Hey Seth, with all of your shoe reviews recently, there has been a lot of discussion in the comments about the scoring system. Judging by the number of comments (and likes on those comments), it seems like a lot of people struggle to understand it. I’m a longtime viewer and have a bit of measurement expertise and wanted to provide a few tips that I hope you’ll consider-your following is large enough now that you’re making a fairly significant economic impact with each review video (on both the consumer and company sides) so I hope you give it some thought! 1) 10 categories is too many. This is an issue because: (a) there’s a lot of overlap between categories and (b) having more categories means your final scores will converge around a narrower range (aka make the final scores more similar). 2) The 1-10 scale is too wide of a range, especially because you exclusively use the top half of it (5 to 10). This creates an array of averaging issues that I won’t dive into…. 3) Therefore, I would encourage you to change to a 1-5 score, where 1 = “poor”, 3 = “average”, and 5 = “amazing”, or something like that. This is also because, to be honest, I don’t think that even you have a great sense of what your scores mean-you sometimes describe an 8 for an upper/midsole/etc. as being “fantastic”, while other times an 8 is “not too bad”, or something like that. The other day, for example, you described the Kinvara 12’s outsole as being “just perfect” … and then the score was an 8.5. Or last year, the Endorphin Speed got a 7.9 and then became your Shoe of the Year. There are many other examples of this, and frankly it’s really confusing and misleading. Creating a more intuitive score range with **clearly defined meanings for each score** would be massively helpful (for both yourself and viewers). 4) Another measurement issue with the current category system is that all of your categories are weighted the same-but the midsole and ride of the shoe is going to be more important than the outsole (as just one example) to 99% of people. Reducing the number of categories would resolve this a bit, though. 5) Lastly, I don’t think you should score the durability, weight, or price. Durability is just too much of a subjective guess, and the weight and price are already objective figures that consumers can interpret on their own. Unless you’re doing really detailed calculations and market research to compare a given shoe’s weight and price against the average/range of current AND historical weight/price of competitor shoes in its given shoe category, it’s just too inaccurate and subjective for you to score properly. That’s also another example of having too many categories that overlap-if you don’t like a shoe very much, you’ll think it’s overpriced, and therefore these ratings will be bleeding over into each other. Ideally, your categories should be as independent of each other as possible. I hope these are helpful, not taken as being harsh or critical (they’re not meant to be, I promise!), and that you give this some strong consideration.
Awesome suggestions!! i'd like to add on with regards to the inconsistency in scoring. A full matrix can be done up and maintained regularly. Each scoring category should have its own individual winner, this helps with: 1) viewers who own one pair of shoe to have a consistent frame of reference 2) people shopping for new shoes who have a rough idea of what they would like to emphasize on in terms of their category can go look directly for the "winners" in each category
@@MrStealthangel I have encouraged Seth in the past to maintain a spreadsheet with all his shoe scores, with each column being a different variable for brand, weight, stack height, and then each individual score. It would be really easy to create this if he enlisted the help of just a few people to spend a few hours on. This would be great for consumers, as you mention, but would also be really helpful for Seth as well, because he could have a better sense of his own scoring system by seeing what his average scores are for each individual score category. He could also see his average scores for each brand, and even each shoe type--for example, I'm guessing he gives higher scores on average to tempo day shoes compared to easy day shoes. Becoming aware of these types of biases would help the reviews be more objective.
Interesting suggestions. The best one to me is the issue of price being excluded. That is not a matter of quality of the shoe. That is also an individuals assessment as to whether one wants to pay the price. Don't throw off the quality of the shoe choice by factoring in price. Recently, the Skecher GoRun Ride 9 got a 5.5 for price and the price given was not even correct!! This took down the score significantly on a good shoe. Also I would say that durability is a quality issue but not a performance issue, so exclude that too. Both price and durability can be mentioned but not scored. My favorite scoring system is from "Run like Hell(er)" which is a more simplistic system of one to 5 stars. In the end, shoe reviews are like movie reviews, you may love something the reviewers hate. Also, consider your reviewers perspective. Are they a Jack Rabbit speed runner? For hobby joggers like myself whose current race pace is 10 minutes a mile, some of the nuances of some reviewers may be irrelevant to me yet be important to elite runners.
These are all wonderful suggestions and they do ALL need to be taken into consideration. The reviews have gotten to a point now where what he is saying is not as believable because the scoring does not always match his words. I agree with everything you mentioned above.
I agree with the overall feedback you guys are outlining, exception being the elimination of durability and pricing criteria. While I don’t think that by running 50 miles in a shoe you can accurately predict mileage durability, the the shoe’s value proposition that Seth perceives based on his assessment has an expert reviewer, is a key for how we might consider putting a shoe in the short list of shoes to be tried on or not. He has the access to all these shoes, we do not! So my suggestion would be to catalogue the scoring system in Excel, and then allow durability scores to be added by the channel’s community members, so that true long term durability could be determined.
Good Morning to you and your sweet family! I just want say thank you for working so hard and appreciate what you do. It's a great thing doing what you love, getting paid for it, having such a positive impact on so many and being so darn good at it! Keep " turning that door knob" hope you guys find a new one soon! You deserve a day off.I think the DGR family owes you that!
You got me excited with the Novablast battle, because I love the original one (which works really well for me), So I can't wait to get me the latest improved version. Thanks Seth BTW A Shoe battle between Adidas Boston 9 & Boston 10 would be epic
Despite the name of those shoes, the real heir to the Boston 9 is the upcoming Adios 6 (already released in the UK and possibly other parts of Europe and elsewhere). They’ve made the Boston 10 an entirely new shoe (trainer) that’s the adidas equivalent to the Adios Pro (racer) of the Nike Tempo Next% (trainer) to the Nike Next% (racer), if you follow what I mean. So I think the comparison should be between the Boston 9 and the Adios 6. Check out reviews of that by EDDBUD.
Good Morning Seth! For a video idea in the future, you should give awards at the end of the year. For instance, you already do the best shoe of the year. Maybe do a best new shoe, shoe you’re most excited to see, etc QOD- Hoka Clifton 7 vs 8
Hello Seth!!! I would love to see a battle between the New Balance FuelCell RC Elite vs New Balance FuelCell RC Elite 2! I believe that was a big update and it would be extremely helpful to watch this battle!!
@@JavierISampedroTNF I also took advantage of #1 being discounted that I bought 2 new pairs, I like them that much and mileage you get from a pair is incredible to me.
Seth demoor been waiting for this battle to decide which one I was going to buy for my daily trainer. To go with the original endorphin speed 1s I just bought. Thanks for what you do!!!!!! Butter my bread on and upward Dgr family
I've never worn Asics, but bought the Novablast 2 based on your videos. I liked them so much I bought the original Novablast too (deeply discounted), but returned them because the 2 is so much better. I don't know if it's the drop or extra foam in the forefoot , but it was a huge difference for me.
I love ITERATION BATTLES! I think it works best when (1) it's a common shoe and (2) the changes aren't dramatic since that helps the frugal folks like me decide if it's worth spending more money on the newer model. I bought the original Novablast for $94 after the full review of #2. After watching today's video, I am looking forward to purchasing a pair of 2's--provably when the 3's release lol. The other thing is that usually a "2 birds/1 stone" guy, so I think you can combine the battle with the full reviews. The sooner the information is out there, the more helpful it is. Oh, and what battle would I like to see? Rincon 3 vs. Rincon 2 when the 3 makes it on your feet.
Slight off topic, but I’ve been rewatching shoe reviews and you’ve mentioned shoes that you wouldn’t use for a 5k/10k race. So what would you use/recommend for a5k/10k race?
QD: You already made my favourite line up battle 👍 just today after having strongest 9mile session in my life wearing Novablast 1. I still feel strongly that magical energy return after logging 490miles in total. I will purchase Novablast 1&2 for next ☺️
QD: HOVR Machina vs HOVR Machina 2 it would be good to see if a company like under Armour is improving to catch up with some of the more established running shoes. It seemed like Seth had a lot of positives on the original curious if the sequel which is out now is an improvement.
I am properly in love with the Novablast 1's! Such an incredible shoe. It's been amazing from the first run and still going strong with nearly 600km's. Very encouraging to see that the 2's seem to be an all round improvement over the 1's. Eagerly awaiting the release date for the 2's, will buy them the second they're available. QOTD: New Balance Rebel 1 vs Rebel 2 - altho everyone already knows the 2's will win easily. Huge improvement over the first version, it's almost a totally different shoe.
Clifton 7 vs 8. throw 6 in too if you want but 6 and 7 were pretty similar except for the heel counter, 8 has a new foam so there should be a decent difference in performance.
I'm late to the novablast party but have recently been able to snag the first novablast on sale and I wish I would've got them sooner!!! They're definitely my favorite shoes to run in and will be looking to get the novablast 2 in the future 🥰
Novablast 1 lasted 618 miles for me. The Novablast 2 has reached the same level of wear after just 457 miles. Unless the Novabaslt 3 is drastically redesigned, I will look for a new daily trainer. NB2 is way slower for me than NB1. I would buy the NB1 again if I can find it. Can't wait to get ride of NB2.
Evoride vs Evoride 2 I think the Evoride 2 is really underrated. Great shoe for 10k race and track session. Also, you can include the 50miles full review.
Definitely thinking about these as a change from my kayanos as I pronate and need the support but these for short distances as look a great shoe for short gentle runs
I know they have the same midsole, however I can tell the difference in the “firmness” of adidas boost over the years where they’ve made it IMO more firm than it used to be, so with that said do either of these have a more softer or “squishier” midsole than the other or are they virtually identical in that regard?
Hey Seth Great vlog Can you please do novablast 2 vs Mach 4? Would really appreciate as I think most of the people trying to buy one of these are still undecided. Thanks
130-150$ on Russian avito for genuine shoes. We are very rich to pay tripple the price. Its such a fun to live here ! ) come over here all together. You all just have been invited by me.
j"adore la Novablast 1. Je la compare à l'Hypérion (brooks) en un peu plus lourde mais plus protectrice. Je prendrai dès sa sortie la Novablast 2 et surement de nouveau la 1 tellement elle est confortable et polyvalente. Sinon un avis sur l'Hypérion Elite ?
Im a nurse just wondering which is better for standing up all day and walking and light jogging. Comfort is my primary goal. Use to use Pegasus turbo 1 so I want something comparable to that.
Just got the TC Eite 1 on sale. Very interesting shoe -(want to use for tempo, little too snug for long run but I might do it anyway). Would love to see how it was modified in v2 so I know where to put v2 when it goes on sale next year
QD: Hey Seth. I would like you to compare the pegasus turbo or turbo 2 vs pegasus 37 and pegasus 38. I would love to know how the zoomx in the turbo perform, vs the air pods in the 37 and 38.
interested about SL20 VS SL20 2.0. Is the price between the 2 worth the difference? I am a fan of the original SL20. Second Boston 10 VS Boston 9. Battle of the Bostons !
Hey Seth, I have one question for you. Why are all these new shoes coming out so late in the season? Wouldn't it make more sense to launch a new model in April-ish not in July?
Easy shoes are mostly very soft, but not too responsive and they don’t push you forward like the tempo or speed shoes. If you tried to do speed work in the clifton it could feel a bit like working against the shoe just because it wasn’t designed for that
@@brunobiega I think every type of run(E,M,T,I,R) is about hr% , i can ran this shoes on Z4 training, So i dont understand ... Thank you for your comment ,the reason is about the "push" feel , not the training effect.
I find it interesting that Seth has not posted any replies to the scoring comments (positive and negative) made by quite a high number of subscribers..
@@janetduback5161 Thank you Janet, understood.. Absolutely the family deserves a vacation but that should include a break from social media blogs/postings for the duration of the vacation. I am sure everyone would understand.
I have the Novablast 1, ran many miles in it and I really enjoy it. Are there that many differences other than the drop that would make me want to get the 2nd version?
Hey, anybody who owns the Novablast 1; I have the same problem as Seth (Achilles blistering), but for anybody who has the same problem what was your solution to preventing these blisters?
Anyone have any thoughts on the Pixel Noise upper? Haven't seen very many reviews of that iteration of the original Novablasts. Was wondering about the fit and comfort compared to the heavily padded original upper
The changes that Adidas are making are interesting so maybe the Adios Pro vs Adios Pro 2? You would also be able to practice your euro pronunciation of ADI- Das 🤣
