Carbon Plated Shoes Test

Carbon plated shoe, what is the big deal?

I heard they are super fast but I wanted to try myself first before committing to race Cairns IM with it. But I wanted the help & opinion from the professionals so I involved Shane from Profeet & Laura from Injury clinic. We did some testing on treadmill with Laura & the Endorphin Pro is the right shoe for me out of the three models I tried. Vaporfly next% & Hoka Carbon X.

1) Vapofly, great shoe, fast, light, dynamic & 8mm drop but not for me. It was too narrow & unstable.

2) Hoka Carbon X , great shoe, fast, light, dynamic & 5mm drop. Heaps more stable than the vaporfly & very comfortable but again too narrow for my foot.

3) Endorphin Pro. Stability & comfort is important to me. It felt fast, dynamic & wider than the other two models.

I wanted to test the shoes a few times before finishing this blog. I trialled it for the following and here is the outcome:

1) 5kms fun run:

I loved it and really recommend it. Fast and dynamic.

2) 5 and 10kms hard off the bike:

It felt uncomfortable and unstable for the first 2kms, then I got used to it and loved the forward propulsion

3) 21kms hard off the bike:

I trialled it twice and twice, it took a bit of time to get used to it. It did not feel unstable and uncomfortable unless there was a turn or a bumpy surface. Not great on gravel but great uphill.

4) 37kms hard run at 4:38km/pace:

I had 4x 35min between 4:20 and 4:30km pace on undulated course and on the asphalt. I liked it and did not have any issues during the run apart from blisters and a burning sensation on my feet in the last 10kms.

I think those shoes are surprisingly gentle on calves. The spring effect from the carbon plate does not overload calves but will overload hips and hip flexor. The main thing I noticed is that they are extremely hard on feet. The day after the 37kms run at IM pace, I could hardly walk because of back and feet pain. For this reason, I think there are not made to run a marathon off the bike. I think they will only perform when form can be kept at its best. The lack of stability will counteract the benefit of a fast shoe when form & cadence will drop on the last 21kms of the marathon. I have not tried the Saucony Speed which is meant to be better to run a marathon off the bike in. I think I would do a pure marathon in the Endorphins though as they seem to be helping cadence. Think comfort & stability over speed when you need to run a marathon off the bike. Train safe 🙂