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Airia Running shoes: the new "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by mgooch, Nov 18, 2013.

  1. mgooch

    mgooch Member


    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    I was sent this link by a colleague this morning. This new company claims they have designed a "biomechanically perfect shoe"... guaranteed to make you run faster or your money back.

    http://www.airiarunning.com/

    Heel striker? Midfoot striker? Forefoot striker? It doesn't matter according to their website... this shoe will make you up to 7% faster regardless of your current fitness level. Because everyone knows that there is a single perfect shoe for every single runner... it just hadn't been invented... until now!

    In fact... they claim that the shoes is so perfect and myopically focused on meeting the needs of runners that you physically can't walk in them. (I guess that means you have to run to the starting line?)

    Ironically, this shoe, like another shoe I can think of that was proclaimed to be perfect for everyone, comes complete with a Vibram outsole.

    Happy Monday!

    Matt
     
  2. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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    Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 22, 2016
  3. David Wedemeyer

    David Wedemeyer Well-Known Member

    Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

    "Biomechanically Perfect"....for every foot...:empathy:
     
  4. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

    Key design feature seems to be the 6mm thicker under lateral forefoot compared to medial forefoot.... so I can see how it would theoretically improve performance (lower windlass forces --> some circumstantial support for that) ... but not in everyone and theoretically increase risk in some.
     
  5. Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

    My eyes rolled completely up and around my eye sockets watching this video. :hammer::mad::butcher:

    Is this the new trend for shoe manufacturers (remember Vibram FiveFingers?)....make a new type of shoe....make exhorbitant claims about its performance/injury prevention characteristics.....put an extremely high price on the shoes....try to make as much money on the shoes before the personal injury lawyers take you to court??:confused::cool::eek:
     
  6. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

    Here is a graphic of the shoe:
     

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  7. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Re: New "Biomechanically Perfect" Shoe

    graphic Two:
     

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  8. mattiasgeisler

    mattiasgeisler Welcome New Poster

    Hello, we at Airia are flattered that you notice us and taken interest in what we are trying to accomplish. There seem to be an opportunity for us to answer some valid and good questions regarding the Airia One running shoe.

    The running shoe is probably not beneficial for everybody, we couldn’t even know if it is since all testing we have done is on group level. We would love to do some testing on individual basis but it is hard to get some 10-15 runners to do 2x10 consecutive all out time trials, which is what we believe would be the best way to test individual differences compared to the group. Maybe someone in this very valuable forum has an idea on how individual testing could be done in a more efficient way.

    When we designed prototypes for the Airia One running shoe we actually truly believed the shoe was going to be more beneficial for runners who naturally had forefoot strike pattern. So we checked, but we could see no correlation between runners strike pattern and running times. So we went on and took measurements of a number of different features of the runners. But found no correlation except a very weak one (not statically significant) between length from hip to heel and performance enhancement in Airia One prototypes.

    When walking in these shoes it feels awkward, not impossible, as compared to running which just really feels good for most runners (not all).

    Craig – you say that you find a “…theoretically increase risk in some.” We are very interested in learning more in that line of thought. If you have the time and energy could you please elaborate on that? (and thank you for a very good Blog – we found it just now but It really captures the spirit of how we think.)

    Kevin – We really take injury risks seriously, but we haven’t seen any risks apart from soreness in calves. As far as I understand there is no way of knowing this until you have a lot of users?

    You can check on how we have done our testing and why under press on our web.

    Best Regards
    Mattias
     
  9. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Mattias - thanks for stopping by!

    I have a blog post I working on that should be up tomorrow about the issues. Will cross post it here when its done.
     
  10. Mattias:

    You have designed and manufactured a forefoot valgus wedged running shoe: here are a few of the injuries I predict from habitual running in these shoes:

    Posterior tibial tendinitis
    Medial tibial stress syndrome
    Patellofemoral pain syndrome

    I am sure that some runners may have improved performance with a shoe design such as this. However, I hope that you and the rest of your company realize that the shoe construction features that are "biomechanically perfect" for one runner, may lead to injury in another runner. I suggest your company change your advertising language accordingly since, in my opinion, the language in your advertising is misleading and may lead to injury in runners.

    Have a nice day.
     
  11. Agreed and am still confused why if they agree with much of Craig's blog they still used biomechanically perfect.

    There is nomsuch thing for all .

    N = 1
     
  12. Because there is no such thing as a free lunch- A forefoot valgus wedged shoe is likely to modify the external moments acting about several joints of the lower limb. Some external moments will be reduced, their external counter-moments will thus be increased. Increased external moments add additional load onto the tissues providing the internal counter-moments required to bring about rotational equilibrium and/ or maintain a preferred movement pathway.

    So, a forefoot valgus posted running shoe will increase the external pronation moment acting about the subtlar joint axis, in response the body will need to increase the internal supination moment to maintain a preferred movement pathway and/ or bring about equilibrium; this internal moment may come from several source tissues, not least the tibialis posterior. If the extra stress placed upon the tibialis posterior causes this tissue to function outside of its zone of optimal stress (ZOOS) then pathology may ensue. Viz. your shoe may increase the risk of posterior tibial tendonits in some people, as Kevin already said. There are a whole list of tissues which are likely to have increased stress placed upon them in wearing this shoe, any one of these may be at increased risk for injury then.

    On the upside, it might be very good for people with chronic lateral ankle instability and/ or peroneal tendonitis (since it should increase the external pronation moment about the subtalar joint axis- stress in peroneus longus should be reduced). Could also be good for osteoarthritis within the medial compartment of the knee, since your shoes construction should increase the external adduction moment at the knee.

    It's all about horses for courses and picking the right shoe for the right individual.

    Hope that helps.
     
  13. CamWhite

    CamWhite Active Member

    Mattias,

    I would eliminate "Biomechanically Perfect" from all marketing claims immediately.

    While your shoe may be potentially beneficial for many, it may be harmful for others. You simply have not tested this shoe on enough people to come remotely close to validating your claims.

    Be careful, or your project may be doomed from the start.
     
  14. efuller

    efuller MVP

    When I was doing my fellowship in biomechanics, in the 1980's, I came up with a similar design for an orthotic. I thought if a little bit of locking of the midtarsal joint was good a lot would be better. Horrible sinus tarsi pain. You should add that to the list of predicted pathologies.

    Eric
     
  15. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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  16. I tend to doubt that anyone who advertises their shoe as "biomechanically perfect" has any intention of acknowledging the medical opinions of podiatrists who speak internationally on foot and lower extremity biomechanics to such an extent that they would want to lose out on this potential money-making opportunity by, instead, advertising something more truthful as saying their shoe was "biomechanically perfect for some runners, but injury-causing in other runners". It just doesn't have quite the ring to it, now does it?:rolleyes:
     
  17. toomoon

    toomoon Well-Known Member

    I posted the following on my FB page.. sums up my thoughts..:
    "A new shoe claims that it is the biomechanically ideal or perfect running shoe and that it can improve performance?? The new shoe the Airia One running shoe (http://www.airiarunning.com/), claims: "this shoe will revolutionise running", "it will make you run faster', "it will give you better running feel" (better than what? Wearing a pair of bunny ear slippers for example?).
    The shoe has a 6 mm 'cant' from lateral to medial on the forefoot, ie. the lateral forefoot is thicker than the medial side under the metatarsal heads. So in effect, a lateral or valgus wedge. Many years ago I published on the use of a lateral forefoot wedge for the treatment of plantar fascial pain, but that was a little different. I had complete control over a scientific cohort. Craig Payne has written a commentary on the shoe at http://www.runresearchjunkie.com, and like him, I immediately see some applications, but also a massive problem. I outlined this in the comments area: "I must admit Craig I am always concerned when companies introduce technology that has the potential to make a significant positional change to the foot. History has been littered with companies that have tried this, failed and on many occasions it led to injury. Is it because the claim is faulty?.. possibly not. The problem is WHO will make the decision as to who, and when this shoe is worn. And for the most part that decision is not made by you, me or the technical footwear retailer. It is made by the consumer based on what marketing they are exposed to. And so, for the most part, I have grave reservations about this shoe, which, according to the marketing video, is suitable for everyone. Clearly this is not the case.
     
  18. Boots n all

    Boots n all Well-Known Member

    A few years ago we were modifying football boots at the direction of Physiotherapists, taking football boots from a neutral or low heel to that of a 9mm heel pitch increase, not exactly the same but for similar reasons.

    Firstly to preload the windlass mechanism so they would be faster off the mark than their flat footed competitor, the advantage would be there for a 5 meter dash.

    The second reason was to mimic the same heel pitch they had been wearing all week.

    We have seen it all before, overzealous marketing destroying an otherwise good product, toning shoes spring to mind and the legal cases that followed only because of the outrageous claims made and the fact that they were just sold to anyone, regardless of it suiting their needs or not.

    The product sounds okay for some, not for all, the moment you start changing the function like this, is it not now a medical device and should be supplied as such? Not just sold indiscriminately, no product is perfect for all.
     
  19. Lab Guy

    Lab Guy Well-Known Member

    Mattias,

    The post that you wrote makes sense and shows that your mind is in the right place. Yet, the advertising contradicts the content of your sensible post. Where is the integrity?

    I wear Hoka One Shoes for running which work best for my high arched feet and decreased motion in my left great toe joint. For me, the 35 angle toe spring is going to create pain and increase the progression of damage to my great toe joint.

    How can the Airia shoe be biomechanically perfect when it is an inanimate product that is manufactured in the same way every time. This is in stark contrast to runners; human beings that are living, highly complex organisms with DNA that determines their genotypes and from there, their phenotypes.

    Among other variables, it is this genetic diversity, this variation of the biomechanical make-up of runners that makes it impossible to have the one perfect shoe that matches up to runners to allow them to run faster without risk of injury.

    As Simon posted earlier, "there is no free lunch", as we all live under the Laws of Newton.

    Steven
     
  20. Which reminds me, shoes have mechanical properties not biomechanical, so a shoe cannot be described as "biomechanically perfect".

    On the front of their website they have a counter which says: "Help us to get our amazing new shoe into market". Currently this counter is at:
    23 Backers of 1000 Goal; $2 967 of $129 000 Goal; 22 days to go. Does this mean that if they don't manage to get their 1000 backers (only another 997 to go) in the next 22 days, then the shoe will not get to market?
     
  21. Dr. Steven King

    Dr. Steven King Well-Known Member

    Good Luck to you and your crew Matt,

    I hope you enjoy being part of the renagade clan.

    Thank you for not calling your shoe a Maximalist shoe because one of our posters has a college track team classmate that has tried to claim that term for their supersized foam shoes.

    I would question if your shoe is the fastest because loss of energy at the MPJ is not addressed by your design unless you have stiffened the sole in that region.

    Be carefull as well if you claim that you are makeing the "fastest-lightest-safest shoes on the planets" you may have all your posts ignored.

    A Hui Hou,
    Steve
     
  22. Lab Guy

    Lab Guy Well-Known Member

    "Be carefull as well if you claim that you are makeing the "fastest-lightest-safest shoes on the planets" you may have all your posts ignored."

    It is not us that will be ignoring his posts rather he will be ignoring us as we are not helpful to his business model. But hopefully, as CEO, he will heed the advice from the very wise and experienced posters on this thread and rethink his marketing strategy to avoid giving runners unnecessary injuries and to prevent legal issues.

    There are probably runners that can greatly benefit from this shoe but is it for everyone? Nope, only death and taxes.

    Steven
     
  23. Dr. Steven King

    Dr. Steven King Well-Known Member

    Mahalo Steve,

    If they can prove their claims than they should shout them out.

    And death is not for everyone only those who choose it ,,,Just ask the revered "Reverand "Dave Smith.

    A Hui Hou,
    Steve
     
  24. Lab Guy

    Lab Guy Well-Known Member

    And death is not for everyone only those who choose it ,,,Just ask the revered "Reverand "Dave Smith.

    It is the physical body that dies and turns to dust that I was referring to.
    To me, death is but a new beginning.

    Steven
     
  25. Lab Guy

    Lab Guy Well-Known Member

    Simon,

    I would think this was a marketing ploy to bring about a buzz as they introduce their new brand. Undercapitalization is one of the most common reasons why businesses fail and if $129,000 is going to make or break them, then they put the cart before the horse. I highly doubt that is the case as they most likely already have sunk costs that far outweigh the 129K and I would think they have access to additional capital to move forward.

    As an aside, we manufacture our own shoe line for diabetic patients and offer them in 3 widths. I went to the Airiarunning.com site and was surprised the most biomechanically perfect running shoe is available in only ONE width! Amazing. And more profitable.

    Steven
     
  26. mattiasgeisler

    mattiasgeisler Welcome New Poster

    Hello again, thanks for all the recent posts, we read them all and we do take them seriously. Although we don’t agree with everything in the thread, we take the criticism to heart and agree, in hindsight, that “Biomechanically Perfect” was not the right choice of words. We apologize if we offended anyone, and we have since changed it on our website. The wording came from a brand agency who interpreted our intentions as Biomechanically Perfect, and in that sense, the claim does mirror the truth.

    We also agree that there is no one shoe that fits all. We thought that it was clear from our FAQ where we stated that although most people increased their performance with Airia One, some people did report decreased performance. To this day, I have yet to come across any running shoe company being that honest, and that counts for something. We have however taken the feedback to heart and made some alterations to our FAQ to make that aspect clearer.

    Injuries from running is of course central to many of those active on this forum. I understand some of you meet and try to help people with running injuries every day. I have myself just got back to running with the help of a physiotherapist, after suffering a sprain that proved very stubborn. Again, we have tried to make our FAQ clearer to make sure we don’t mislead anyone.

    Production will commence regardless of whether or not we reach the initial target of 1000 preorders, and the process is already underway. But all these preorders do help us build an advance capital, with which we can accelerate product development; there is so much we want to do! Airia One really is a stepping stone!

    We recognize that we as a company will never be loved by everyone, and for many what we do to meet their specific agenda is not enough. But I ask you to dare to try Airia One shoes for yourselves and evaluate from your own personal experience rather than assumptions based on the limited commercial material available.

    Thanks!
    Mattias Geisler
     
  27. OK send me a pair for free and I'll try them. Otherwise, what you are really "daring" us to do, is to give you money.
     
  28. Mattias:

    I am impressed that you did change your advertising as a result of our suggestions.

    However, I want to give you fair warning, even though your shoes will probably make some runners faster, they will also cause injury in some runners. These injuries will be due to the unusual valgus-wedged forefoot midsole construction of the shoe which will tend to increase the pronation velocity of the foot during the first half of support phase of running, and will tend to cause the pronation-related injuries that I mentioned earlier in many runners.

    As a company, you should be prepared for this potential problem, both financially and legally. Otherwise, I wish you luck in your new venture.
     
  29. Griff

    Griff Moderator

    Hi Mattias

    I'll happily try a free pair too. Drop me an email and I'll let you know where to ship them to. I actually suspect I am an individual with the foot morphology and functional movement patterns that is likely to find this shoe comfortable and beneficial and do not believe it will pose me a huge injury risk. I'd be keen to compare my kinematics and running "speed" in your shoe Vs my usual foot level environment to test your theories and claims...

    Look forward to hearing from you
     
  30. Sicknote

    Sicknote Active Member

    Is this within relation to muscular imbalances?.

    The tibialis posterior is a win muscle considering it stabilizes/develops the arch.

    If this shoe goes towards developing that muscle, it has to be a good shoe.
     
  31. Leopold

    Leopold Member

    I have a buddy with a vicious forefoot valgus who loves to experiment with the newest and wackiest products. He has closet full of them. I wonder what he will think of this one.
     
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    AIRIA ONE SHOE REVIEW
     
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  37. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Just got a knock at the door and it was 1.5's being delivered ... will go for a short run in them today! Interesting feel.

    Here is one of the Arena'ettes with it!
     

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    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 25, 2016
  38. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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    missed this in December:
    Promising Heart Rate Metrics for Airia 1.5 in First Pilot Study

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 22, 2016
  39. She looks extremely happy to be your model, Craig!;)
     
  40. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

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    Airia One are launching a new racing flat/minimalist shoe via a Kickstarter project:
    http://blog.airiarunning.com/ks/?r=14df1d00

    I'm in. I support a lot of crowd funding projects.

     

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