There seems to be a lot converse white leather of animosity toward ASICS, but not a lot of understanding of what the company does other than sell shoes let me start here biomechanics, either for the better or the worse (or maybe not at all), biomechanists should be at the forefront of all design decisions at ASICS they are to the extent, that we outsource our research to about 6 diffrent universities, as well as using our own facility in Kobe Japan. the reason we do this which is quite unique, is that we want t eliminate any bias i our research and make sure we really do get an answer to our research question.

I am very confident we get fear no favour answers, because if we are gonna publish this in the public domain, it is the reputaion of the key researchers at stake. "I have heard that good designs from a biomechanical standpoint can get sunk because they can't be marketed or because they don't meet aesthetic considerations" I am sure this is the case comme des garcons converse with some companies, but not with ASICS the only reason a project gets sunk is if we can not establish beyond doubt that it works or, that it has the potential to injury the athlete. Let me give you a recent example. For almost 4 years, I have been working on a project aimed at individuals with late converse all stars stage overpronation, that is those pronating from midstance on, which is very stressful.

Let me emphasise that contact phase pronation is not in my sites and has not been for 20 years. The shoe we have been working on provides a stimulus to the plantar mechanoreceptor t send a signal to the brain that the foot is "off' the line of progression and alway it to dictate a change. After 4 years looking at the kinetics and kinematics and many prototypes, we know this works. What's more, we can demonstrate a refractory effect ie, once the shoe has been removed, the effect lingers. So we are good to go. Only problem is, after all that work, and several million off white converse dollars, a full 1/3 of the most recent cohort (24 athletes, completed April 2011), report one injury or another and we don't know why.

the reason the marketers pulled the pin, is not because of the product or the company, but because the consumer just would not acept the look of it it looked funny, and although like the Nike footscape, it was ahead of it's time, the marketplace was not ready for it or accepting of it so it did not sell. The marketers then had to ake a commercial decision, which is a reality of business. "I have heard that many good designers who are biomechanically oriented have left the business because they get frustrated by marketing departments.

So women (who are not on the pill" have a window of opportunity for injury at about day1 and again at day 14. Bigo if we know this we can do something to protect this. The research has now won several international awards, and had the rare distinction of attracting editorail comment from the Journal of Applied Physiology, calling it one of the most important studies i nto gender reseach i a decade ASICS research mate that has nothing to really do with footwear. Dowe deserve credit? Your call. What I can tell you is that armed with what we now knew, we did introduce new design elements into the Kayano 16 for women, which, based on the science, we believed would help the female runner.

Still targeting the same audience from converse cdg a marketing standpoint as a shoe like the Brooks Beast based on what is said in that video.It sounds like a decent shoe (though the heel seems a little high for a "minimal" offering). I'd definitely be open to giving them an honest shot, but I'm not sure how to get you my info without putting it out there for everyone (not that I don't trust Pete or the readers of his awesome blog). Thanks for bringing this topic to the forefront of your upcoming meetings. I hope that Asics will truly consider bringing a minimal shoe lineup to shoe store shelves soon.