The new entrant into the running footwear market is an original shoe from Enko. These new athletic shoes from France were first publicized in late 2014 and produced through a crowd funding project at Indiegogo at the beginning of 2015.

This shoe features mechanical spring loaded pieces that are included in the midsole. This particular design provides the shoe with increased shock absorption as well as energy return. This is advertised to help increase comfort as well as performance. The springs are interchangeable and are calculated depending on the weight of the runner. Calculations supplied by the company claim that the gains provided by the shock absorbers in terms of mechanical energy is somewhere between 6% and 14% based on the pace of the runner.

It’s not at all obvious if the shoe will likely be widely adopted at this point, but some issues have been expressed about the structure and how it might impact the lower limb biomechanics.