By: Brent
Like father, like son....
As I entered the running lifestyle, the first REAL pair of shoes I bought were the Asics GT-2140. I had had other "running shoes". The gimmicky Adidas and Nike, and even a couple random generic Asics. This was a real running shoe though. I slipped this on and angels sung, everything seemed brighter and I was know in understanding of what a good running shoe was. You slid into the GT-2140 and it fit like a glove. You felt the gel. The support was seamless and you didn't feel it pushing on you, and you never had any pain, so you knew it worked. It wasn't the lightest shoe you have read about, but I wasn't entering the next Olympics or even high school meet so it was going to be fine for my training. The shoe was going to function for many miles and not need to be replaced in 200 miles.
Sadly, even the finest shoe will wear down and break down over time. 210 pounds of constant pounding. 100...200...300...400 miles getting tacked on, you start noticing the end is near.
Starting back into running, one perk is getting new shoes and I made my attempt with Mizuno. It didn't go well and you can read about it here. Not that it was a bad shoe, but it wasn't for my foot.
I filled out my exchange paperwork and information to runningwarehouse.com. The easiest part was that both shoes were the same price so I did not have to get into the whole charging the card again process. In about 5 days I had a brand new, different, and what would turn out to be better shoe for my liking.
The Asics GT-2160. This years version compared to the well used GT-2140 was very similar. design was perhaps a bit nicer. I can't begin to tell you the difference in the technology. I'm sure it involves letters like "X arc" and "HI Flow this and that" and "ZX Q Form" and more crap that means "We didn't know when to stop with the fancy talk but you'll be fine." The one thing that I seem to read every year on Runner World is "...they added more memory foam...." Well when I put on the new GT-2160, I thought, hmm, "must have added too much memory foam!?!"
The GT-2140 hooked onto your foot, especially in the heel section. The GT-2160 sat up against your foot. I took off for my mileage in the 2160 and after my warm up walk and started into my jogging motion I never again thought about the heel section and the feeling of not being snugged into the shoe. Even after all the extra mileage to date, I don't feel that instant "love" feeling I did with the 2140, but it doesn't stop me from putting them on and heading out for a run.
All in all, I like the GT-2160 but I do like his dad a bit better. After 2 miles it is the same shoe as its dad. Same weight, same build and the same feeling of durability. The son is a little more finicky. Sonny might be a little more worried about the tech than the functionality of itself but all in all, he's a good kid.
As for runningwarehouse.com, I will continue to send them my business. I have now bought 5 pairs of shoes, shorts and some random gear, all flawlessly. Now having just dealt with my first exchange of a shoe I had no issues and I have had a clothing return in the past that also went without a headline, I dare you to find another source that has the selection, pricing, and customer service that runningwarehouse.com can offer you. Did I mention free 2nd day shipping and every shipment already comes with a prepaid return label? Good luck beating that.
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