Pearl Izumi
Pearl Izumi Footwear

Issue presented to the SKYDEX team
Pearl Izumi, a Boulder-based cycling apparel company, approached SKYDEX to create a product line for performance running shoes. The new technology needed to establish a smooth roll through the foot for the runner. Additionally, the new product needed to absorb the impact of the foot strike and provide energy return as the foot toed off.

Specific goal for the final product
The goal for this platform was to provide energy dissipation and energy return in a durable component that would outlast and outperform traditional materials.

Because conventional energy management systems in running shoes break down quickly, SKYDEX also had to create a product that was superior in durability to traditional energy management systems.

Research and design process
SKYDEX began the design process by using a matrix to select materials that could simultaneously absorb and return energy in the component. A number of heel geometries were prototyped to target the correct design characteristics. In a seven month period, four major revisions were tested and finalized components were assembled into shoes to be tested by various magazine editors.

Working in conjunction with Pearl Izumi, SKYDEX creatively designed a cost effective, minimal number of different shoe sizes.

Parts were completed and shipped less than eleven months after the initiation of the project.

Final outcome of the R & D process
The syncroFLOAT and Seek shoes containing the new SKYDEX platform were introduced by Pearl Izumi in the Spring of 2005. The syncroFLOAT was named the "Best Debut" by Runners World magazine in March. Sales of both shoes surpassed expectations leading to the development of SKYDEX technologies used in Pearl Izumi's Guide and Shift shoes in the Fall of 2005. Two new products to be launched in Spring 2006 using SKYDEX components.