1 #4/2014 ContiTireNews

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Editor responsible under press law: Continental/Division Tires Alexander Bahlmann Head of Media & Public Relations PLT The Right Rubber for Every Application Buettnerstraße 25 | 30165 Hannover Phone: +49 511 938 2615 E-Mail: [email protected]

Author: Klaus Engelhart 2 #4/2014 ContiTireNews

›› Continental develops rubber compounds for sports shoes ›› Reduced slip and up to 30 percent more grip ›› More than three million running shoes sold in 2013

More and more runners are achieving success thanks to Continental Traction Compound It’s no coincidence – these running shoes have it in them, or rather under them, to go the distance. The soles of these adidas shoes are based on a technology developed by tire manufacturer Continental. Chemists at the Hanover-Stöcken technology site, whose other work involves developing high- tech rubber compounds for high-speed, wet, or winter tires with a perfect grip, applied their expertise to a joint project with the sporting goods manufacturer from the Franconian town of Herzogenaurach. The collaboration world record holder won turned out to be a resounding success, as the race in shoes featuring Continental rubber compounds. what is good for tires is also good for runners. More grip means better contact with the On September 25, 2011, running surface, improved traction, and thus from made sporting history. As he cros- faster times. This has been proven not only by sed the finishing line in front of the imposing the world records already mentioned set by silhouette of the Brandenburg Gate in Patrick Makau Musyoki and Wilson Kipsang after a race time of two hours, three minutes, Kiprotich, but also by numerous course and 38 seconds, he was met by the roaring records in other , including cheers of spectators in their thousands. They 2012 and 2014, and Hanover and celebrated his spectacular new world record last year. exuberantly. Never before had anyone com- pleted the marathon in such a short time. But In light of these successes, it is no wonder the record only stood for two short years. that, as well as professionals, more and more Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich ran the same race amateur athletes are now making the most around 15 seconds faster, with a time of of the advancement in technology offered by 2:03:23. Like Patrick Makau Musyoki, he is also the running shoes from adidas with Traction from Kenya. And he wore the same adidas Compound rubber compounds from Conti- running shoes. Could this be a coincidence? nental. And the demand for these running Continental compounds put down the power more effectively, making for faster lap times. 3 #4/2014 ContiTireNews

shoes is on the rise. In 2012, around 1.2 million pairs were sold; last year, this total increased to over three million. And the range has also been extended. There are now more than 80 different products available to buy in the running, trekking, and winter ranges that all feature Continental compound technology.

High-tech for maximum grip For around three years, Continental and adidas worked together on the first project. The team faced a huge challenge. What tires and the soles of shoes have in common is High durability that they both form the only connection with Bester Grip auf allen Wegen. during all seasonal the road and must be able to transmit all of the forces involved. In contrast to a rolling conditions. Inspiriert durch Reifentechnologie.tire, however, every step taken while running represents an individual acceleration process – regardless of how smooth and even the Grip benchmark adidas Laufschuhe mit Continental TRACTIONrunning style. COMPOUND Technologie. on wet and dry ground. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Premium-Reifenhersteller Continental hat adi- The average marathon runner strikes the das seine Weltklasse-Laufschuhe jetzt noch weiter verbessern können. ground around 35,000 times over a distance Und das dank einer Technologie, die bisherof more nur than in Hochleistungsautoreifen41 kilometers. The better the verwendet wurde. Das Ergebnis: eine bishergrip, the unerreichte better the Gri igkeitpropulsion. und At the Brem- same 39 % more traction swirkung im Laufschuh-Segment. time, however, runners also need a certain for faster acceleration amount of flexibility in order to avoid injuries. and stopping. This was the balancing act the materials experts had to get to grips with at the start of the collaboration. For when the first samples confirmed that Continental would indeed be able to make considerable improvements to the existing soles, the early experiments using rubber compounds for wet tires used in Transferring technologies: Highest performace for adidas running shoes isWenn made by know-how bremsen from tire makerzählt. Continental. motor racing overshot the mark. There was, www.continental-reifen.de after all, no demand for the ability to run up walls. It was also important to consider how wore the shoes for the New Year’s Eve Run in Cooperation since 2007 cussing the challenges involved in significantly the materials would behave during the shoe Trier. On a wet road, some of which was cover- The collaboration between Continental and increasing the grip of rubber compounds. production process. In 2009, the first prototype ed with cobblestones, he claimed a decisive adidas began in 2007. In fact it came about During this exchange of ideas, the experts was used in a regular race. The former mara- victory. From that point onwards, the pace by chance when developers from the two from adidas expressed an interest in working thon world record holder began to increase. companies met at a workshop and began dis- together. What came next depended on the 4 #4/2014 ContiTireNews

expertise of Continental developers, whose rubber solutions were already helping to shorten braking distances, improve grip in wet conditions, increase cornering speeds, and reduce rolling resistance. On a model-by-model basis, they reduced both traction and slip by up to 30 percent – on both dry and wet road surfaces and even across wide temperature ranges. Over time, not only running shoes but also outdoor leisure and even trekking shoes began to be produced with Continental soles. And they are just as popular with long-distance runners. This is clear to see from the sales figures, which last year were six times higher than in 2012.

With so many success stories, it is hardly surprising that there are no plans to end this collaboration. After all, there are many types of specialized shoes. And they pretty much all need nonslip soles. The latest collaborative project focuses on an innovative snowboard shoe, the first of its kind, that is already available to buy under the name Blauvelt.

Today adidas uses Continental compounds in more than Grip in the snow – rubber compounds from Continental are also used in snowboard boots. 80 different shoes in the running and trekking segments.