You can tell very quickly when running whether you have the right running shoe on. Nevertheless, it is already too late. The money is already spent, and a worn shoe is very difficult to exchange. What do you have to do to avoid a bad buy? Which functions do you have to pay attention to? To what extent should one trust the test ratings?

Product test with test persons
In 08/2015, Stiftung Warentest tested 17 pairs of men’s running shoes from ten different suppliers. Because each runner has different requirements for the running shoe, be it anatomy of the foot, running distance or training condition, the testers opted instead of a summary quality judgment for describing individual aspects of the respective shoe as cushioning or supporting properties. There were tested three types of men’s running shoes: neutral, stability and barefoot running shoe.

Twenty-four test persons participated in this test. Half of them were so-called normal runners, runners with natural position of the foot. The other half were so-called overpronators, runners with an excessive buckling of the foot inwards during a rolling movement. Each of the 24 test subjects ran five kilometers with each shoe model, so that each model ran 120 km in total. After the run, the subjects judged each model. It does not hurt that running Shoesthat you like, even on the treadmillto test. Nevertheless, thanks to this test procedure, the customer gets valuable information about the individual running shoe models, without even having to test all the models themselves.

Product comparison through customer reviews
Some test and comparison portals use the customer reviews to find the favorite products. Vergleich.org found the best four pairs of men’s running shoes in 06/2017. The basis for the assessment were the customer ratings. Subsequently, the portal compared several functions of the models that have cut with „good“ and „very good“: whether the running shoe is suitable for beginners and / or advanced; whether the shoe is suitable for runners who bend the foot outwards or inwards; whether the shoe is suitable for light and / or heavy runners. Furthermore, it was compared, which closure the respective shoe has and whether an additional lace hole is present; from which upper the shoe is made, which shoe width the shoe has and what advantages the respective shoe has.

With 1.3 (very good) Asics Gel Cumulus 17 Smoked Pearl Black Flash Men’s Running Shoe was the test winner. 125 customers rated this model on Amazon and awarded an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars. This shoe is referred to as a cushioning shoe, which is optimal for beginners, but also for runners who roll over the foot outer edges, and for heavy runners with normal rolling behavior. In the description of the benefits is again pointed to the very good damping and excellent guidance when unrolling. For comparison, we take the New Balance MT_WT610V5 men’s running shoe, which finished fourth with a grade of 2.4 (good). This model rated only three people and awarded on average 4.0 out of 5 possible stars. In general, the more people rate the product, the more objective the test result!

Advantages and disadvantages of damping a running shoe
Damping is an important feature of the running shoe and is often seen as an advantage. Nevertheless, the question arises, how much the shoes may be damped? Is not the alleged benefit disadvantageous? Until recently, the manufacturers of running shoes attached great importance to the development of ever stronger damping systems. Because it was known that the damping has a great importance in the relief of muscles and joints when running on hard ground, in overweight and certain orthopedic problems. The recent studies show that too much cushioning can lead to less training effect or even relaxation of the foot muscles.