UKC

I had some green superfeet thrown in for free when I bought my winter boots and other kit last winter but I have started using them all the time in my everyday shoes because I find they really improve comfort and reduce heal pain.

So, I was thinking about getting some more to remove need to swap them in and out - but they appear to be around £35 quid which seems a lot for a bit of plastic!?

has anyone used any cheaper alternatives and have you found them to be just as good (or not)?

In reply to noteviljoe:


As with anything like that, it's the R&D you're paying for, not the bit of plastic which probably costs a quid or two at most.

I don't know about others, but the difference they make to my knee pain makes them worth it.

In reply to noteviljoe:

I've used a variety of different insoles from custom made Superfeet & SIDAS, to off-the shelf Superfeet, Sole & SIDAS, to cheap-and-cheerful Healthy Step ones. Prices vary from £6 to £75 (and you can pay a lot more).

With the off-the-shelf ones I generally think you get what you pay for. I like all the one's I've got, and generally leave them in once I've fitted them properly. Superfeet seem to last longer than anything else I've used. I've got some which are 8 years old and I still use them. They've outlasted the shoes they were in, twice. For the amount of miles you'll cover, and for the benefit you get £35 isn't all that much. Especially if they are genuinely aligning you properly. You might avoid paying for a Podiatrist to make you some in the future (think £200-400).

In reply to noteviljoe:

I use iron man insoles from decatholin £15 a pair do the job for me used them for last couple of years due to P F get bit smelly right enough but wash them ,renew them every year or whenever have them in my other footwear also.

In reply to noteviljoe:

I like the Sole footbeds as the arch support is higher, but they are the same price as Superfeet [which I also use]

In reply to noteviljoe:

If you don't need them for orthotic reasons IMHO £35 is a grossly overblown price to pay.

I used to get 2 pairs of orthotic ones for my flat feet for £40. I found the same ones direct from the manufacturer for around a tenner a pair.

Thanks all.

hmmm ... so I'll take a look at the iron man ones but sounds like I may need to get over my stinginess.

I guess I might say that I do need them for "orthotic reasons" in as much as in the last 12 months I have had a couple of bouts of Plantar Fasciitis which I think the superfeet may have helped with (I also changed my shoes so not sure).

In reply to Ysgo:

How do I tell whether they are genuinely aligning me properly?

In reply to noteviljoe:
Sport Pursuit have some on their website.

The sale ends today and I knowq nothing more about their quality.


cheers

Gaz

In reply to noteviljoe:

You use them everyday, they work well and will work out at pennies per day considering they'll probably last a couple of years.

Expensive ? Really?

In reply to noteviljoe:

By buying them from a good shop

In reply to noteviljoe:

My two pairs of superfeet are maybe 10 and 5 years old, and one pair gets put in most of the shoes I wear, i.e. almost daily use. I agree it does feel like a huge amount of cash for some insoles, but if they seemed to fix whatever problem you have (for me it was nasty pains in the balls of my feet when hiking and shin splints when jogging) I guess you need to just think of it as an investment and suck it up.

In reply to TobyA:
And, as mentioned, understand that when you buy a product you aren't simply buying the physical product, but a contribution towards the cost of R&D, setup of the business, risk etc. If you could only charge £1 for £1's worth of plastic, many innovative products would never have happened.

It's similar to resenting a pint being over £3 at the pub but £1ish from a supermarket. The business model is totally different; at the pub your pint-an-hour-or-so has to pay for the building, heating, decor, the landlord's wages..... If you think that's poor use of your money that's fine, don't spend it, but I think understanding of what it's actually like to run a business is called for.

In reply to TobyA:


Exactly. I ended up paying a couple of hundred quid for custom orthotics a few years ago to sort out my Achilles problems. A lot of money but worth every penny. Superfeet are a bargain if they work as well.