Running Supply Roundup #43
Mesh crops at Western States, On Trail Con, and nearly Breaking4. Paris Fashion Week breakdown coming later this week!
Paris Fashion Week was last week, so there’s a ton of stuff for me to still cover in a dedicated ‘sletter coming later this week. This post is covering everything else.
Quick Hits
So what if Faith Kipyegon (Nike) didn’t break 4:00. A great day would have been 4:04-4:05. The marketing was super cool though and great to watch it live for free in many places. More here from Citius Mag.
Western States 100 had big brands back on top. Caleb Olson (Nike) and Abby Hall (Adidas) won the men’s and women’s races respectively. Read more on iRunFar
Bill Dellinger recently passed. He was one of the greatest distance coaches of all time and an incredible runner himself (bronze in 1964 Tokyo). Write up from U of O Track.
Oakley x SATISFY sold out in record time this past Saturday. If you want it still, you’ll be paying a ransom fee.
Speaking of which, check out this round table on consumerism in running from
ICYMI
Last week there was a LOT in the roundup - 3sixteen x Saucony, Oakley x SATISFY, DIY shoe dying, what the heck is gravel racing, and funky knits. Read it here
Head West Young Man
Men Are Wearing Crops (and 3D Mesh)
I don’t want to overshadow Caleb Olson’s win at Western States nor Abby Hall’s win. BUT, having no dog in the race, the highlight for me was the mysterious Nike ACG1 3D-knit-mesh-crop-3/4-sleeve shirt that Caleb was wearing. Indicative of who I’m following on Instagram, I’ve seen more photos of Caleb’s long sleeve mesh crop than I have of anything else from Western States.
This mesh is significantly thicker than the 2000s version called Nike Stand-Off designed by Edward Harber that it seems to be based on. Below is one if his illustrations demonstrating how it works. It features “large mesh holes, interior nodes and hydrophobic yarn,” and evolved into Nike Sphere.
This new version is a thicker 3D weave that doesn’t drape as freely, meaning it quite literally stands off the skin. The garment has more surface area and volume, but lower density, means more airflow and faster evaporation. This has been called “Radical Airflow” by Nike and claims 5-6% faster cooling.
IMO Nike is still very much cool, has not lost their sauce, and just needs to dial in with their fashion forward sub-brands like Nike ACG, Nike Run Division, and god-willing, Nike Gyakusou.
Hoka’s More Cowboy Than You
Aisha McAdams is a great photog and part of Rhoam Creative, a women led and operated creative studio mostly working in the activewear and outdoor space. You’ve seen their work with Salomon, Hoka, and On Running to name just a few brands.
The Rhoam team pulled together a vintage Levi’s inspired shoot for the Hoka athletes with custom made clothing featuring Western-inspired patches, chain-stitching, and paintbrush scripted sign posts.
While the fun class-picture style of photography isn’t particularly unique when it comes to running—it’s been done a lot for post race awards over the years—how Rhoam executed it was. They made it more of a styled shoot full of custom touches, with tailored vintage (yes!), hand embroidered trucker jackets, patches, and lots of denim.
I love this work because there’s a story line behind it all. It’s in line with the 70s-80s (1977) origin of Western States, but didn’t go overboard. 👏👏
Rocket League
At WS, Hoka debuted a new Rocket X Trail, a carbon (?) plated trail racer (someone from Hoka correct me, please!). The prototype version was worn last year by Walmsley. Looks like its now in it’s final form.
Today they also launched their Rocket X 3. I tried the first version of the Rocket and boy it’s come a long way. The shoe comes in just beneath their top end model, the Cielo, at $250. Hard to see why both exist. The new X 3 now has a winged plate design, similar to the X 1 2.0, and a fixed heel counter. The midsole otherwise is largely the same as the X 2.
Personally I’m more interested in these upcoming Hocha Mach X Caged and these Speed 4 Lite TS that seem to be only available in Europe (END).
Recent and Upcoming Launches
TheRocker™ Coming Soon™
After a long drought on the marketing side following the massive hype before their fundraising and TRE, TheRocker is back on the ‘gram.
The initial July 1 launch date isn’t happening but it looks like some time near mid or end of July the shoe will launch. In their Paris showroom, SATISFY displayed a gray and black version of the shoe alongside their SS26 line. Preview of all that coming later this week.
HOKAA x MAAP
More running x cycling overlap. MAAP, a premium cycling brand has teamed up with HOKA to deliver a custom edition of a Tekton X 2 on July 15.
We’ve already seen Circle team up with Alba Optics, Salomon partnered with Pas Normal, Portal sells both trail + cycling kit, Bandit Grand Prix is being put on by a cycling racing org, and plenty of stores like Renegade (Oakland, CA) and Enroute now selling running + cycling gear.
Very little to go off here, but I imagine it’ll be outfitted with MAAP’s poppy brand colors similar to their Quoc cycling shoe collab. TBD if there will be any accompanying apparel. If MAAP moves into running, I will go broke.
Janji on the Commute
Janji has been tearing it up on highly functional, affordable, and incredibly comfy trailwear for years now. I’m a big promoter of the trail half and full tights (which are frequently sold out) and recommend them to anyone shopping around.
The latest addition is a commute, day pack, and fastpack2 ready Revy pack. I’ve been using their sling pack for a while just for casual runs and going about town. This bag at 18L it fits everything you could possibly need. Commuting? It fits your laptop, a full change of clothes, bottles, and shoes if you need.
It’s high cargo so won’t beat a vest for an event where you have a lot of support or casual trail runs when you don’t need to bring much stuff. It’s designed to be good at a few things, not everything.
New Balance Rebel v5 Gets A Lifestyle Lift
While the initial launch of the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 in June featured a traditional SHOCKINGLY RED colorway, the July 1st version will come in a beautifully soft gray-purple and cream. These colors wouldn’t look out of place on a 992 or 990 and it’s great to see them on a running shoe. Available at NB today. I dig these but I do find they tend to wear out pretty quickly—they go from amazing to good around ~100-150 miles.
Nike’s Modern Mayfly
Maybe the Mayfly isn’t coming back, but the pattern is. The Modern Mayfly series (Peg, Peg Plus, Premium, Vomero, etc) will release on Thursday, July 3. I never got to run in the real Mayfly from 2003, but I remember seeing them available online when I started running. The shoe weighed 135 grams and was designed to only last 100km. Living fast and dying quickly.
The new upper is a print only, and won’t be the same ultralight and tear-prone membrane upper of the original.
Participation FW25 Singlets
Participation is just 1 guy doing sublimated and printed singlets. I have a sample one and they’re lightweight and look cool. These don’t break the bank and for $65 you’re getting some pretty cool graphics. I thought the butterfly singlet was beautiful, and would look great with some brown or cream shorts.
Asics METASPEED Sky Tokyo
The Asics METASPEED Sky Tokyo is available for pre-order now at Running Warehouse and the Asics website for $270. They report a ~20% increased energy return compared to the METASPEED Sky Paris from 2024.
FF LEAP™ cushioning: our lightest, softest, and bounciest foam yet. It pairs with FF TURBO™ PLUS cushioning in the midsole for a combo that delivers lightweight comfort and peak energy
The Old DUST(Y) Trail
Speaking of all this western inspired trail stuff – DUST is a new brand coming this fall created by a trail and ultra runner. Western silhouettes, and a very interesting long sleeve, ½ button up.
From their original intro post on Reddit:
Think the raw, DIY energy of skate and surf culture mixed with the grit of the American West. Fewer logos, fewer gimmicks, just gear that looks good, feels great, and lets you move the way you want.
For the uninitiated, Nike ACG is their All Conditions Gear line, which was one of the earlier trail x lifestyle apparel lines bringing in the heavy-duty outdoor technologies to clothes and shoes you can wear on trail and off.
Fastpacking is a mix of ultralight backpacking and trail running, usually for full day excursions and exploration. Sometimes multi day.
A great list. I’m here for the men’s mesh. Texture in sportswear is such a vibe and it’s growing. Also, the Marlboro race singlet is kinda fun.
Sidebar: Satisfy’s influence continues to run deep! The Hoka x Levi’s chain stitch is the same as what Satisfy did for the ranch shirts. Love the look of Dust and thanks for putting it on my radar. It’s also quite similar to Satisfy, and its stitch-detail T-shirts look similar to Tiempos. No shade to them as it looks like nice product, but I’d love to see new brands forge a truly new identity instead of offering customers newer versions of what’s already out there. Keen to hear your smart thoughts on this!
Solid roundup! Yes, “X” = carbon in Hoka shoe nomenclature. (Interesting, though, that On didn’t think carbon was necessary …) As for the rejuvenated Nike ACG, back in the forefront again (for the 6th time since its launch in 1988?!? 😂), seems to be where its trail gear will live.