Chris says:

Today I was stranded at a local mall for Mother's Day, so I wandered into a Foot Locker to see the latest Nike+ shoes in person. After hunting for several minutes I finally found about 6 different pairs buried at the bottom of their display.

First off, to get these people at Foot Locker to get me a pair of shoes was a struggle. The place was NOT busy. There were a couple of employees and they were not helping customers. I tried on two pairs of shoes and left... each time having to hunt down an employee for help. What is the appeal of such a high-priced shoe retailer if their customer service is so lousy? I don't get it. I've heard other people complain about Foot Locker, but I had never experienced it first-hand.

Second, the Nike+ shoes looked cheap to me compared to the other Nike running shoes. They had a few Air Zoom Moires, the blue ones and the silver ones. For ~$100 they seemed cheaply made... is this just me or are there some super-futuristic materials being used in these shoes that I'm just not understanding? I'd much rather buy a non-Nike+ Nike shoe as the quality seemed so much better. It looked like they had limited stock of Nike+ shoes, so I think my underwhelmed first impression wasn't Nike's fault (or at least I hope), rather Foot Locker's.

I'm going to pay a visit to a specialized store for runners this week (Road Runner Sports) to see more and to try a few more pairs on and possibly get a quick gait analysis.

 elbert says:

It's starting, Peter. First the shoes, then the technique, then the apparel, then the heart rate monitor, then the GPS... you get the picture.

 Chris says:

Who's Peter?

 elbert says:

oh, sorry. I meant Chris. Peter is the guy who's beating all of us Filipinos in the PhilMUG challenge, so I'm running more than I ever have just to keep up with him. hahaha, I guess that goes to show how preoccupied I've been with trying to beat him.

BTW, Peter is a member here but has hardly visited. I think he has sync problems and posted something about it.

Anyway, with regards to Nike+ shoes, you should be going to real running store, or a relatively large Nike retailer. There are lots of good Nike+ shoes out there. Check out the Vomero 2+ if you're a neutral looking for lots of cushioning. Actually, anything under the Bowerman series should be good. I actually like my Equalon+, but I like my Mizunos better.

EDIT: looks like you got yourself a new pair of shoes, and that you learned from the experts taht Nike isn't a preferred brand for runners.

 Chris says:

Ah, no worries. I missed his post but I found it just now and I'll look into his sync issue. Thanks for letting me know I'm a slacker! LOL I honestly just missed his post.

 michaeljosh says:

My one and only experience with footlocker was a couple of months ago in LA. Actually found a cheaper pair somewhere else so I returned them. If you're in LA you should really try out the flagship store, NikeTown along Wilshire and Rodeo drive, they have everything.

I got my 180+ IIs there and am really happy with them. I agree with Elbert too...same thing's happening with me. I've been buying a lot of clothes recently (the more comfortable short shorts) and am now doing research on improving technique. Also thinking about looking for a PT to analyze my running style, so I don't run into any injuries along the line.

Oh yeah...It would be great to get Peter back so we can analyze his runs! Bwahahaha!

 LauraMoncur says:

I ended up buying my Nike Air Zoom shoes at the Nike store in Las Vegas. They let me try on the shoes and run on the treadmill for as long as I wanted to test them.

All shoe stores should have treadmills.

 ricardomt says:

I don't like Foot Locker. All stores I have visited had poor customer service. Same with Finishline (I think they belong to the same chain). They are a shoe company, not a sports or running company, so I think it would be a better idea to go to a sports store or a running store that sells shoes... Just my two cents. BTW, I will try the Vomero 2+. I have read good reviews.

 naqs says:

Does anyone know what the name of those red and black shoes are, that they show on the nikeplus website and on apples website here www.apple.com/ipod/nike/gear.html

I can't seem to find them anywhere on the net so I tried to ring up the local sports store here but I didn't know what they are called

 ricardomt says:

I think those were merely mockups of possible Nike+ shoes that never made it to the stores... I have never seen them anywhere!

 naqs says:

dam... they were cool shoes, wasn't lance armstrong wearing them in an advert

 DaytonaS1985 says:

ricardomt:

I heard that the shoes that were used in the ads, are not really good for intensive running.

The running store where i bought my Triax Structures+ told me that their Nike rep explicitely said that Nike doesn't want to sell that shoe in official Running stores

 Rasmus says:

Not being good for intensive running goes for most Nike shoes.

 naqs says:

hmm... interesting, what would you guys recommend then? preferably nike+ shoes

 Sjanky says:

Hi naqs, I have just ordered a new pair (pegasus) as I have just finished over 1 year of running on the Air Zoom+ without any problems. As I am not the lightest (+ 95 Kg.!) I have never ran into any injuries. But I would recomend going to a specialised running shop over a large retail outlet. And let them do a footscan so that you have some backup data to make the right decision. Good hunting.....

 Rasmus says:

naqs: by far the most important thing is to get shoes that match your pronation. Check out the articles section. There are a couple of articles about choosing shoes, like this one:

www.runnerplus.com/read/5-how_to_...he_right_running_shoes_for_overpronators

 j1795 says:

I know this is slightly off topic and I apologize. I have had my nike+ system for only 2 months now, and have run about 200 miles. Just yesterday when I went to start my morning run, an alert on my ipod said to replace sensor soon, low battery. Has anyone run into this problem? Do you guys actually turn the chip off by pushing that tiny button on the chip? I was told the chip SHOULD last 3 years. What am I doing wrong, Help!!! Thanks guys.

 Mike says:

you can take it back to an apple store and they will replace it for you. Several people have encountered this issue but the apple store fixed it for them for free.

 Rasmus says:

I never turn mine off. I'm on my second one, but that was because I toasted my receiver running in a nasty rainstorm. If the receiver gets too wet it dies.