when to use better gear frequently

[penguin_2000]

give me a break/next time try reading my post before responding...please don't get upset that you paid so much for your shoes and attack my character again.. thanks

I did read your post, apparantly, you did not read mine. I never attacked your character, I simply said your grasp of economics of this situation is flawed.

I said that there are other comparable shoes at much lower prices that aren't widespread enough to give adidas fencing shoes a reasonable amount of competition. couple that with the fact that fencing shoes are a "specialty" item in footwear and you get an opportunity for adidas to have incredibly high mark-ups.

...here you seem to think Adidas should go out of their way to produce a "specialty" item and not charge more for it. Perhaps, the risk of a small niche market is the reason other companies don't want a piece of it. I would guess that the production of fencing shoes is at _least_ 4 orders of magnitude less than that of a running shoe. It is called economies of scale... surely you've heard of that?

It is pretty simple, their shoes are way overpriced, and obviously not worth the money because there are comparable shoes at much lower prices. if that makes me a hippie because I am willing to research before wasting my money so be it. I already explained my opinion, you just did not read it, so let me tell you again..

Price is relative. If people are willing to buy it and it isn't a necessity (i.e. water, food, shelter) then the price isn't too high. I don't know the LP shoes (I'll try them next), but I've seen/worn lots of fencing shoes, and Adidas is still my favorite. I've tried non-fencing shoes for fencing (not the racquetball shoes yet... though they seem to get rave reviews here) including basketball (not enough flexibility or "feel" in sole), running/crosstraining (soles too squishy), soccer (heel of sole sticks out too far, heels hurt afterward too), and tennis shoes (probably my favorites next to fencing shoes, but lacks the feel of fencing shoe), but I always go back to fencing shoes. Sure, I wish fencing shoes didn't cost $100+, but that doesn't make it "not worth the money". ...but Adidas is a company whose purpose is to make money. If more companies would produce a fencing specific shoe, then Adidas would probably lower their price, but so far, they're the only major shoe company in the US that is willing to support such a small niche market, and for that, I'll support them.

I truly despise the fact that Adidas charges such an absurd amount for footgear. They are benefitted in their larceny by the fact that there are few if any fencing shoe companies and fewer still widespread distribution measures for said shoes. Couple this with the lack of european footwear in the american footwear shopping experience and you have a recipe for disgusting profits for adidas.

and I'll say again, I think they sell the shoe to Allstar, and Allstar sets the price to the public.

Oh, and bigbadwolf... please quote my (or dilznik's) attacks ad hominim... I'm not seeing them (except when he called you a chump hahaha).