Author Topic: inov-8 Roclites: "How to trash your brand in one easy step"  (Read 1377 times)

johntde

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 I’ve often wondered why companies do it. Why do they take successful products and change them for the worse? I’m directing that question now at Inoveight Ltd, otherwise known as inov-8. The product I’m referring to is part of their latest range of Roclite trail running shoes.  

 
I’m a long distance walker who puts in a few thousand kilometres each year over a great variety of terrains – hard and soft, even and rough, wet and dry, muddy and rocky, flat and steep. I bought my first pair of Roclites four years ago and since then have used Roclites everywhere. I’ve been very satisfied with them. Until now.  

 
I returned last month from another long trek – just over 1000 kilometres through Wales and Northern England. For about 950 kilometres I wore the pair of Roclite 305s I bought shortly before starting. This is the fifth pair of Roclites I have owned. To say I was disappointed with them would be a gross understatement. These shoes are a travesty.  

 
Let’s make one thing absolutely clear to start with. The faults with these shoes are not faults with this particular pair. Far from it. They are faults with this particular model, perhaps even with the entire new Roclite range. They are the result of desperately poor design. inov-8 have taken a shoe that worked perfectly well beforehand – several thousand kilometres of my trekking testify to this – and they’ve butchered it, one presumes simply to make it look flashier and therefore easier to sell to gullible customers at a higher price.  

 
The most obvious of the faults concerns the uppers. These are essentially inflexible right from the back of the shoe through to the level of the front lace-holes. It’s only there that the shoe has any chance to flex, so it’s hardly surprising that it’s there that the uppers split. And split they do! On both sides! Completely! Right through to the inner padding! You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realise that if you allow something to flex only in one place it is there that the flexing stress will be concentrated. And if you are going to allow flexing only in one place you then have to ensure that the material you use is strong enough to withstand that stress. The material used for the uppers forward of the front lace-holes is nowhere near strong enough. It is boosted on the inov-8 website as being ‘super durable’, but in reality it is not fit for purpose. inov-8 describe the Roclite 305 uppers as follows: ‘Built around the natural anatomy of the foot, the new ADAPTERWEB met-cradle adapts to the natural movement and swelling of the foot in motion.’ Yes, these uppers certainly do adapt – by splitting!  

 
The next fault concerns the tongues. inov-8 describe the shoe as having ‘an integrated tongue gusset’. That certainly sounds impressive. However, what it means in simple English is that the tongue on the shoe is firmly stitched to the uppers. Yes, stitched on both sides, from top to bottom! The result of course is that the distance across the top of the shoe is not adjustable at the individual lace-holes. Whereas in the past – I look back with pleasure at my old Roclite 295s, now no longer available in my size – you could readily adjust the fit of the shoe at each lace-hole independently, making this one a little looser here perhaps and that one a little tighter there, now you get only what the inov-8 designer wants. You don’t fit the shoe to your foot; you fit your foot to the shoe. Oh, and there’s another result too – something your mother drummed into you every day when you were putting on your shoes to go to school! Because the tongue is completely stitched in, the opening through which your foot goes when you’re pulling the shoe on is fixed in size. There is thus none of the flexibility that you get automatically with a normal loose tongue. Getting the shoe on in the morning is now a nasty exercise in stretching and squashing. “Wayne, how many more times do I have to tell you to loosen the laces and pull up the tongues when you’re putting your shoes on?” Clearly the future shoe designer wasn’t paying attention.  

 
The most serious fault concerns the soles. Put simply, they become unsafe fast. You rapidly finish up with shoes that are potentially dangerous, especially on wet surfaces. Some people will of course say that I’m being unrealistic here and that 950 kilometres is a good distance to get out of any pair of trail running shoes. I disagree entirely. Remember that this is my fifth pair of Roclites. I can therefore compare them against my previous pairs. My trekking habits haven’t changed, and with each of those four previous pairs I routinely got the best part of 2000 kilometres. Twice as much as with this latest pair! One possible reason is that the rubber compound now being used for the soles is inferior to that used before – this may well be the case. There’s another reason, however, one that is far more important. It has to do with the cleats on the sole. On these new Roclites there are significantly fewer cleats than before – again I compare with the Roclite 295s. The individual cleats are now also much larger in their surface area. That means automatically that the sole gives much less grip. Again this is not rocket science! The grip that a cleated sole gives is generated primarily at the edges of the cleats, not on their surfaces. That means that the best way to get a sole with the best possible grip is to maximise the cleat edge length, not to maximise the cleat surface area. inov-8 have done exactly the opposite. The cleats on these new Roclites are large, rounded, and have bevelled off edges. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one! Once these cleats have started to wear you’re rapidly left with a sole that has no worthwhile grip in its centre. This is not what you want under you, no matter whether you’re running or walking, especially if you’re on wet rocks or wet grass. These shoes are potentially dangerous – and by that I mean slip-over-and-break-your-leg dangerous.  

 
There’s nothing more to say. inov-8 have taken a successful brand – Roclite – and in one easy step have trashed it.  

Jac

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Oh dear that sounds really sad. I have been walking in Roclite 286GTX s for the past 18 months and it is their really grippy soles, light weight and flexibility which I love. They are now rather the worse for wear (actually have holes in the uppers) but have been discontinued so was intending buying the replacement  - either Roclite 325GTX or 320GTX -  :-\ not so sure now
So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

Troggy

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I've had a pair of Inov 8 for years; and even after I mangled them a bit by cutting the right toe protector out, so it was  down to the goretex lining, they were fine until I had a fit of getting rid of unsightly or ill fiitng trainees/shoes, that I might well have slung them!!!, They weren't roclites and I forget which model they were but they were long lasting. I believe Inov 8 were taken over by an American firm and I remember a couple of camping mates be moaning the fact that a couple of models that they liked were going out of circulation.
A bit of a coincidence; but I was looking for a decent pair of sandals/walking shoes this morning; on ebay and general retailers like Blacks, Cotswold, etc. I was reading up about some models of Keen and Teva sandals and the Keen Arroya 3 model looked goo; until I read the reviews on Amazon. They got a bit of a pasting from some users, a long distance walker in particular, sayinmg that they were not as good a the older model and nowhere near as good as the Newport model. They all made the point that they were flimsier and less adjustable...all, I presume, for cost and fashion reasons. So maybe Inovate have gone the same way, look trendy and cut down on the survival rate of the kit...and possibly the user!

sussamb

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Interesting first post ... just to complain about one particular pair of shoes  :)
Where there's a will ...

Requiem

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I've had 4 four pairs of inov8s now, of which 3 have been roclites and think theyre really good. Only issue I had was with my first pair which were quickly swapped out by the manufacturer within about 5 days


Does seem strange that the one and only post is a cut and paste subject from the same post in other forums as if trying to influence peoples thinking rather than start a discussion
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johntde

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Just trying to warn people, that's all!

bricam2096

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Interesting first post ... just to complain about one particular pair of shoes  :)

He has posted the same post on another forum as well.  O0
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
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pauldawes

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Interesting first post ... just to complain about one particular pair of shoes  :)


We have a fair number of “interesting” first posts.


I’ve noticed that quite often if some one moans about a particular walking product on here, that moan zooms up the google search listings.


It’s a way of putting pressure on manufacturer, retailer, etc.


I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing...but part of me thinks such posts, when made by first time posters (or very new members) ought to be subject to some sort of review.

Jim Parkin

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I have the new rocklites as well as an old pair.  It looks more like a "conventional" trainer than the old version and is a bit heavier*.  They seem to have changed the last as well - which actually fits me better, and the tongue no longer works around to dig into one or other side of the shoe.

*The grip is a bit more comfortable on hard surfaces, but doesn't feel as positive on muddy surfaces.  In short it's a completely different shoe - I still like it (I'm not yet sure if the changes make it more or less suitable for my usage than before), but can see where  johntde is coming from. 

 

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