https://www.fieldmag.com/articles/salomon-gravel-running-guide
Just when I thought I had all the running shoes I needed, turns out I'll be needing some new gravel ones🙄
Oh GTFO. "Gravel" my arse - it's called running, some on trails, some on roads. The second half of that article is actually pretty perceptive and gets to the nub of it: "gravel" is a lifestyle thing, where 'running on trails and road' is seen as for outdoorsy types, gravel is open to all.
They can FRO
No point getting wound up by how others describe activities. It has zero effect on you unless you let it. Do what you want, call it what you like. It really doesn't matter.
I’m a size 7 ,should I try a 9 to make the trails come alive?
it's called running, some on trails, some on roads
Been doing that for years, keeping in training for my refereeing (grass running, I presume). I thought that’s what trail shoes were designed for anyway. You’ve only got to look at the “gravel” uniform they sell to us cycling mugs to see why Salomon’s marketing dept have got on the case.
But I just want flat barred (zero-drop wide-toe-box) hybrid shoes.
Hmmm... so what's Wild Running?
This is very funny. At least with gravel riding, there was an argument for a new genre of bikes (which already existed).
This is composed of 100% vibes.
I’m a size 7 ,should I try a 9 to make the trails come alive?
No, but running with your legs forced slightly further apart will revolutionise the sport.
WTF is that person wearing wrapped around their head? I can't look at any promotional images now without thinking it has been farted out by AI. But I fear that might actually be real.
so what's Wild Running?
When there is a hungry lion stalking you?
Running is shit
Better than the other way round (but only marginally) 😉
Don't worry we'll have another new genre of bike along at any minute to take our mind off it.
I’m a size 7 ,should I try a 9 to make the trails come alive?
No, size 7 trainer on left foot, size 9 on the right - mullet shoes ftw.
Gravel? Pah. I've had a pair of downcountry speed crosses for years
My trainers are proper dh gnarrpoon shoes, I put them in the car, drive to the gym, mince around a bit nowhere near using the shoes to their ability, chat, get back in the car and drive home via a coffee shop.
WTF is that person wearing wrapped around their head? I can't look at any promotional images now without thinking it has been farted out by AI. But I fear that might actually be real.
I think it's
100% vibes.
Ie. You're probably right that it's AI. A head scarf s to shield them from the blazing summer sun.... maybe? Except it looks like a foggy damp late autumn morning, judging by grass and bushes. And the rope/twine wrapped around her, wtf is that?
It would drive me mad having all that crap wrapped around me while running.
I love the pullout quote on their web page:
"The gravel consumer is a sports person but is also someone very creative and inspired by culture."
The gravel consumer is 12 years old.
I hate everything in that article. But... my usual loop is half trail (rock scrambling, slippery mud surface, unkept farm track) and half road. My old Asic Nimbuses were amazing running shoes but did get torn by the gorse and were a bit lightweight for the rocky parts; my current Brooks Caldera are too aggressive in the tread outside the little toe, and behind the heel.
I want a halfway house shoe, hoping Asics trail shoes might hit the spot; but if not, maybe I need... a gravel shoe?! 🤣
Except it looks like a foggy damp late autumn morning
It looks like a hideous, smog blighted, urban hellscape (with a hill on the edge), so she is probably wearing it as she can't breath. Which given they recently held a gravel event in Manila seems likely.
-Gravel-Manila-Soc-Med-1-(2)_600x.jpg?w=600&h=750)
Yeah, Trabuco's on my list. Would you happen to know if the sizing's the same as their road shoes (ie Nimbus)? I'm struggling to find a store to try one on...
“What’s cool is that you have these shoes that you can go do a run in and then grab a drink after and you don’t look like an idiot,”
Really?
My shoes would be the least of my worries about going for a drink straight after a run. I'm usually drenched in sweat wearing clingy thin polyester clothes.
It's probably so they won't get embarrassed about being involved in such a BS marketing campaign?WTF is that person wearing wrapped around their head?
^^ The same lady appears in the initial photo with the daft headwear and in the subsequent orange-coloured promo photo. You can match the tattoos on her arm. So she's presumably a paid model, or Salomon staff.
Anyway, after reading it, 'pretentious claptrap' were the words that came to mind.
Is it another sport for when you're
1. too unfit for road running (/road riding)
but also you
2. don't have the skills for fell running (/mountain biking) either.
But you do have some tats and an abundance of conceit so, yeah, you definitely need a new cool label
My trainers are proper dh gnarrpoon shoes, I put them in the car, drive to the gym, mince around a bit nowhere near using the shoes to their ability, chat, get back in the car and drive home via a coffee shop.
Did you get the optional car charger for them?
"The gravel consumer is a sports person but is also someone very creative and inspired by culture."
The gravel consumer is 12 years old.
The gravel consumer is a Yorkshireman!
What they're saying through marketing stuff is people are not so bothered by racing culture, tight lycra and performance data anymore. And tarmac is not where they feel comfortable (I hate running on tarmac, have always preferred XC/trail running when I get the occasional urge).
Gravel or whatever you want to call XC now is just a tag for a load of stuff related to getting away from the racer mentality. By the time it's put into a marketing deck it's full of waffle like that but it's simple.
It happened in bikes, same has happened in running. Bike companies still default to racing as main marketing effort but it's because it's easy and obvious, it's just one of of the things the bike industry does that seem stuck in the 90s.
seems marketing people in running are full of the same bullshit as the ones in cycling.
So, just running still, but edgier - odd fashion choices, all the tats and bands in their airpods you haven't even heard of yet.
It basically boils down to the Rapha logic. "running is currently done by runners. How do we make it more attractive to non-runners - and charge those noobs a fortune?"