K-Swiss Tubes 100

Like the title says...

Saw a pair of these going cheap in TK Maxx. Wrong size by a fraction, but they felt light and comfortable and just 'good'. Had a look on eBay to see they're available new from £30 inc postage. Had a look on Sweatshop's site to see they don't sell them. The K-Swiss shoes they DO sell are a fair bit dearer. Am now wondering if the Tubes are actually proper running shoes at all...

Can anyone help me out here?

Though at the grand price of £30 I'm tempted to just get them and see...

bit gimmicky tbh but i guess they would be ok, my friend has them for zumba and such but she runs in them too, she likes them, but she only runs occasionally for fitness and only upto 5k so i cant tell you what they might be like over longer distances or how responsive they are etc. one thing i will say is the tubes on hers got clogged with stuff a fair bit, she had a stone in one tube that got wedged and you just cant get them out without a long stick etc, must have been annoying.

i have the zig nano's too (white and blue) they are my gym/kettle bell session shoes, super comfy and very airy in a hot gym, i love them, but i dont like running in them, they feel somewhat unstable if you twist your foot, like on a corner, the sole feels like its moving a little, 

Cheers guys. Decided to take the chance and have ordered myself a pair to try. If they're no good for running they'll do just for wearing as normal shoes.

I shall report back how I get on with them.

My husband bought us both a pair the other day, think it may have been the same offer!  Went on our first run in them today, just did 5K and they felt ok.  Very light, couldn't really feel them!  I'll probably only be using them for this hot weather as they only have a gauze on the top so your feet will be soaked if you try them in the rain!  Let us know what you think!

That's what I thought when I tried on the too-small pair - "Wow, so light I can hardly feel them!" I really liked them. Took a chance on the sizing and just went for one bigger than what I tried on. Can't wait for them to arrive now...

Hmm. So an Asics 7 is a euro 40.5. A K-Swiss 7 is a euro 41. The 6 felt so tight in the shop that I ordered a full size up. Plus I already run in an Asics size 7. But these feel slightly bigger than I'd like. Ah, the difficulty of online ordering.

Well, my shoe fitting guru is always telling me I should go another half size up and I can't deny that I do get blisters on the ends of my second toes in foot-swellingly hot weather, so I'll be looking on these shoes as a bit of an experiment.

They're amazingly light, like wearing a bag of feathers on each foot. The tubes cushioning is really soft, like, so soft I can actually compress it with my fingers. Not sure how that'll translate to running. I'll find out today, as I'm off to the gym try them on the treadmill.

I'm strangely excited at my new shoes. I've been running in Cumulus's for so long, I think I may have got into a bit of a rut with them. After watching last weeks Panorama programme about how injury rates don't differ among people carefully fitted for shoes and people who just wear comfy neutral shoes, well, I'm now inclined to try out as many cheapo neutral shoes as I can.

I had a strange dream last night about running barefoot. In the dream, I was running perfectly, landing lightly, fairly zooming along, and happy with everything.

Hey Duncan.

Well... Two months later, the Tubes have been relegated to the pile for day to day wearing. As basic trainers, they're amazingly light and comfy. As actual running shoes, they didn't suit me at all.

I went out on a couple of short runs and they felt okay, but I found it hard to get them to lace up tight enough. As someone else already said, when cornering etc they felt rather flimsy and like my foot was shifting around inside the shoe. I put an old pair of Adidas insoles in them, under the insole that was already there, and that helped make them feel snugger round my feet. Then I went out on a 10 mile hill run in them (unplanned - the mountain goats in my running club just took an impromptu detour one night!) and while running uphill started to feel burning pains on the insides of my lower legs. The pain subsided after the run but subsequently developed into shinsplints which held me back for the next month or so. I didn't run in the Tubes again but have kept them for everyday wearing.

I'm not blaming the Tubes for my shin splints, as I was already overdoing it in other old trainers that were long overdue replacement, but I do think they contributed slightly. After slow-mo video analysis, I found out that one of my feet splays out very slightly when running, which puts strain on my ankle and shin muscle. It's not pronation and while I'm definitely a neutral runner, I've been advised to stick with shoes that are quite firm around the heel, which the Tubes definitely aren't due to their over-squishy soles.

So I suppose getting them and finding them unsuitable actually did me a favour, as it highlighted a small biomechanical problem that I didn't know I had and that could have ended up doing me more damage if it had niggled away for ages and I'd passed it off as usual minor running aches and pains.

Anyway, I've since bought two more pairs of Cumulus (the love affair continues, LOL!) and a pair of Brooks Ghost as recommended by my usual shoe fitter after watching me running in slow-mo in several different pairs of trainers.

I suppose the Tubes might suit smaller, lighter, and biomechanically perfect runners. If that's you and fancy giving them a go, good luck!

I'm on my second pair of tubes.  And will be getting my third shortly.  I find them great for the money, and use them for running everything up to half marathon (as I have never run further than that ...yet).  I am lucky in that I can wear pretty much any neutral shoe so no particular brand loyalty.  I'll wear whatever is cheapest when I need new shoes.

One problem i do have with them is that they squeak a bit in the wet......can be annoying if that sort of thing bothers you.  Never had the tubes fil up with anything yet, though I would imagine they could if worn i the right (or wrong) conditions. 

Apart from that they are great, for me anyway.  They do wear a bit quickly on the inside just under the ankle, both pairs I have had have worn through to the padding there long before the shoe is ready for the bin.

For contrast, they feel less cushioned than my nike pegasus, a bit more like my adidas something or other trail runners.  Not super plush under foot but not too hard either.  Maybe a bit like asics cumulus in feel.

I like them anyway, and for the price they can't be beaten.

Yep, very light and comfortable - my main complaints would be that they are incredibly squeaky on any tiled flooring and scarily slippy on wet brick/tile/smooth surfaces. And not too grippy on tarmac. So a comfortable low mileage shoe to take the weight off your joints, but not a racer or a longer distance shoe. And not a casual shoe, because of the squeaking!

Just received three pairs from expresstrainers.something or other about two weeks back.  Called up my usual guy who said they are discontinued so off I went to google.  £27 per pair plus a bit for postage, can't go wrong I feel.  Two pairs in 10.5 and one in 11 for when it's really cold and I have to wear thicker socks. 

So far i have taken one of them up to 19km (last sunday) along a beach side track, mix of concrete, sand and pebbles and no complaints.  good few 4 to 5 mile runs and they are feeling as commfortable as my old pair, which will be going to the bin soon. 

They still squeak like crazy in the wet though!

Well...you've pursuaded me! I'm gonna get some before they run out. Looking forward the squeaks ;0