ShoeGuy: Fit Happens

Why fit is not a three-letter word in shoes

February 27, 2007

Ten minutes into the meeting I wondered why we were wasting our time. The product manager at the head of the conference table had just introduced her company’s line of running shoes to the dozen or so ShoeGuys present. It was quickly clear to me why this brand wasn’t on my wall, and my mind wandered to the runner I could be fitting into a pair of shoes at that moment.

Small focus groups like this were common when this one met back in the mid-1980s, and they still exist today, hosted by shoe companies in search of a magic bullet to better running shoes. The thinking is that the best advice comes from the trenches, from ShoeGuys (and Gals) who work face-to-foot every day with running shoe consumers. And while it’s true that we love to hear ourselves talk about shoes, the promised lunch at the end of this powwow was a significant incentive for giving up a morning in the store.

But this gathering appeared to otherwise be a waste of time. The five models presented were all pretty much the same running shoe, differentiated by little more than ten-dollar price bumps from entry-level $39.95 to what was considered flagship material in 1986, $79.95. There was more work to be done here than the group of us could handle in half a day, or even half a month. My stomach growled as I sneaked a peek at the clock.

Would it be worth it to tell these people to blow up their running shoe line and start over? While some may differentiate running shoes only in terms of price, as they did, or color, or brand name, as others do, ShoeGuys look foremost at a simple concept that defines running shoes by the runners who wear them. Many of us call it "fit." Only three letters, but a very big word when it comes to getting a runner into a pair of shoes that work.

And there’s more to fit than lacing up the shoe and poking the toe with your thumb. Fit is "not just the shoe fitting the foot, but fitting also the foot strike, that is, what part of the foot strikes the ground first, what part leaves the ground last, and what happens in between."

If that sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve read it here before. The little drama that occurs while the running foot is on the ground defines the runner’s pronation factor. If there’s too much pronation, the shoe needs to address it. If the pronation is about right, the shoe needs to stay out of the way.

It’s a simple message embraced by ShoeGuys everywhere, but it bears repeating again and again because it keeps getting lost in the muddle of price concerns, fashion demands, and technical distractions.

It doesn’t matter if the shoe costs 60 bucks or 160 bucks as long as it fits. It doesn’t matter if the shoe’s colors match the running shorts as long as it fits. (OK, guys, the shorts need to fit, too . . . consider a larger size.)

And it doesn’t matter if the shoe has a computer on board that does everything from adjusting to the surface with each step, recording how far and how fast you’ve run, or interrupting your music to tell you what a great workout you’re having, as long as the shoe fits.

If the shoes don’t fit the motion of the feet, as well as the feet themselves, the runner doesn’t run. It was true 20 years ago, it’s true today, and it will still be true 20 years from now when your shoes will start the coffeemaker when you’re a mile from your house, then instant message your office that you’ll be 13 minutes late because a wrong turn added 2.8 kilometers to the morning workout.

Don’t misunderstand. ShoeGuys are just as concerned about price, shoe color, and technology as you. Before you buy a pair of running shoes, we buy them — a lot of them. The more expensive the shoes, the more money we tie up in inventory. While you typically invest in one or two pairs of shoes at a time, the average running store owner is sitting on a couple of thousand of pairs at this very moment.

And, yep, we obsess over shoe colors, too, especially if a popular trainer is available in more than one color. While we usually like the idea of adding a little spice to the shoe wall, we don’t want to offend your aesthetic concerns to the point that color becomes an obstacle to getting you into a shoe that fits.

And we love technology. Complex shoe construction not only can enhance shoe performance and the running experience, it’s job security for us. After all, someone needs to be there to explain the differences in midsole construction between similar models, help you figure out whether investing in a more technical shoe is worth it to you, and when things go wrong, as they sometimes do, be there to fix it.

But most of all, it’s fit that matters. While price was the deal at the beginning of that little focus group 20 years ago, fit was the deal by the time we broke for lunch. The shoe company people asked lots of questions, took copious notes, then scurried back to their headquarters intent upon building better running shoes.

Then after our hard-earned lunch, the ShoeGuys scattered back to their respective trenches, back to work, back to practice the fit we preach.