This is how it has always been asics black mens so we shouldn't change" is another way of saying your company is not interested in innovation. They used to think that blood letting helped get rid of disease. They continued the practice until someone came up with a safer and more effective way. I know why you continue to insist that the way it's always been done is the best way because that's the way it's always been done, but do you think that maybe, just maybe, there may be something worth exploring in this minimalist movement you continue to demand proof from? Does it bother you at all that you don't have "proof" for your "side" either? I would submit that the current state of the running shoe market is "broken," if for no other reason that there is not enough variety.

Before I get too terribly long winded, I immediately felt comfortable in the Kinvaras (this is NOT a product comparison between Saucony, Brooks, and ASICS). I also felt an almost immediate change in my gait and foot asics black shoes strike- from being a heel striker to becoming a midfoot/forefoot striker. I still would alternate between the Brooks Adrenalines and ASICS 2150's for my longer runs (anything over 8 miles). In March, I felt some of the worst pain I've ever felt from running- worse than my bought of ITBS. I felt like my my fibula near the ankle asics cumulus 20 of my right leg was destroyed.

As a minimalist runner myself, I feel sometimes almost bad about selling heavily cushioned motion control shoes for lightweight people with only slight overpronation, but if someone comes to store and says "My doctor/physiotherapist told me to get a shoe with a lot of cushion and pronation support", who am I to tell that he's wrong? Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Then I just sell the Asics Kayanos or Mizuno Nirvanas and hope for the best. And mention, that we also sell Vibram FiveFingers, which may help strengthen the feet. (They are becoming really popular in Finland, actually they are our best selling product at the moment.)

The above may be true asics cumulus womens in Western countries but here in Japan you'd be hard pressed finding an ASICS shoe at a running store that isn't "Minimalist" ! So a representative of that company saying they, the company, rejects the value in minimalist shoes is just silly. He should come to the head office in Kobe and try to sell his Japanese counterparts on his ideas!Yes, this is the real Simon Bartold you are all having a discussion with. Simon is one of the smartest sports podiatrists that I know. We have lectured together here in the US and internationally on numerous occasions at biomechanics seminars and I consider him one of my closest podiatric colleagues (Oz translation  good mate).

From what I have seen over the 20 years we have known each other, Simon is a true academic, more interested in research and wanting to know how the foot and shoe interact biomechanically, than in making money for the company he works for. Like me, Simon loves to debate and discuss topics that he is interested in and that he is passionate about. Simon is the real deal and, as far as I'm concerned, Asics is very fortunate to have him on board.Pete and my other more minimal brethren: The most eye opening part about this whole discussion for me is not the debate itself. Asics must be concerned about the minimalist movement if they send their big chief Bartold to argue with people who do not need proof about their running style.

Why else would Bartold be looking at websites called  Zero Drop'? asics fuzex lyte I run minimal because it works for me. We do not need to sell a product like Asics does. I do not believe that the water shoe manufacturer thought about my 15 mile jaunts while designing them. Therefore, Bartold's presence on this site and  Zero Drop' should be taken as a compliment my minimal runners that the major shoe manufacturers take us a serious threat to their philosophy: a clear win. A reader on  Zero Drop' asks Bartold why he can run barefoot with his double axes neurological vertigo but cannot take a step in Asics without falling over.