Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/19/i-tried-the-ali-express-noka-running-shoe.html
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For a minute there I read this post as “a friend of mine printed out these super cheap fake Hoka runners” and I was like, shit, someone’s got a 3d printer that can do this now? Niiiiice.
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I hear Ali Express is also getting into the food delivery business in the U.S. They already have their first restaurant lined up.
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For $16, I can’t imagine they’re going to survive a lot of use. It’ll be interesting to see how long they do last.
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Shoe Goo exists, if the tread is all that’s wearing down, you can prolong the life of the tread, it’s even cheaper than these shoes.
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Related-ish – I was shopping for wing chun-style slip-ons on Aliexpress the other day. I ended up getting them from Amazon cheaper than I could get them drop-shipped from any of the AliExpress sellers.
I usually wear about an 11 1/2 US / 45 EU shoe. I ordered the 47s, which were the largest size they offered, and they’re still a smidgen too small. That said, for $8.99 they’re actually reasonably comfortable and breaking in OK, and they make great slip-on-some-shoes-to-take-the-dog-out shoes.
They are holding up surprisingly OK after a few weeks, and I’m pretty pleased with them for the price. If I can find them in a 48 I might order them again – or even if not; we’ll see if my big toe doesn’t bust out the front too quickly.
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Seems rather high
I do wonder, at that price, who is doing the labour that these can be made and shipped (free), and what the recyclability is.
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Semi-related: Does McDonald’s New 'WcDonald's' Sauce Taste Like Anime?
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Even at that price, and even just for walking around, these just scream “false economy” to me… but I’m not lucky enough to get away with wearing disposable shoes without consequences.
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Agreed. And we should be adding less to landfills over the course of our lives.
Basically, underpaid labor and ignored externalities are what pays for shoes like these.
Let’s try to buy things that last.
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Paging Sam Vimes?
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Definitely - though stuff like this seems even worse than the usual ‘cheap stuff costs more overall’.
I think you’re probably paying more for the same level of quality (or lack thereof) in this shoe because it’s a vaguely look-alike copy of a real running shoe. I know at least at decathlon, the shoes that normally cost around this price aren’t so bad for occasional use.
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It’s probably the same labour, and the same factory, that’s making shoes for Nike, Adidas, etc.
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I was really hoping that these would be as good as Hoka
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