store. When I lived in London I found their store in Camden Town to be well-stocked and quite good value - even if their staff were mainly football-oriented students rather than having much range of sporting/fitness knowledge or expertise.

Judging by their Irish website you'd probably see some runners being ridiculously overpriced, yet with certain versions of essentially the same shoe being heavily discounted if the shade doesn't go well with jeans. (I only speak of the versions for chaps: alas for the lasses the runners seem overpriced in every colour - probably to do with the popularity of 'ath-leisure' wear).

Arnotts have evicted Elverys' franchise for a 'flagship' Lifestyle Sports concession, which is also due to open soon. Not much for athletes but once again it might help with the unfashionable colours etc for what are still useful enough running shoes.

seanin4711

Sports shoes.com yer only man

BeepBeep67

On average I'm paying less on my running shoes than I did 4-5 years ago.
I have 7 pairs waiting for their cherries to be popped next year for the total cost of €249.19 [€35.60 on average]

echancrure

Never had a problem running 800+ miles with asics (although just switched to Saucony). Ordered on sportsshoes.com With sterling going down I am paying less than I ever did (Saucony Ride 8 Running Shoes - SS16 9 1 68,99 €)

ThisRegard

seanin4711 wrote: »

Sports shoes.com yer only man

Ordered a pair from their Amazon page Friday afternoon, arrived Monday.

The point still remains though, why the increasing prices for current lines?

rom

pricespy.co.uk is best bet and use parcel motel for delivery as it will be shipped to an address in the north and then to a local collection point in the south. Or ebay can be good and also get it shipped via parcel motel.

btw also you can ring a lot of these shops up and they will give you a discount in buying more than one pair and have postage just for one item if you ask.

Also pricespy does not check every site so I find the best bet is something like this where you specify the domain

https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=asics+ds+racer+10+site%3A.co.uk

With the rate of sterling is at present there are loads of deals to be had. Also if you buy brands that are less well known then they can often be bargains. Finally when buying from a site look at their facebook page and google for discount codes as often you can get another 10 to 20 % off that way.

rainbow kirby

glacial_pace71 wrote: »

When I lived in London I found their store in Camden Town to be well-stocked and quite good value

Not these days - they've replaced a lot of the real running shoes with Karrimor crap.

davedanon

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

On average I'm paying less on my running shoes than I did 4-5 years ago.
I have 7 pairs waiting for their cherries to be popped next year for the total cost of €249.19 [€35.60 on average]

you're a sick man.

UM1

Second hand is the way to go..

uck51js9zml2yt

UM1 wrote: »

Second hand is the way to go..

Most people already have two hands ....better off sticking to buying trainers.*






* So sorry.... couldn't resist:)

corny

nhunter100 wrote: »

I assume you have trained towards the half marathon, it involves more than just the 13.1 on the day. Not picking a fight but I doubt the research or development has gone into the 20 Euro shoes for sale in lidl. Whilst Adidas Nike etc may seem overpriced in comparison there is a reason. Of course then there is a further brand premium added on.

The implication there that the bigger companies spend fortunes on R&D? Laughable that. They spend your 200 euro on convincing you its a complicated process and differentiating the brand but in essence they are just a pair of runners. Very little difference except in your head.

KielyUnusual

I must say I have very much noticed this over the last one to two years. I used to do most of my easy mileage and general running in the Adidas Boston runners. Can be very difficult to find deals on these so I would occasionally just buy them at full price as I knew they worked for me and that was more important than saving a few quid with the risk that I might get a pair of runners that I don't like.

Lately though, I can't bring myself to pay full price on them and have been trying out other runners. Hard to find a price history on this but I could swear they've went up in €30 increments every year over the past two years. They used to be c. €80 and now they are €140, which is a ludicrous price for a pair of runners.

nhunter100

corny wrote:

The implication there that the bigger companies spend fortunes on R&D? Laughable that. They spend your 200 euro on convincing you its a complicated process and differentiating the brand but in essence they are just a pair of runners. Very little difference except in your head.

Thanks for the passive aggressive reply. Can you tell me where I said I spent 200 euro on a pair of runners? Nothing in my head at all I have worn cheap unknown branded runners when I first took up running didn't work for me. Are you suggesting that the big companies do not invest in r and d again I never said or implied they spent a fortune but by and large you get what you pay for. Take care.

BeepBeep67

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I must say I have very much noticed this over the last one to two years. I used to do most of my easy mileage and general running in the Adidas Boston runners. Can be very difficult to find deals on these so I would occasionally just buy them at full price as I knew they worked for me and that was more important than saving a few quid with the risk that I might get a pair of runners that I don't like.

Lately though, I can't bring myself to pay full price on them and have been trying out other runners. Hard to find a price history on this but I could swear they've went up in €30 increments every year over the past two years. They used to be c. €80 and now they are €140, which is a ludicrous price for a pair of runners.

Boston 6 are starting the appear now, so the 5's are thin on the ground.
I have 2 pairs of 5's paid €60 and €55.
It will be late Autumn before the 6's drop in price with any significance.

Krusty_Clown

The more I run, the less important I feel the running shoes are. Comfort and weight are just about the only variables I care about these days. I pick up my shoes for €70-€80 on sportsshoes.com and wiggle (and the occasional bricks and mortar establishment when on sale), and because I'm paying substantially less for the shoes, I tend to put them into pasture much sooner (retire them to grass-recovery-run duties), long before I would if I was paying €100+ for them. So I'll clock up 350-400 miles in 'active duty', and then another couple of hundred miles on grass/trail running.

dna_leri

ThisRegard wrote: »

So what's up with this, any rhyme or reason to what at first glance appears to be price inflation, are manufacturing costs or raw materials increasing?

Good question.

While I accept that it is possible to buy cheaper (my last 3 pairs were 40-50% discount on MRSP) it is a worrying trend to see over €100 as the norm.

There are real-world factors like rising manufacturing costs in China, raw material inflation, development costs, marketing costs but the fact is margins are also increasing in the this business. Nike gross margins are around 46%. Remember that when you are getting a bargain in TkMaxx.

Nike are the global market leader in sports footwear with 25% market share. Their footwear brand grew by over 10% to pass $5B in recent qtr (i.e. $20B per year) so demand is still increasing.

All this means that Nike can continue to push up the price to increase profitability and consumers will pay that price. Where Nike leads the others follow (a price war is in no-one's interest in a rising market) and prices continue to rise until the consumer says "enough".

It will be interesting to see what happens if the running boom goes bust in US and Europe i.e. if demand drops will prices follow, I suspect not.

More here:
http://marketrealist.com/2016/03/nike-posts-revenue-growth-lower-end-guidance-3q16/

Sunny Dayz

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Not these days - they've replaced a lot of the real running shoes with Karrimor crap.

God whatever you do, don't buy their runners. The clothing is fine but the runners! Sizing is way out. Blistered my feet something shocking no matter what socks I wore or even with blister plasters. Were only fit for the bin!

davedanon

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The more I run, the less important I feel the running shoes are. Comfort and weight are just about the only variables I care about these days. I pick up my shoes for €70-€80 on sportsshoes.com and wiggle (and the occasional bricks and mortar establishment when on sale), and because I'm paying substantially less for the shoes, I tend to put them into pasture much sooner (retire them to grass-recovery-run duties), long before I would if I was paying €100+ for them. So I'll clock up 350-400 miles in 'active duty', and then another couple of hundred miles on grass/trail running.

Amen to that. A quick road test in AK carpark told me which shoes felt right (out of about 8 different types) and ever since I've been buying Kinvaras and A6s on sportsshoes.com for 50/60 euro.

I tried out the cheap Lidl running shoes one time. They were fine, considering they only cost €20, but they wore out in no time at all.

intheclouds

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Not these days - they've replaced a lot of the real running shoes with Karrimor crap.

Im running in a 25 euro pair of Karrimors with a 200 euro pair of custom insoles in them.

Havent been able to run for over a year with foot issues - seems to be grand now - no pain is a winner for me!

BeepBeep67

dna_leri wrote: »

Good question.

While I accept that it is possible to buy cheaper (my last 3 pairs were 40-50% discount on MRSP) it is a worrying trend to see over €100 as the norm.

There are real-world factors like rising manufacturing costs in China, raw material inflation, development costs, marketing costs but the fact is margins are also increasing in the this business. Nike gross margins are around 46%. Remember that when you are getting a bargain in TkMaxx.

Nike are the global market leader in sports footwear with 25% market share. Their footwear brand grew by over 10% to pass $5B in recent qtr (i.e. $20B per year) so demand is still increasing.

All this means that Nike can continue to push up the price to increase profitability and consumers will pay that price. Where Nike leads the others follow (a price war is in no-one's interest in a rising market) and prices continue to rise until the consumer says "enough".

It will be interesting to see what happens if the running boom goes bust in US and Europe i.e. if demand drops will prices follow, I suspect not.

More here:
http://marketrealist.com/2016/03/nike-posts-revenue-growth-lower-end-guidance-3q16/

This and this type of product is a real stock and sell product, that before if even hits the shelf has a promotional calendar behind it.
Over priced in the 1st cycle aimed at the early adopters, then marginal reductions to their high volume players (10-15%), then greater discounts as it reaches the mid-point of the sales cycle before a free for all before the launch new colour/laces/design and rinse and repeat.

corny

nhunter100 wrote: »

Thanks for the passive aggressive reply. Can you tell me where I said I spent 200 euro on a pair of runners? Nothing in my head at all I have worn cheap unknown branded runners when I first took up running didn't work for me. Are you suggesting that the big companies do not invest in r and d again I never said or implied they spent a fortune but by and large you get what you pay for. Take care.

You're right. Wasn't my intention to pick a fight with you. Apologies for the tone.

I'd suggest the big companies spend fractions on R&D. Far less than they'd have us believe anyway.

The same phenomenon exists with golf clubs. 500 euro for a driver these days and they'd have you believe there's some futuristic alien technology being developed. The reality is its just a piece of titanium with a rubber grip. Its Rory McIlroy's 100 million dollars and the monstrous marketing budgets you're paying for. Anyway i digress. Runners are runners. Find a pair that fit well and go with them.

Djoucer

I've worn Asics DS racers and noticed about a €40 price increase.

End up buying last season's shoe.

Don't mind paying a fair price, hence I'll avoid Sports direct given how they treat their staff, but can't see why prices have gone up by so much.

You would want to be mad to pay full price for the Asics Kayano.

Clearlier

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The more I run, the less important I feel the running shoes are. Comfort and weight are just about the only variables I care about these days. I pick up my shoes for €70-€80 on sportsshoes.com and wiggle (and the occasional bricks and mortar establishment when on sale), and because I'm paying substantially less for the shoes, I tend to put them into pasture much sooner (retire them to grass-recovery-run duties), long before I would if I was paying €100+ for them. So I'll clock up 350-400 miles in 'active duty', and then another couple of hundred miles on grass/trail running.

I've noticed that amongst other runners (the people) as well. One change that I made which I think has been important to my longest run of injury free training is that I only ever buy neutral runners.

I was in AK recently and was disappointed to be told that they only stock shoes in the €140+ range. Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought that they used to hold plenty of stock in the €70 - €90 range which I would have happily paid. In the end my wife bought a pair as she gets ten years out of hers (no, she's not a runner) but I couldn't justify spending the money. I do value being able to try on a pair before I buy but at that price I only need to get it right every second time online to be saving money.

average_runner

Clearlier wrote: »

I've noticed that amongst other runners (the people) as well. One change that I made which I think has been important to my longest run of injury free training is that I only ever buy neutral runners.

I was in AK recently and was disappointed to be told that they only stock shoes in the €140+ range. Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought that they used to hold plenty of stock in the €70 - €90 range which I would have happily paid. In the end my wife bought a pair as she gets ten years out of hers (no, she's not a runner) but I couldn't justify spending the money. I do value being able to try on a pair before I buy but at that price I only need to get it right every second time online to be saving money.

You need to buy off the web, once you know the runner that works for you.
Also don't buy this year model, buy last year model and save. Its only a gimmick anyhow.

Clearlier

average_runner wrote: »

You need to buy off the web, once you know the runner that works for you.
Also don't buy this year model, buy last year model and save. Its only a gimmick anyhow.

That's what I have been doing this year (not least because there aren't any good running shops nearby) with a mixed hit rate so far but I'll get better.

jamule

Don't believe all the bollox the big marketing depts put out, if they spent as much on R&D and as they do on marketing, they'd probably be broke.

Have a read of Tread Lightly by larson & Katovoski, if you want to educate yourself on shoes

I'm currently on 4 pairs,
a light pair of workhorses from aldi @€;10.99 (>1K miles and not a bother),
brooks T7 for road racing, I got these cheap on the t'internet some time in the last year, totally under worn.
NB spikes- for the grass in winter
My feet- for the summer grass

PaulieC

Clearlier wrote: »

Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought that they used to hold plenty of stock in the €70 - €90 range

They sold Brooks Green Silence for €70 in AK. Then, once Brooks realized what was going on, they replaced the Green Silence with the Pure range, all of which cost well north of €140 at launch.

Would this be a good pair of runners?

https://www.sportsshoes.com/product/asi5220/asics-gel~noosa-tri-11-running-shoes-~-ss16/#description

rainbow kirby

Absolutely fine if you find them comfortable and they suit your feet.

yaboya1

I've bought my last few pairs in the Nike warehouse store for around €40-50. They're usually the lines they want to get rid of to make room for new stuff on the shelves, so the shoes are still modern enough (e.g. got a pair of Zoom Pegasus 31s for €40 last year).

I always used to spend €100+ on new shoes (which I believed necessary), until one of the faster lads here told me he never spends more than €40. I've copied him there, now I just need to emulate his times.......

HS3

I always get my runners on sale. I've never paid more than €65/70 but this year I found it really difficult to find ones on sale for that price. I ended up paying €100, on sale, for a pair of asics that im pretty sure were a wrong buy. I can't be certain though, although I'm currently limping around with a right sore leg (which has been causing me hassle all year) and now a left sore ankle. I have an appointment with a physio for next week but I'm pretty sure the shoe brought on this current ankle issue!

I really can't afford to go to the likes of the popular sports shops to get a gait analysis done and then pay €170 quid for a pair of their runners, but equally i can't afford to buy the wrong runners again! Tis quite the pickle :pac:

How did you all find your runner that suits to be able to buy them online?

nhunter100

HS3 wrote:

How did you all find your runner that suits to be able to buy them online?

Try sportshoe.com, then try the wet test .

tang1

HS3 wrote: »

I always get my runners on sale. I've never paid more than €65/70 but this year I found it really difficult to find ones on sale for that price. I ended up paying €100, on sale, for a pair of asics that im pretty sure were a wrong buy. I can't be certain though, although I'm currently limping around with a right sore leg (which has been causing me hassle all year) and now a left sore ankle. I have an appointment with a physio for next week but I'm pretty sure the shoe brought on this current ankle issue!

I really can't afford to go to the likes of the popular sports shops to get a gait analysis done and then pay €170 quid for a pair of their runners, but equally i can't afford to buy the wrong runners again! Tis quite the pickle :pac:

How did you all find your runner that suits to be able to buy them online?

Your under no obligation to buy runners after gait analysis. They recommend what suits you then up to you to buy.

HS3

nhunter100 wrote: »

Try sportshoe.com, then try the wet test .

Hah. Gonna be honest thought you were having me on till I googled . That's a pretty nifty tip. Thanks!

tang1 wrote: »

Your under no obligation to buy runners after gait analysis. They recommend what suits you then up to you to buy.

Really? Is that not a bit cheeky? Analyse me for free and then scarper?

tang1

HS3 wrote: »

Really? Is that not a bit cheeky? Analyse me for free and then scarper?

Well that's what I was informed when I got it done, said no pressure to buy, but I did.

Chartsengrafs

tang1 wrote: »

Your under no obligation to buy runners after gait analysis. They recommend what suits you then up to you to buy.

I wouldn't feel right doing it myself. In my experience the better running shops are owned by sole traders who in the past have spent up to twenty minutes with me analysing and discussing gait etc.

HS3

tang1 wrote: »

Well that's what I was informed when I got it done, said no pressure to buy, but I did.

Ok thanks. I think I'll have to find out for once and for all. I'll give the wet test a try too!

Chartsengrafs

tang1 wrote: »

Well that's what I was informed when I got it done, said no pressure to buy, but I did.

Fair enough in that case I suppose!

ThisRegard

Bad form getting the analysis done in an indie store and doing a legger I reckon.

HS3

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

I wouldn't feel right doing it myself. In my experience the better running shops are owned by sole traders who in the past have spent up to twenty minutes with me analysing and discussing gait etc.

Ah crap! Now I have the guilts again! :pac:. I feel like a right cheat bringing the kids to Clarke's for measurements only to sneak off to Dunne's for the shoes