Stride Insoles offers an alternative to orthotics from your podiatrist. How do they perform?

Process

The intake process for Stride Insoles is pretty detailed.  I was asked to scan my foot and record my gait via their app (both Apple and Android).  Once that was submitted, they had a detailed questionnaire, asking about my foot issues, shoe size and use.  Apparently my information was flagged because they pushed back VERY hard on my asking for a women’s size 9 insole when my foot measures at a women’s size 8.  I stuck to my guns and insisted on the larger size since that’s what I prefer to wear when I run. 

Once your evaluation is accepted, your insole is created and shipped to you.  The entire process from start to finish is about 2 weeks.

Stride Insoles

Performance

I have tricky feet and I was really excited to see how Stride Insoles could manage my issues.  To start, my feet are low volume and fairly flat.  They’re a half size different.  And I have a torn plantar plate in my left foot, that requires a metatarsal (met) pad.  The met pad has been the complexity in the past for me with other custom insoles. 

I've been wearing the Stride Insoles for the past 1.5 months.  I've been popping them in and out of several pairs of running shoes. I've been wearing them in both road and trail shoes, typically 60-90 minutes in duration.  And I wore them to spectate for the UCI World Cup Mountain bike race, which consisted of back-to-back 10 hour days on my feet.

Stride recommends that you gradually break in the insoles - or more appropriately - wear them for short amounts of time to get your feet used to them. I am bad at following instructions, and I didn't adhere to the break in protocol.  Instead, I just started using them in place of my over-the-counter insoles.

Due to my plantar plate tear, I know within 10-20 minutes if an insole is going to work for me.  Trail running is a little more forgiving because the surface is softer.  Road running, on my usual concrete paths, are the true test to how supportive the 3-D printed met pad is.

Stride Insoles Profile

I found the Stride insoles to be immediately comfortable and to remain supportive for all of my runs, no matter the surface.  I've also found them to be very compatible with most of my shoes.  Occasionally, I'll get a shoe for testing that is lower volume or is constructed with a feature that prevents the insole from laying completely flat within the shoe.  Stride will have the same kind of issue, being that it's not (intentionally) as flexible as the little foam insoles that come in your shoe. But generally, I haven't had much of a challenge getting the Stride Insoles to fit well across my fleet of running shoes.

The construction of the insoles, so far, has proven to be pretty tough.  Most people will put the insoles in a single pair of shoes and leave them there.  As part of my gear testing, I'm constantly removing and inserting insoles into several shoes throughout each week, as I test out multiple shoes.  This tends to beat up some insoles, where the layers begin to delaminate or edges wear a little faster.  I was really happy to see that the Stride Insoles look relatively new, even after about 45 days of testing.  The layers of the insole seem to be constructed well.  The top lining is a nice texture that's not too slippery or grippy.

The big test for the Stride Insoles was back-to-back spectating days.  We were on our feet from 8 to 5 daily, on a variety of mixed surfaces (concrete, rock, grass, dirt).  After one day of this kind of thing, my feet are usually pretty sore.  With the Stride Insoles (plus The North Face Offtrail Ultra shoes), my feet were only a little bit sore.  I didn't experience any joint pain or body disccomfort - just a little foot ache that the hot tub nicely resolved.

Closing Thoughts

The Stride Insoles are a well constructed, durable, and supportive custom insole that's a great alternative from traditional orthotics.

Overall, I've been very impressed with how durable the Stride Insoles are and how they've managed my foot issues. I haven't experienced any foot discomfort while wearing them and I've felt that they've helped to resolve my unique foot issues.