This is the story of one company celebrating a milestone anniversary while looking ahead to a bright future: A decade ago, carbon fiber plates and performance running footwear weren’t exactly bedfellows.

While Adidas and Reebok had both integrated carbon fiber into select models in the 1990s, the technology failed to gain much marketplace traction. Into the early 2000s, carbon fiber remained a potentially intriguing ingredient in footwear design, though it was solidly more idea than reality.

Today, however, carbon-plated shoes appear in virtually every major footwear brand’s performance running catalog. There are models for racing, of course, but also training and trail running styles gobbling up shelf space at run specialty shops and capturing the attention of runners around the globe.

But an even bigger opportunity might be brewing courtesy of a decade-old research study conducted by the University of Calgary’s Human Performance Laboratory.

Back 10 years …

In 2016, Carbitex, an upstart, Washington-based company experimenting with flexible carbon fiber composites in footwear, asked University of Calgary researchers to conduct an independent research study examining whether footwear stiffness could adapt dynamically to different movement demands.

The University of Calgary study tested Carbitex Gearflex (then known as DFX) to evaluate the concept of footwear gearing. The researchers found composite structures could express different stiffness behaviors depending on load and direction and also established a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the Carbitex material and biomechanical outcomes. (The researchers published their findings in a 2017 edition of Footwear Science.)

“It gave us the proof we needed that, integrated correctly, our technology represents a genuine unlock for footwear,” Carbitex founder and president Junus Khan tells Running Insight+. 

Carbitex had independently validated research demonstrating that Gearflex – flexible at lower speeds, increases stiffness dynamically as it bends – provided athletes with genuine gearing functionality and positively influenced their lower extremity biomechanics. It adapted to the athlete, Khan notes, rather than forcing a fixed mechanical behavior.

Carbitex had exciting results to show the running industry, but an intense challenge loomed on the horizon.

Beyond rigid plates

In May 2017, Nike’s Breaking 2 campaign centered around Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour marathon attempt and the footwear he wore for the endeavor – the carbon plate-infused ZoomX Vaporfly 4% – opened the floodgates. With its marketing heft and global reach, Nike pushed carbon fiber plates onto the performance running footwear menu.

To be certain, running footwear players were familiar with carbon fiber plates; yet, that familiarity was almost exclusively based on one trait: stiffness. Carbitex challenged that notion, showing a material that could respond differently depending on load and direction. It prompted interest from footwear brands, though many were most immediately interested in creating a direct answer to the Vaporfly.

“In some ways, the Vaporfly was the best thing that ever happened to [Carbitex] in the running space. It proved to the world that carbon in footwear could unlock performance,” Khan says. “But it also created a new educational challenge we’ve been struggling with ever since.”

Rigid plates were a breakthrough; Khan doesn’t dispute that. His contention is that “rigid is a fixed state and human movement isn’t.”

“Our bodies are dynamic. Our feet change their stiffness with every step, depending on what that moment demands. A material that can’t do the same introduces an inherent compromise in footwear: either the foot won’t be supported as needed or it will be over-constrained,” Khan explains.

The next frontier?

Thus far, the super shoe era – at least as far as carbon is concerned – has largely focused on one specific mechanical behavior: rigid stiffness that enhances energy return and forward propulsion. While this has provided real, measurable performance improvements, it also introduced a set of tradeoffs the industry is only now beginning to fully explore. These days, Khan sees a more nuanced discussion taking root.

“Brands are paying closer attention to how plate stiffness interacts with individual biomechanics, shifting the question from ‘how do we maximize energy return?’ to ‘how do we best tailor the shoe to the athlete wearing it?’”

Looking ahead, Khan believes the future lies in materials and structures that respond to the athlete rather than forcing a fixed behavior.

“The foot is not a static structure; it loads and unloads differently across speeds, surfaces and fatigue levels,” he says. “Importantly, the plate doesn’t exist in isolation; it’s one part of a system, and how it interacts with the foam, the geometry and the athlete’s biomechanics presents the real opportunity.”

The findings of the University of Calgary study highlighted this opportunity, which running brands like adidas, Scott, Speedland and Superfeet have already worked to leverage and many others are actively investigating.

“The next frontier isn’t about making shoes stiffer or lighter; it’s about making them adaptive,” Khan says.

This summer, Running Insight will publish its fourth annual Anniversary issue recognizing milestone anniversaries across the running industry. If you are a running retailer or brand celebrating a notable milestone anniversary in 2026 of at least 10 years, please share details with Running Insight senior writer Danny Smith at [email protected].