The More Mile Experiment: Update 2 (The Shoe) For the last 5 weeks, I’ve done all my running (save for a weekend’s mountain running in Scotland) in the More Mile Oslo 11.0. These shoes are currently available for £19.95 and come in a range of colours. During this period, I’ve clocked up around 350 miles in them, mostly on road and farm tracks, and worn them in 5 races – a hilly road 10k, a flat road 5k, a mixed-terrain 10k, a road 10 miler and a mixed-terrain 4 miler. On receiving the shoes, first impressions were ok. There’s no flashy technology. They’re a bit cheap-looking. You probably wouldn’t wear them to the disco. The lace eyelets are poorly pressed – it took me a while to thread the laces through. The uppers reminded me of a shoe I know well – the Merrell Mix Master Move – and the sole unit is obviously a rip-off of the Nike Free. The whole shoe feels incredibly light – around 220g, so the website says. They’re billed as a low-profile running shoe that can help to promote foot strength, so they’re obviously aimed at the minimalist market. Having run in less of a trainer in recent years, this was welcome for me, but might not be to everyone’s taste. The fit is on the small side. In some shoes I go for 9.5 – this one is a definite 10. The toe-box is wide and deep, giving a slightly ‘sloppy’ feel in the forefoot, which is something I always like. After 350 miles, the signs of wear on the uppers is minimal. In the road shoe I’ve worn most this year – the NB 890 – by this time, both shoes had developed ‘big toe holes’ (the NB range seems to have a super-shallow toe box, which bugs me), but there’s no sign of wear there at all. I’d feared the upper might be prone to detaching from the sole or ripping on the front crease points (something I’d seen with the More Mile Cheviot off-road shoes), but there’s zero evidence of this so far. There is some wear on the soles – probably more than I’d expect in a more expensive trainer – but I think they’ll be good for a few hundred miles more. The feel of the Oslo’s is great. The level of cushioning is spot-on. So far, they’ve been a delight to run in. One aim of this experiment was to see if a cheap, ‘non-brand’ trainer could perform as well as its vastly more expensive counterparts. In this respect, so far, the Oslo 11.0 is a great success. Surprisingly, they’re one of the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, even when covering long distances (20+ miles) on the road. Another important aim was to find out if a cheap, ‘non-brand’ trainer could last as long as its expensive rivals. I’m wary of the train of thought that reasons that due to the cheap price, these shoes could be viewed as more disposable than more expensive ones – eg. ‘my previous shoes cost me £80 and lasted for 6 months – even if I have to buy 3 pairs of Oslo 11.0’s to last that long, I’ll be saving myself money.’ This mindset defeats the object of the experiment. If I have to buy 3 pairs of cheap trainers to last as long as one expensive pair, the experiment fails dismally. I want to spend less –yes, but I also want to buy less. The experiment will be a success if these cheap trainers last just as long, if not longer, than their expensive counterparts. At 350 miles in, this looks exceedingly likely. I’ll next update in a couple of weeks or so when my shoes have clocked 500 miles – the point at which running shoe companies generally tell you to replace your shoes – buy new ones – or risk injury. Cost of More Mile Oslo 11.0 - £19.95 Cost of More Mile Oslo 11.0 per mile, so far (350 miles) – 5.7p
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 08:49:37 +0000