... and why not elastic laces? By Peter Greedy.
Having just watched the Malaysian Grand Prix and witnessed how critical the right tyres are in the race I started thinking about Greepers - I know I am obsessed! An analogy occurred to me between tyres and laces:
In F1 having the right tyres is absolutely critical in achieving the optimum efficiency in connecting the power of the engine to the track to generate the fastest time in any given condition. Better to take a pit stop to get the right tyres on that carry on with the wrong ones! An astronomical amount of money and effort goes in to research and development in this and all other areas of the sport.
When you buy quality performance running shoes, which are themselves the result of significant research and development, removing the laces (100% polyester) and replacing them with elastic is akin to having the wrong tyres on the car!
Now if you are in a short race clearly there is no time for tyre changes but over the course of a grand prix race it makes perfect sense; and we witness how amazingly fast the teams are at changing those tyres – apparently Ferrari did a sub 3 second tyre change at the Australian Grand Prix. (Good time to note the importance of practicing transitions!)
So I suggest that real laces are provided with most running shoes for a reason. Having the right laces is absolutely critical in achieving the optimum efficiency in connecting the power of ‘your’ engine to the track to generate the fastest time.
|
