Somnio Custom Running Shoes
March 18, 2009
“Don’t just sell shoes. Solve Problems.” That’s the pitch Somnio Running, a new company in Santa Cruz, Calif., gives retailers when talking about its line of high-end running shoes, which debuted in May 2009 for about $125.
Touted as the world’s first “truly customizable” running shoes, Somnio’s three debut models can be tweaked and adjusted in a shop to match a runner’s unique anatomy and biomechanics. “It’s like a bike fit for your feet,” said Sean Sullivan, the company founder and a bike industry veteran.
The secret sauce in Somnio’s (www.somniorunning.com) system includes three types of footbeds; cushion inserts with differing densities for the heel and forefoot areas; and varus wedge inserts made to help align the foot and lower leg.
In total, when mixed and matched these components and custom configurations can create 648 unique shoe types, including different setups for the right and left foot. “In five years, this could be the way most people will buy running footwear,” Sullivan asserted.
I was fitted for a pair of Somnio shoes earlier this month at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Boulder, Colo., where Dr. Andy Pruitt, an internationally-known athletic trainer, was hired as a consultant to help develop and refine the Somnio system. My custom shoes — assembled after a 10-minute treadmill run and a foot analyzation on Somnio’s measuring device — were made to help me correct a pronation problem and better align my ankles and hips.
Arch comfort, leg alignment, cushioning, foot strike, and pronation control are among the benefits a Somnio customer might find. The company touts its shoes as making a runner more efficient, more comfortable, faster, and less prone to injury.
“Biomechanically, human beings are made to walk, not run,” said Dr. Pruitt. He noted the stresses put on the feet, ankles, knees, legs, hips, and back from excessive running. “We hope this shoe can give people a longer overall running career.”
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Thanks for the review. I don’t like the looks of the shoe as I like minimalistic shoes, but I would like to try a varus wedge like in these shoes as my left knee and ankle do not align at all. My knee goes in and my ankle rotates out. If they just sold that, I would try it!
I live in Southern California and bought a pair of the Somnios while visiting San Francisco in June 2009. I ran about 400 miles in them before retiring them and switching successfully to Nike Free. The whole idea is that the Somnios are supposed to be customized by the trained sales agent. When the agent saw that I was wearing orthotics in my old shoes he took all the fitting gadgets, put them in the box and told me just to use my orthotic. Untypical for myself I bought the shoes (dummy me). With the orthotic the shoe was no different than any stability shoe I had worn before (Kayano) – but uglier. Once I tinkered with the various pads the shoe proved to be a contrived product – clunky. Given its promotion as the product of an engineer-inventor it seems it was put together by a lazy inventor who didn’t want to bother thinking about real design – all the “design” is in the cushions and cushion ports that take much awkwardness to install. It could have been the bad sales agent that ruined it for me. If you are at your wits end looking for a shoe that works to eliminate foot pain (like I was last year) start with a good sales rep that really knows what they are doing and try a bunch of other shoes before settling on Somnios.
I believe that the fitting process of the Somnio products is crucial for the shoes to be successful. In our practice, we brought in the Somnio shoes to retail. We have biomechanical knowledge as well as a video gait assessement to fine tune the final product. It is amazing to see the positive changes for our patient’s gait. I am a Somnio wearer and feel liberated from the use of my running orthotic!
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The reviewer hit the nail on the head. After he has put 300-550 miles on the shoes on the road, then I would rate the shoe.