Is the density of a shoe’s midsole the least appreciated factor in understanding its personality? It seems like it might be.

When running shoes are discussed, what usually gets a lot of attention are the various plates, posts, etcetera that shoe makers design into midsoles to protect your foot, manage pronation, or help you with your taxes. Or the description leans heavily on relatively broad terms like “neutral,” “minimalist,” or “burly.” What often goes missing from the discussion are the relatively simple measures of midsole thickness and density. That’s too bad, because these two elements are incredibly revealing.

Perhaps a concrete example is in order. One of the many reasons I love La Sportiva is that they are very transparent about the thickness and density of the soles of their shoes. They also happen to make two well-loved models — the Wildcat and the Fireblade — that could hardly be more different given the amount of shared DNA. They will work perfectly for the purposes of this comparison.

Your eyes tell you the Wildcat (top) differs significantly from the Fireblade. A closer examination of their specs confirms this first impression and indicates quite clearly just what to expect from either shoe. Our focus is the shoes’ soles, but let’s quickly outline the differences in the uppers to complete the design story.

The Wildcat is categorized by La Sportiva as a Performance shoe. As such, LS has given it a light, breezy upper. Its Tempo last provides a medium-wide fit from the heel forward, with plenty of vertical room in the toe box. By contrast, La Sportiva labels the Fireblade a Racing shoe, which means it is formed on a last which is much narrower through the rear foot, with a wide but fairly low toe box. Now, on to the soles:

Wildcat

Fireblade

In contrast to the pictures of the complete shoes, a glance at sole construction doesn’t really convey how much of a difference there really is. The main thing left unsaid in the graphics is that the MEMIex midsole compound of the Wildcat is single density; the Fireblade’s is triple density. That is huge; my unscientific estimate is that it is roughly the same as the difference between a sponge and a stone.

The final telling specs relate to midsole thickness. The Wildcat is 28mm thick at the heel, 16mm at the toe (for a delta of 12mm). The Fireblade is 26mm thick at the heel, 16mm at the toe (for a delta of 10mm).

Now what exactly should all this tell you, the savvy trail runner? Quite a lot, as it turns out:

• The Wildcat will feel somewhat similar underfoot to a “typical” road shoe. The lower-density midsole compound and slightly thicker heel make for a cushy heel strike and easy transition to toe-off.

• You should expect a shoe like the Wildcat to wear out more quickly, since the midsole’s single density compound will collapse into itself with the pounding delivered by every mile. By definition, a denser midsole has less “inner space” and so will keep its original cushion (or lack thereof) much longer.

• The Fireblade will feel, above all, firm. With its lower heel and very dense midsole, the Fireblade discourages a heavy heel strike. Instead, your foot strike will be coaxed slightly forward and you will get a bit more trail feedback compared with a thicker, cushier shoe. It is this combination of a relatively low heel and very dense midsole that gives the Fireblade its racy manners.

• Neither shoe should be expected to provide an extremely tactile feel of the trail. Both are “go fast” shoes, but they are not designed to deliver a “naked” feel. The sole specs communicate this loud and clear.

• It also turns out that this comparison is an excellent example of the proposition that shoe weight, by itself, indicates only a little. The respective weights of the Wildcat and Fireblade are practically identical — within 10 grams, depending on size and gender — but each shoe gets to this same destination from radically different directions through a series of design decisions driven by the final intended purpose of each shoe.

Ultimately, the careful analysis of the specs of any shoe should be in the service of selecting the right shoe for your specific conditions and preferences. Under most conditions, I personally prefer a firmer shoe like the Fireblade. But I’ve also found that my body appreciates a little extra cushion if I’m doing a lot of steep, longish descents, especially on a punishing surface like, say, sandstone. So, for example, I used my Fireblades more than any other shoe this past summer, but there were many days I was extremely glad to lace up a pair of Vasque Celerators, a shoe with a profile similar to the Wildcat. Of course, this last bit is just my experience and is offered only as an illustration, as was the side-by-side Wildcat/Fireblade comparison.

The point I hope you take away is that drilling down into the specs of a given shoe far enough to have a good grasp of sole thickness and, especially, density will tell you a great deal about how a shoe will feel underfoot. When it comes to trail running shoes, it turns out George McFly’s malaprop is actually spot on: density pretty much is destiny.

***

Forgive the accidental post fragment the other day. Let me take another crack at this: a couple of quick store announcements today then I’ll return to the Zion recap shortly.

• We just knocked 40-60% off the price of items like tights and and baselayers, and there’s plenty of the 2009-10 winter left. So now’s the time to fill up the drawer where you keep your cold weather apparel. Our stock of most of these items is very limited, so if you see something you like in your size, don’t hesitate.

• Our stock of Nathan products has been replenished. This includes the Intensity, which was recently reviewed by Gretchen. The ‘private’ Nathan sale — apply coupon code ‘nathan20′ at checkout for 20% off the Nathan gear in your shopping cart — will run through January 15. (Which, as you may recall, is also when we will draw the winner of the Garmin 405 giveaway.)

***

No sooner had we received our first shipment of Spot 2 GPS Messengers than the company issued a recall.

According to the company: “During recent testing, we discovered that some of the new SPOT 2 devices might not meet battery and messaging operating specifications.” More details here.

This does not affect the Spot 1. For our part, we have taken the Spot 2 “off our shelves” until they have sorted out the issues and will order in the Spot 1 to pinch hit.

***

Astute followers of Wilderness Running Company may have noticed an odd set of circumstances. We provided a Garmin 405 for third-party review, we are giving away a Garmin 405, and yet we do not appear to have Garmin products available for purchase. Extra credit goes to those who happen to know that, until very recently, we in fact did offer Garmin products.

A reasonable observer may well wonder what gives. As it happens, there is a method to the apparent madness.

Let’s start with the positive: as a consumer, I’ve had pretty good success with three different Garmin products over the past few years. Garmin is clearly the top dog when it comes to bringing the wonders of GPS to the wrists of athletes. Having quite-accurate, real-time measurement of distance, pace, and the like can be mighty nice. And, at least for me, looking at post-run elevation profiles can be strangely entertaining. (Having all that data can also foster a type-A mindset more closely associated with road runners and triathletes, but that’s a different issue and one easily avoided…if that’s your desire.)

So using Garmin has been great. Selling Garmin? Not so great.

A good deal of the friction is a result of Garmin’s channel strategy. They simply don’t deal directly with small fries like WRC. Instead, everyone but massive retailers is shunted to a wholesaler. This, in and of itself, is fine.

The problems begin with the fact that they release new models through the wholesale channel on a different timetable. As of last week, for instance, I still could not get the 310xt or 405cx from our supplier. That’s not good.

Another issue with the channel strategy seems to be reflected in pricing. I have no idea what the cost of Garmin products is for other retailers. What I do know is that (new) Forerunners are usually available from Amazon or eBay sellers for roughly our cost or less. And pretty much always for less than is “dictated” by Garmin’s own MAP (minimum advertised price) policy. Hmmm.

The final factor is that I can’t provide a level of after-sale service of Garmin products that I’m really psyched about. Our customers simply have to take any problems directly to Garmin, same as they would if they bought from any generic discounter. I had to deal with Garmin Service a year or two ago when I had some trouble with my Edge 305, and, while it ended well, it wasn’t a particularly great experience. I really don’t like the feeling of passing the buck when it comes to service issues and that’s what this feels like.

Are any of these issues reason enough by themselves to discontinue stocking Garmin? Probably not. But cumulatively, they are, at least for now. We still have our supplier relationship and I’m happy to place a special order for any WRC customer wanting a Garmin product. In that event, there’s a good chance we may even be able to meet or beat the price of the discounters I mentioned above (since we won’t be tying up cash or publishing a price lower than Garmin policy dictates). If exploring that option is ever of interest, just email me.

The upside of all this is we’ll be giving away our last few remaining Garmin units in the coming weeks, starting with a 405. See, it all makes sense.

***

It’s taken nearly two months start-to-finish, but we have finally finished moving The Life to a better long term home. Going forward, we will be managing this side of the site by way of conventional blog software.

The lead.

I’m pretty sure the main question on your mind is “what’s the story with the Garmin giveaway,” so let me address that here. It’s simple: just subscribe to The Life via your preferred rss reader and leave a comment to this post.  Then, cross your fingers. On or about January 15, we will draw the name of one lucky person to receive a Garmin 405. If you are not sure what the 405 can do for you, consult this excellent review by a friend and frequent WRC-contributor.

The reason for the change.

If you have visited the site before, you will probably observe that it doesn’t look much different than it did before. In the coming weeks, you’ll also see that most of the changes we have in mind are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. So why bother?

From the start, the goal has been for The Life to be a collection of engaging information, and also to be another forum for conversation and commiseration among trail runners of all types. We hope moving to a conventional blog will advance the project by creating a mechanism for dialogue. Now you can comment on what you see — to us and each other — and we can take account of that feedback in our store and content choices. So subscribe and contribute. It should prove to be worth your while…and, oh yeah, there’s that chance to win a Garmin 405.

***