You probably never heard anyone talk about the best athletic socks because it is commonly assumed that all socks are the same. Most people are of the opinion that if you buy a pair that fits you well, those can and should double as athletic socks. However, nothing can be further from the truth.
A well designed, high quality and well-made pair of the best athletic socks for runners can help your sneakers or running shoes fit well. They will provide you with a degree of comfort and arch support that enables you to perform better regardless of if you are a rugby player, play soccer on the weekends or just go for the occasional run.
Some of the best brands of athletic socks for running like the ones made by Strideline, use a combination of breathable material and a design that wicks away and dries sweaty feet. Not to mention that it also removes odor and kills bacteria allowing you to essentially use a single pair for as long as you need to.
In this review, we’ll go deep into the anatomy of how sports socks work and why you should invest in a pair of Strideline socks.
What is Strideline, and Why Should You Care?
Strideline is a company that started as a niche sock business with just $700 as startup capital in 2013. Two buddies Jake Director and Riley Goodman, were obsessed with starting a business since their initial failure in the third grade. However, what they were not successful at achieving in grade three motivated them to try again ten years later.
Since both founders were lacrosse players, their crew socks were brightly colored, but as they discovered, there weren’t many options around. That’s when the duo decided to create their own line of performance crew socks, which not only looked great but also ensured a blister-free experience.
The first pairs featured the city’s iconic skyline, with a design made using Microsoft Paint! The duo then placed an order for 1000 socks with their graduation money. To their surprise, the 1000 pairs of socks sold within weeks. If anything that encouraged the duo to take designing, manufacturing, and selling sports socks or sports socks very seriously.
Over the years, they continued to work on their business while staying in a frat house at the University of Washington. Six years later, they landed a string of licensing deals with the MLS, NBA, NCAA, NFL, and MLB. So, now these athletic socks are worn by your favorite sports teams!
How Well Do Strideline Socks Sock Fit?
Now that you know exactly what to expect from the best athletic socks, we don’t have to go over why all pairs aren’t made equal and why sports socks are superior to all others. However, the most important question you should ask is, how well do they fit? Now for starters, unlike what you normally buy, these aren’t a “one size fits all” affair. When you purchase athletic socks from Strideline, there are three options.
When you choose the right length and size, it fits perfectly around your foot. The compression padding used by the company ensures that the pair hug the contours of your feet. Not to mention that the crew socks will stay up for the entire day or for as long as you want.
In other words, it fits perfectly and comfortably regardless of how large or small your feet maybe!
Does it Have the Right Thickness?
Now one of the concerns that you should have when buying socks, especially for sports, is thickness. In our experience, low-quality pairs are too thick, and that’s because they are trying to overcompensate for a bad product. Strideline socks, on the other hand, are the perfect thickness, similar to casual socks. While they do have some padding around the bottom, but it is incredibly breathable, thanks to the vents woven into the socks. If anything, the perfect thickness here means you can wear these socks with everything from sneakers to bowling shoes without feeling hot or uncomfortable.
Our Experience with Durability
When we buy a product like Strideline running socks, one of the things we want to know is how long it will last? While socks, in general, tend to last longer for some people than others, but a pair of well-built, running socks should last longer.
After wearing and testing the socks extensively, while putting it through its paces on the field and weight room, we can confidently say they are exceptionally durable. Not only did our pairs of Stridline socks hold up, but they weren’t out of shape or stretched like some others we’ve tested.
Do The Ankles Slip?
It is one of the problems that many people like us have with regular athletic socks or even ordinary socks. After a while, the regular pairs tend to pool around the ankles. But during our time wearing Strideline, we didn’t encounter this issue.
We ran in them, played soccer in them, and even lifted weights. Not once did we have to pull them up after finishing!
The Bottomline
Strideline socks have been engineered and then re-engineered multiple times, which have allowed them to become what we believe are truly the best athletic socks. The athletic sock is designed to be durable, easy to wear, wash, and, most of all, they make you want to play more because they don’t tire you out. They aren’t tight as some of the other socks we tried which can chocke off your blood circulation making it near impossible to play in them.
Not only do they fit well, but they don’t get soggy from the build-up of sweat. The pair feel great, dry and your feet get more than enough air to breathe. Pair this athletic sock with high-performance athletic shoes, and we can almost guarantee much better performance when playing competitively or even just hitting the track for a warmup session.
