For the past few years, there has been talk of shoes with a carbon fiber plate integrated into the midsole. At first they were models that resembled racing prototypes, and then, as is often the case with new technologies, we saw increasingly sophisticated, different, and gradually cheaper declinations of them. As Runlovers already anticipated, every new technology-especially the most radical ones-divides: there are those who welcome it in curiosity or enthusiasm and those who oppose it. It is the history of man, nothing new in short.
What is more interesting to observe, however, is that saying “carbon plate” says everything and nothing: everything in the sense that it correctly defines the fundamental component of these shoes but nothing because each brand has its own particular recipe. All cars have an engine but each car has a particular engine, simplifying to the extreme.
Scott’s recipe
The Swiss company – best known in the world of biking and winter sports – after making a name for itself in the trail world, is now attacking the running universe in a peaceful sense, and it does so with a very interesting proposal. It is so both because it marks an evolutionary strategy that adds a new offering in the industry and especially because it responds to some of the comments raised by those who use carbon fiber plate shoes. Such as: they only make sense if you run very fast, if you go slower in the back you don’t need them and in fact they slow you down, they are too stiff, etc.
Scott worked on these insights and created Speed Carbon RC, a shoe based on some foundational concepts (except, of course, the carbon plate):
- A proprietary carbon technology, based on a particular version called Carbitex, with stiffness and propulsive response at high speeds but also flexible at medium and low speeds. As Scott says, “It’s like having a speed shoe and a long-distance shoe on your feet at the same time.”
- Low weight provided by a virtually transparent single-layer upper and ultra-lightweight, durable EVA foam
- A very pronounced arched sole and midsole profile called Evolved Rocket 2 that pulls the toe and heel very far off the ground, so as to facilitate some forward imbalance to activate the ride and encourage rolling.
Scott’s goal is clear: to provide a shoe that is as versatile as possible not only in terms of use but also in terms of the type of runner: from the very strong runner to those who go slower but want to improve, but always wearing a very fast yet protective shoe.
What’s more, it does so at a price aligned with the top shoes but without a carbon plate and significantly lower than those with carbon: in fact, the Speed Carbon RCs cost 179.90 euros.