Its something routinely discussed amongst the most die hard shoe enthusiasts as we have watched our beloved basketball, running, tennis and cross training shoes turn into banana boots. The problem? Excessive toe spring and toe caps- not to mention improper materials and shape but that’s for another discussion.
If you are new to the subject you might be scratching you head at just what exactly I’m getting at and let me explain. Up until the late 90’s most sneakers had a relatively sleek profile i.e. minimal toe spring and minimal to non existent toe cap. Even some of the bulkiest basketball shoes like the Ewing 33 Hi, Reebok Twilight Zone Pump and Nike Command Force had this amazing profile that kept an otherwise bulky shoe feeling like a finely sculpted, comfortable and nicely fitting shoe.
In the earlier days of re-issues brands like Nike and Reebok stayed as true to the OG as possible with that similar sleek profile. As the 2000’s progressed however, that all changed. Somewhere along the line someone came up with the idea that these retros needed two things: more toe spring and a larger toe cap to “enhance” the wearability of these shoes in the modern era. Unfortunately it didn’t quite pan out that way and while not only making the shoes feel uncomfortable (and in some cases unwearable) it made them look flat out ugly. Need some examples? Lets take a look.
Nike Air Tech Challenge II 1990
Nike Air Tech Challenge II 2008 Retro
1990 NIKE AIR STAB Â IMAGE VIA ONLY-SNEAKERS.RU
NIKE AIR STAB 2005 RETRO IMAGE VIA FLIGHTCLUB
NIKE AIR HUARACHE 1991
NIKE AIR HUARACHE 2014
While there might be a performance aspect for the toe spring on a performance shoe and a comfort advantage for the average consumer to have a large toe cap it doesn’t make sense when applying both to non performance shoes and shoes that did not originally have them. In addition, Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel E. Lieberman, his former undergraduate student Oliver B. Hansen ’19, and two former postdoctoral researchers, Freddy Sichting and Nicholas B. Holowka -who studied toe springs and their effect on the biomechanics of walking- concluded that toe spring “may weaken feet and potentially open them up to some common (and painful) foot-related problems.” (you can read the write up HERE) So what do you think? Time to cut back on the toe spring and the toe cap? Vote below!