# Reebok going whole hog into "ZigTech" soles on its athletic shoes. Do they make a difference?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 23, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165 "2011-12-23T05:15:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165/1 "2011-12-23T05:15:25Z")

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[Shown here](http://www.reebok.com/US/womens/footwear).

Anyone tried these? Opinons?

[Video here.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do7SveeXVrE&feature=related)

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165/2 "2011-12-23T06:46:00Z")

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Well I haven’t tried them, but I definitely think they’ll make a difference. The soles will wear out much faster than regular shoes and need replacing more often.

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**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165/3 "2011-12-23T07:13:40Z")

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Those are some ugly shoes. I won’t be paying 100.00 for ugly shoes just on principle.

But I also do my running/walking on a dirt/gravel road through the woods that’s hell on normall running shoes. Those things wouldn’t last a season.

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**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reebok-going-whole-hog-into-zigtech-soles-on-its-athletic-shoes-do-they-make-a-difference/607165/4 "2011-12-23T07:17:06Z")

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Depends - economic movement while running or walking actually depends on the flexing of the foot, toes are actually fairly important [lose a toe, or break a toe and need to move fast and you will see what I mean. One of my teachers had to retire from the minor leagues because he lost the toes on one foot in an accident]

These soles should flex better than normal old style soles. Not sure what the material is like, I would need to actually handle one. No I don’t intend on trying them, my feet need to _not_ flex thanks to the joint damage in my feet.