Shoes: Cheaper can be better

CHEAPER running shoes can be just as effective as more expensive brands, new research has revealed.

Scientists who examined nine commonly available trainers — ranging in price from €57 to €107 — found that those at the cheaper end of the market were just as good, if not better for overall comfort.

Their study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicines, found no difference in terms of comfort or plantar pressure — the force produced by the impact of the sole hitting the ground.

The research team led by Dr Rami Abboud from Dundee University in Scotland did not name the brands tested.

Dr Abboud said the research was prompted by the different price tags that appeared on the same brands.

“The impression you get as a consumer is the more you pay, the better you get. We wanted to know if this was the case,” he said.

A special electronic sole to measure the cushioning impact on the heel, mid-foot and big toe was inserted in the shoes before they were given to 43 volunteers to test.

All the logos and branding on the shoes were taped over so that the volunteers did not know which shoe they were wearing.

Dr Abboud said they hoped to publish a bigger study within the next year and would then name the brands of trainers tested.

Biomechanist at the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University, Dr Kieran Moran, said the study was interesting because it found no evidence that the more expensive shoes were more effective at reducing injuries.

“The conclusion reached by the study — that cheaper shoes can be effective — I would agree with that,” he said.

But, he added that while the research found a reduction in forefoot pressure with cheaper shoes, the results did show that the more expensive brands were better, or as least as good as cheaper shoes, in reducing pressures under the heel.

“It is the high pressures under the heel that are more related to injuries than the forefoot pressures,” said Dr Moran, who went on to suggest that while a running shoe should have a some cushioning, it should not be such that a person’s thumb can be pressed into it.

Dr Moran said a trainer should have an appropriate sized arch, a cut-away heel tab and good support at the mid-region area.

But, he said, at the end of the day it would still be the name and not the effectiveness of shoes that would encourage people to buy them.

“It really is the brand that sells,” he said. “That is why sports’ equipment manufacturers spend more on sponsoring athletes and advertising than research.”