ToePilot® technology:

13% longer flight time!


A pilot study at the renowned Progressive Sports Technology Institute in Loughborough shows that test subjects who ran the Addict Pro-R at the same speed and ground contact time had a 13% longer flight time. “The lever for a more efficient running style lies in the big toe,” says Joe Nimble founder Sebastian Bär, himself a passionate runner since his youth. “Our combination of Toefreedom® philosophy and ToePilot® technology, which supports this result, is unique worldwide!”.

67% of runners worldwide have 'runner's hallux'!

An international study(1) of over 500,000 foot scans confirms our own research: the big toe has become a major problem for runners. Normally, the big toe provides about 85% of the stability(2) in your foot. However, the majority of runners in the USA, Europe and Asia have a 'runner's hallux', which means that the rear foot is no longer supported after the stance phase and tends into excessive pronation or supination, both of which weaken the propulsive phase.

(1) ”Analysis of hallux valgus angles automatically extracted from 3D foot scans taken in North America, Europe and Asia” (Yang Jiao, Saso Dzeroski, Ales Jurca)

(2) „Runners Rewired“ (Jay Dicharry)

A world first in the running shoe market

With the Addict Pro-R  and Trail Addict Pro-R, we present a world first in the running shoe market: the ToePilot® (patent pending) foamed into the midsole encourages the runner to use the big toe more in the propulsion phase, despite already impaired foot structure. The unique geometry and technical construction of this splint allows the big toe strand in the foot to be more heavily loaded with each step, allowing it to rebuild its natural strength potential for the all-important propulsive phase. After all, every running step puts 2-3 times the body weight on runners' feet.

A world first in the running shoe market

With the Addict Pro-R and Trail Addict Pro-R, we present a world first in the running shoe market: the ToePilot® (patent pending) foamed into the midsole encourages the runner to use the big toe more in the propulsion phase, despite already impaired foot structure. The unique geometry and technical construction of this splint allows the big toe strand in the foot to be more heavily loaded with each step, allowing it to rebuild its natural strength potential for the all-important propulsive phase. After all, every running step puts 2-3 times the body weight on runners' feet.
We developed this ‘big toe guiding rail’ together with Lee Saxby, a leading biomechanist, as well as runners, because hardly any runners have a strong, straight-forward big toe anymore,” explains Joe Nimble founder Sebastian Bär. The main problem is incorrect footwear with narrow toe boxes. These constrict the big toe and thus weaken the entire forefoot in the long term.

Science confirmed "Runner's Hallux"!

A scientific paper in which researchers from Sweden and other countries scanned the feet of 500,000 runners from North America, Europe and Asia supports Joe Nimble’s thesis. “All subjects suffered from structural impairments or had hallux valgus,” Bär says. The consequences are fatal. That’s because to compensate for two to three times their own body weight acting on the foot with each step, runners with compromised foot structure and a weak big toe in the propulsive phase tend towards alternative movement patterns such as overpronation or supination.

ToePilot® 

supports your running experience!


“Only 40% of runners are classified as a having a neutral or optimum foot posture during running. The remaining 60% of runners are considered to be either ‘overpronators’ or ‘supinators’ which means they are either collapsing through the big toe because it is weak and unstable or they are avoiding loading the big toe because it is stiff and painful” explains Lee Saxby.

The ToePilot® supports the impaired big toe joint during the push-off phase of running and encourages the normal movement pattern that the runner would otherwise avoid. “This promotes muscle development and strengthening of the big toe and the natural foot structure, true to our motto ‘Nature perfected,’” says Bär.

Discover the Pro-R models with the ToePilot® technology

  • toefreedom® - wide, anatomically correct toe box
  • ToePilot® technology – for a more stable propulsive phase


Discover the Pilot 1 with our ToePilot® technology 

  • toefreedom® - wide, anatomically correct toe box
  • ToePilot® technology – for a more stable propulsive phase
  • nmblFoam® - high performance engergy-return midsole foam