There is a great deal of noise out there regarding running shoes. Noise that sounds like, Barefoot, Zero Drop, Pure, Advanced Midfoot Strike Design, Energy Return or Natural Running. I’ll give them this, there is nothing more pure or natural than a run in a pair of shoes that you don’t feel.  Which brings me to the Zoot DNA. We’ve been doing this for 4 years now. We don’t call it pure, or natural or anything. We call it just plain smart shoe making. The one thing we do call it is light. In fact we joke around a bunch about weight. Our heaviest shoe in a men’s size 9 is 10.9 oz.  We have the reputation of only building race day shoes. That’s because if it’s that light, it must only be good for racing. That’s just not so.

Simplicity in Construction –  Long ago we took a look at running shoes and thought they were built with too many pieces and too many layers. So we strive to put the least amount of pieces on each of our bottom units. This limits the amount of glue, limits the amount of bulk and builds a more consistent platform from one shoe to the next.

Inside out Fit –  We use a liner we call BareFit inside our shoes that wraps your foot. Because of this wrap we don’t have to load the upper with layers to create fit around your foot.  As an example neutral shoes like the Ultra TT 4.0 and Ultra Speed have nothing on the outside to form around your foot. They don’t need it. That’s why they come in at a whopping 8.6oz and 6.9oz’s respectively in a men’s size 9.  And thanks to our extensive knowhow in apparel the BareFit liner is unreal comfort around your foot. We figured if the fabric is good enough to work as your running short liner, it’s good enough for your feet.

Carbon Span+ - Every wonder why the ball of your foot aches when running? It’s because it has to work so hard from impact (however hard or soft that is) all the way through the push phase of running.  We’ve fixed this issue, but the secret of CarbonSpan+ is not the carbon fiber at all. It’s the Carbon Span+ finger that helps the ball of the foot absorb the impact. Carbon fiber simply allows us to do light and strong.

Zbound –  OK it’s foam. It’s our foam.  It’s so soft you can drop an egg on it and it’s got such a great responsive feel that the egg bounces right off it.  Really it does that!

Quick Lace –  Triathlon is hard enough. You shouldn’t have to worry about how you will get your shoe on or fumble around with laces. With our QuickLace it’s a one- hand pull out to tighten and up to lock in place. Because the lace is threaded through a pulley system, it glided to tightness rather easily.

Asymmetrical Lacing –  With all of our shoes we follow the contour of your foot with our pattern. This creates an asymmetrical lace pattern that simply fits your foot better.  People who focus on shoes only just don’t think about this kind of thing. But when you spend years mapping around the entire body, you naturally apply that thinking to the foot.  Look down at your barefoot, it’s asymmetrical.

TriDry –  It’s a philosophy of keeping moisture out of the shoe and away from the feet. It’s liner foam that does not absorb water. It’s the BareFit liner that hates water. It’s holes in the bottom of your shoes to drain water.  Water is great for swimming and great for hydrating but it just sucks in your shoes.

Triathlon-specific –  We were the first and we are still the only brand that puts 100% of our emphasis on creating solutions for you the triathlete. Our commitment to you is that we won’t change that fact. We will always think triathlete first.

Dave Jewell

Zoot Footwear