First the bad news: Made in China. Boooo, turning my city into a dump by closing the factories, exploiting Chinese slave labor and un-controlled pollution that's hurting us all. We also take a serious risk that the materials will not be as advertised and possibly even poisonous. But I bit my tongue and tried them anyway.

I am very happy I did. When I first bought them, I was in the throes of psoriatic arthritis, which is the same as rheumatoid but a different cause. My ankles were weak, twisty, and sore all the time. The Shape-Ups were painful to wear because I was pronating with every step. I put the shoes away and went back to my Sunrise FootwoRx for a few mmonths. But now the P.A. has gone into remission thanks to Remicade, and I have no more ankle pain. So I have been wearing the Shape-ups again and wow! I am thrilled. Not pronating at all and they feel feather-light. I also noticed that they are a great relief for those annoying heel spurs so many of us have as we get older. In fact, I met an elderly lady who told me that these are the only shoes she can wear without heel pain.

Now, as to performance. The rocker action makes it very hard to slacken my pace when walking outside, which is a problem I have when not on the treadmill. And these shoes make me crazy powerful on the hills. They just roll me right up over the top, much faster, and much less huffing and puffing.