Back in 1982, when I was obviously a much younger man, I played a lot of competitive tennis. Back then, after a season of playing 3-set matches almost every day, my knees began to hurt especially on landing after each serve. A friend suggested I put a pair of these sorbothane insoles into my sneakers and the pain magically disappeared. It didn't take days or weeks to notice the results they were apparent the very next time I was on the court.
Now, 30 years later, I'm playing a lot of tennis again and needless to say this aging body of mine has more aches and pains. I could compensate by easing up on my game, but where's the fun in that? I started looking around for the same "plain vanilla" insoles I had used so successfully in the past but all the newfangled models seemed frighteningly over-engineered with different kinds of arch and heel supports and multiple zones. It all seemed too complex.
Recently I saw a listing for these basic, nothing-fancy Isolate It! Sorbothane Classic Insoles and bought a pair. I used them today for the first time and after 2 fierce hours on the court I can tell you that I have almost no pain and remarkably little fatigue. Since I play 3 or 4 times a week I'm comparing apples to apples I know the level of pain and fatigue I usually experience. These things just work.
I remember when I first tried them 30 years ago I'd read that they coated submarines with sorbothane because it was so shock absorbing it made them stealthily invisible to sonar. Whether or not that's true, they seemed to have made my feet and legs nearly invisible to pain. It's like stealth technology for tender feet and knees.
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After I had the cartilege removed from both knees it had been painful to walk on hard surfaces like concrete and tile and sometimes even hardwood floors. I put these in my walking shoes and now there's never any pain from walking or running. I've seen professional orthotists cut custom-shaped insoles from a big sheet of Sorbothane and charge $80 for them. The Sorbothane seems to do the shcok absorbing that the cartileges used to do. These are heavier than other inserts but they wear like iron. I've had mine almost 20 years, and they don't pick up odors or smell at all. If you don't like the extra weight for running in a competition or playing sports, get a pair of the other Sorbothane inserts that just have bands of (black) Sorbothane in the heal and the ball of the foot area for that use.
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I have used these insoles for many years and they are great for running, walking, and standing on your feet all day. I am 6'3" and 250 LBS. These insoles have given my knees new life. I play tennis on them and run 10-15 miles a week on them. At work, I walk around a cement floor all day. My knees couldn't be happier.
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I'm an avid hiker who climbed 11 14ers and countless other ridges in 2012. My problem had always been my bony feet with high arches -which limited my hike length (I called mine "10-mile feet"). I've cobbled my own insoles together for years, but hadn't found the right solution until recently.
I had a pair of the classic sorbothane insoles, which I didn't use because the heel was simply too thick (raising my heel too high for the boot to grip). BUT -I cut them in half and mated them to a pair of Arch Cradles by Pedifix (Amazon sells them; make sure to get the right size) Pedifix Arch Cradles. The PediFix arch cradles are the best heel-cup/arch/metatarsal support insoles I have ever found. They taper forward to a thin edge designed not to be felt by your foot. However, they do nothing to absorb shock or cushion the forefoot. Which is where my fix comes in.
Sorbothane, being a dense elastic plastic with superb shock absortion and excellent heat resistance, grinds down without melting. I was able to cut my old sorbothane insoles in half and taper them with my belt sander to match the taper of the PediFix insoles. I taped them together and found that I had created the perfect insole...almost. Because there is room in my boots to do so, I also added a pair of standard Spenco FLAT neoprene insoles on top for extra cushioning. I used them on my last climb of the season (Longs Peak, a 14 mile hike with more than 5K' elevation gain and loss) and my feet, while tired, did not hurt at the end. The combination was unbeatable. The Spenco insoles are good for one season, but are relatively cheap to replace.
Now, this may seem like a lot of work. But, for me, a guy who's been hiking for 50 years and does it a LOT, it was well worth the effort. How my feet feel at the end of the day is priceless. Now if someone would only make such a product...
ALSO note: Sorbothane is available in sheet form Isolate It!: Sorbothane Vibration Damping Sheet Stock 50 Duro (1/8 x 12 x12in) which is cheaper than the insoles. 1/8" is the thickness of the insole's forefoot.
A word on insoles that come standard in shoes: they exist for in-store comfort, and do you virtually no good in normal use. I never buy a show without a removable insole I can replace with something that works.
A word on flat insoles: many, such as Superfeet (way overpriced IMHO), have excellent heel cups, but no metatarsal support (a "bump" that the fleshy part of your foot rides on that's just behind the metatarsal -ball of foot -bones). The Pedifix insoles may feel a little funny at first, but wear them for 5 minutes and that feeling disappears.
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I ride a single cylinder bike. The vibration transmitted through the foot pegs eventually puts my feet to sleep. The Sorbothane insoles put an end to that. I can ride much farther between breaks now.
