The foam revolution: how bubbles save your joints
The snap of carbon fiber: mechanical springs underfoot
Curved soles and aerodynamics: rolling through the wind
The biomechanical trade-off: speed vs. physical strain
adidas Combine foam and plate designs to discover how high-tech shoes propel runners forward.
adidas Standard running shoes bend easily at the toes, but super shoes use embedded carbon fiber plates to prevent flexing under impact.
Which specific foot joint is kept straight and prevented from bending by a carbon fiber plate?
Saving metabolic energy during a run means a runner uses less of what resource to maintain their speed?
Hidden history: Brooks released the first commercial running shoe with a full-length carbon plate, the Propulsion Plate System, way back in 1989.
What shape is a carbon fiber plate inside a super shoe to help roll the foot forward?
By speeding up the heel-to-toe transition, what stride parameter do carbon-plated shoes naturally lengthen?
A lightweight, highly rigid sheet of composite material made from carbon fibers bonded with resin. In 2016, Nike first embedded these stiff components into marathon shoes to improve runners' energy economy.
What does the carbon plate do to the thick, ultra-soft foam to make it usable and safe?