The main benefits of Xtenex laces:
When you stretch the lace, the knots disappear. When you release the tension, the knots reappear.
By stretching both ends of the lace at the same time, it is easy to slide the lace through the eyelets.
Place your foot in the shoe. Start lacing as you normally would, but as you work your way down, you can adjust the tension between each set of eyelets to the exact amount of tension you require. The knots then act as blockers between the eyelets and maintain that tension.
By the time you finish you will have set up several different tension zones which are moulded to the shape of your foot. For instance if you have a high instep you can protect that area by leaving more knots between the eyelets- or if you have a narrow part of the foot you can tighten that area by reducing the number of knots. The next time you put on your shoe, it will remember the exact same setting that you had before. Your shoe now becomes a custom-fit slip on shoe.
Not only that, there are no laces to tie up! Or trip over! Any excess lace can be tucked neatly along the sides of the shoe or you can simply knot them.
One of the main advantages of Xtenex laces is that your shoes become immediately more comfortable.
With conventional laces there is only one tension zone (where you tie your bow). When your foot expands during exercise, all the pressure comes to the top of the shoe and merges towards the area where you have tied your bow. As a result, you will feel compression across the top part of your foot, and you will have a looser fit in the toe area which will cause friction and slippage. The same happens with normal elastic laces as again there is only one tension level at the bow end.
With Xtenex laces, when you propel your foot forwards, the laces expand and then retract, and the knots will continue to maintain the position of the laces. This allows more freedom of movement and better blood circulation- so that by the time you finish exercising, your feet will feel less tired than before and will recover faster.
This is one of the main reasons why an increasing number of world class athletes and triathletes are switching over to Xtenex.